A Brief Introduction Of Usb-c | Not As Easy As You Think!

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Currently USB Type-C is slowly joining a new trend. Its use is growing in mid-range to high-end electronics devices. And there is nothing new to say about it, maybe you already have it on your phone or new laptop or you are already using it. But the fact is that many people are already using this new standard USB Type-C (USB Type-C) but you may not know much about it. Honestly, I didn't even know the details until I did the research to write this article. For example: What is the difference between USB-C and USB 3.1? Are all USB-C capable of giving the same speed? I have been doing various research for this article for almost two days now and what I found in it can be really confusing for the average user - because all the USB Type-C connectors look the same but there are many differences between them. But don't worry, I'm just trying to break things down into simple words, "Let's move on."

What is USB-C?

Let's start with the orthodox, so what is USB-C? We all know it can be called a new standard of USB or a new type of USB plug. And the structure of the cable has some special features, the diameter is! When you are told that your phone or laptop has a "USB Type-C" it simply indicates what the USB plug will look like. Its speed or more features can be known only when its detailed specification is known. But we think that just being USB C will have all its features, such as high speed data transfer, support for various protocols, power supply, etc. This type of USB is specially designed for more universal use and is of course future friendly. The thing to notice is; This plug has a lot more pins than a normal USB connector, and more pins means more work can be done with it and this plug is reversible, so it can be plugged in any direction you want, which means you can plug it comfortably even in the dark!

So basically you know it's just a plug. But there are three things that distinguish one USB plug from another; Data speed, power, and protocol. And in the rest of this article I will discuss these issues. One thing I would like to say before entering the main content completely, although USB-C does not mean just about its speed, power, and protocol, there are still some common features that will be there if USB C type. For example, each USB C cable supports 3 amps of electrical power and 60 watts of power. And since the same type of plug-in is attached to both ends of the Type-C, it can send data and power from both sides which is also called dual roll (I will discuss this later). Unlike the old USB cable, where the host side is inserted into your computer, the USB connector and the device side have a micro-USB, mini-USB, or USB connector, but the Type-C host and device on both sides. C is attached.

Data speed

You may have heard of USB 3.1, which supports 10 gigabits / second speed which is also called Super Speed ​​USB. One thing to keep in mind here is that Type-C is just a connector, it never indicates how fast it will be, where USB 3.1, 3.0, 2.1, or 2.0 is the USB data transfer speed standard. . And USB-C cable supports one of these standards. Your device's USB-C could be 2.0, or 3.0, or 3.1 Generation 1, or 3.1 Generation 2; And the data speed rate may be higher or lower depending on the standard used in your Type-C. This means that even if your phone uses USB Type-C, if its speed standard is USB 2.0, then you will get 460 megabits / second speed just like the old USB 2.0. However, your device may support USB 3.1 standard, but there is no guarantee that the Type-C will be high speed. If your connector is "fully featured" then USB 3.1 Generation 2 will be supported and the rest of the Type-C's will be in the max state. You can check from the specification, whether it is full featured.

Power

As I discussed earlier in the article, each Type-C cable must support at least 3 amps of power and 60 watts of power. The Type-C has another term feature that can deliver 5 amps of power and 100 watts of power if required, called Power Delivery or USB-PD. But again not all devices and all Type-C will support this power delivery feature. This means that if a Type-C cable does not support power delivery, it will have the power to supply 3 amps of power and 60 watts of power. The USB 2.0 Standard Type-C cable may have the power delivery feature whereas the 3.1 Standard Type-C cable may not.

If your cable, charger, and device all support Power Delivery, there are some great benefits to this. Kenona supports 100 watts of power in power delivery, so it will be possible to charge many large devices with this amount of power, such as a monitor. Just install a Type-C cable to a monitor, and there will be no need to install a separate power source, both charging and video input will be provided on the same cable. Moreover, if all the devices support power delivery, they can discuss among themselves how much power the devices will supply to whom. However, if there is no power delivery on any device, then the power will be set as default at 3 amperes. And supporting power delivery on both devices will make it possible to get another cool feature, called dual roll. This means that any port power input can be used as output again. And it will not input as required, the output will switch it much faster. And for this you can see that the latest MacBook is charged with Type-C cable and this Type-C cable can also be used to charge different devices from Mac.

Protocol

Different protocols can be used in Type-C and it is called Alternative mode. A total of 4 protocols can be used in this situation; DisplayPort, ThunderBOLD, HDMI, and MHL. In the article written about the display interface, I have discussed all the first ones, the new one here is MHL. MHL is typically used to connect a smartphone to a TV. And of course, as before, any standard Type-C cable may or may not support these protocols. Not all protocols should be used only in Type-C, where there is a separate cable for HDMI and HDMI cable is quite popular.

So just need to drop a Type-C cable that will support all Type-C features at once, right? But there is a problem here too, you will not get all the features in a single cable, maybe one will support 3.1 but will not support power delivery, some will not have all the protocols together, and this is another misconception. Your device may have all the features, but you will need cables of different specifications for different tasks. This will increase the trouble more than before. Now if you use Type-C for just charging and fast data transfer, maybe or most cables will have these features. But if you are thinking of connecting a display, your cable may not have that display protocol feature. There are many types of cables on the market now and you can tell which cable is by looking at the connector or the plug. But everything is the same in Type-C, you will see that your monitor has a Type-C port, you will plug the cable but you will not understand why the cable is not working. You can't decide anything without looking at the specifications of the cable.

Last word

On a positive note, USB-C is certainly capable of changing the present and the future. Gradually bringing all the devices under this connector and standard can prove to be very convenient. I hope that the cable will be brought to the same standard to keep pace with the devices so that we do not have to worry about the cable and the device separately. Again, in the future, different types of Type-C cables will use different logos or different colors, so that it is easier to see and understand.

So in today's article, I hope you can easily break down all the information. So what do you think about Type-C? Is it necessary to use this connector on all devices very quickly? Let us know everything by commenting.