Yeah fuck the video codec mafia and all these proprietary shits like HDMI

I used to find it took forever to start showing a picture compared to HDMI on my PC. Getting a new GPU so maybe that will improve things.

USB-C probably cannot replace either, because the unmating force is too light. A typical HDMI or DisplayPort cable is much thicker, longer and hence heavier than a typical USB-C cable (even those specced to carry high bandwidth, like a thunderbolt cable) because they need better shielding to carry high bandwidth signals long distances - it's not unusual to need to route HDMI several metres (but USB-C cables that long are unusual because of the different purposes)

For TVs and such it's useful to have the inputs connect vertically, so that they don't stick out the back of the device and cause problems pushing it against a wall. Then the weight of the end of the cable is going to be trying to pull the connector out of the TV. DisplayPort connectors can have a latch to deal with this.

Of course, there a ways around this: a new connector, for example. But it does mean that you can't just leverage the existing pool of USB-C connectors and cables to make this ubiquitous.

Ballparking but it will likely take closer to a decade than not for that to actually happen... and I am still not optimistic. And there are actually plenty of reasons to NOT want any kind of bi-directional data transfer between your device and the TV that gets updated to push more and more ads to you every single week.

The reason HDMI is so successful is that the plug itself has not (meaningfully?) changed in closer to 20 years than not. You want to dig out that PS3 and play some Armored Core 4 on the brand new 8k TV you just bought? You can. With no need for extra converters (and that TV will gladly upscale and motion smooth everything...).

Which has added benefits because "enthusiasts" tend to have an AV receiver in between.

The only way USB C becomes a primary for televisions (since display port and usb c are arguably already the joint primary for computer monitors) is if EVERY other device migrates. Otherwise? Your new TV doesn't work with the PS5 that Jimmy is still using to watch NFL every week.

Yes. DP is the right choice for civilized people.

I mean the many incarnations of usbc are slowly making headway. For better and worse.

Fuck HDCP.

I tried to stick with DP only, but the tvs with it are getting rarer and much more expensive.

And what do you use?

I so wish they only gave a complementary display cable and not an HDMI.

They really just need to demand that open formats are implemented in parallel with any proprietary ones, with no artificial feature/performance disparity allowed.

That kills any incentive to keep the proprietary ones locked down because eventually the open formats will be available throughout the ecosystem and users will have devices with support in the entire pipeline. Then users will simply no longer want to deal with the locked down formats for long and nobody will want to sell them.

It pisses me off that you gotta pay so much money to look at the official ISO 8601.

Adapting DisplayPort to HDMI with minimal quality loss is child's play. It's the other way around that's misery.

Any cheap adapter cable that supports DisplayPort In to HDMI Out should be perfectly fine.

i want to say you can buy an adapter to get dp 1.4 out of steam machine and into hdmi 2.1 on a tv and should be fine. just has to be a powered adapter i believe

Not that easy.

To get HDMI 2.1 support for the Gabe Cube itself essentially requires kernel level patches. Which on a "normal" Linux device is possible (but ill advised) but on these atomic distros where even something like syncthing involves shenanigans to keep active week to week? Ain't happening. Because HDMI is not just mapping data to pins and using the right codecs. There are a LOT of handshakes involved along the way (which is also the basis for HDCP which essentially all commercial streaming services utilize to some degree).

There ARE methods (that I have personally used) to take a DP->HDMI dongle and flash a super sketchy Chinese (the best source for sketchy tech) firmware to effectively cheat the handshakes. It isn't true HDMI 2.1 but it provides VRR and "good enough for 2025" HDR at 4k/120Hz. But... I would wager money that is violating at least one law or another.

So expect a lot of those "This ini change fixes all of Windows 11. Just give money to my patreon for it" level fixes. And... idiots will believe it since you can use a dongle to already get like HDMI 2.05 or whatever with no extra effort. And there will likely be a LOT of super sketchy dongles on AliExpress that come pre-flashed that get people up to 2.09 (which is genuinely good enough for most people). But it is gonna be a cluster.

And that is why all of us with AMD NUCs already knew what a clusterfuck this was going to be.

There are also ways to fake the handshake in software. I personally did not try that but from what I have seen on message boards? It is VERY temporary (potentially having to redo every single time you change inputs on your TV/receiver) and it is unclear if the folk who think it works actually tested anything or just said "My script printed out 'Handshake Successful', it works with this game that doesn't even output HDR!"

If would need to be patched in on Linux kernel level, which is annoying to say the least.

The communication protocols are just different enough that an adapter won't work.

That's what the Steam Frame is for.

Better Than Life™

Unfortunately my TV is not one of your homies.