1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,560 It seems like everything you can connect to a TV or monitor has an HDMI port, 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:09,440 but somehow DisplayPort, which is largely able to just do the same thing, 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:14,320 has stuck around for years on our computers. So what's the point of having two connectors that 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:20,320 are seemingly interchangeable? Well, it turns out HDMI and DisplayPort were designed with different 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:27,200 uses in mind. HDMI hit the scene in 2003 and was mostly backed by companies involved in the home 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:32,080 theater side of consumer electronics. Think Panasonic, Philips, and Sony, for example. 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:38,800 Digital cable boxes, HDTVs, and DVD players were starting to take off, and Movie and TV Studios 8 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,560 worked with the companies that made these devices on a connection that supported 9 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:48,640 copy protection. DisplayPort, on the other hand, didn't come along until 2008 and was designed 10 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:54,160 specifically with computers in mind by Vesa, the same folks that standardized those mounting holes 11 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,240 so you could stick a big screen on your wall. Vesa members included big players in the PC 12 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:03,520 industry such as Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Apple. DisplayPort was meant to replace 13 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:10,000 older standards like VGA and DVI, and for the longest time, DisplayPort was ahead of HDMI in 14 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:17,920 terms of performance. For example, DisplayPort 1.2, which came out in 2010, supported 4K at 60Hz. 15 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,160 I mean, there are plenty of PCs that still struggle with gaming at that resolution and 16 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:29,840 Meanwhile, HDMI 1.4, which was the dominant standard back then, only supported 4K at 30Hz, 17 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:34,800 meaning anyone with a powerful GPU had to be careful which connector they were using. 18 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:40,160 Early versions of DisplayPort also supported features that HDMI lacked, like Vesa Adaptive Sync, 19 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:45,680 meaning it could work with AMD FreeSync more than two years before HDMI 2.1 brought official 20 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:51,840 support for variable refresh rates. But fast forward to 2022, and both HDMI and DisplayPort's 21 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:57,840 most recent revisions are seriously impressive. They each support all the major flavors of HDR, 22 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:07,200 loss of audio, and seriously sky high resolutions. HDMI 2.1 maxes out at 10K 120Hz, while DisplayPort 23 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:16,880 2.0 gives you 16K at 60Hz or 10K at 80Hz. Sure, I have a display like that. So are HDMI and DisplayPort 24 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:22,000 meaningfully differentiated anymore other than just the connector? They are, and we'll tell you 25 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,760 about that right after we tell you about our sponsor. If you want to use NVIDIA's full 26 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:32,320 implementation of G-Sync, you have to use DisplayPort as it doesn't work over HDMI for the time being. 27 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:37,760 DisplayPort also supports Vesa's new Adaptive Sync certification program, with the goal of 28 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:42,480 being to inform you quickly by the use of a spiffy logo, whether the monitor's variable refresh rate 29 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:48,400 technology will reliably work across a wide range of frame rates. But do keep in mind that 30 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:54,800 HDMI 2.1 supports VRR, so you should have at least some protection against screen tearing no matter 31 00:02:54,800 --> 00:03:00,000 what you go with. Another key difference is that DisplayPort allows daisy chaining, meaning you can 32 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,520 connect multiple displays to just one port as long as those monitors have a pass-through port. This is 33 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,920 especially useful if you need to use several monitors at once for work or for something like 34 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:15,920 photo editing, but aren't rocking a fancy GPU with tons of ports. An HDMI port can't carry more 35 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:20,560 than one video signal, which means you need additional equipment for a multi-monitor setup 36 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:27,760 without DisplayPort. But one area where HDMI is more useful is ARC, which stands for Audio Return 37 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:32,400 Channel. If you have an HDMI display connected to a receiver, you can cut down on cable clutter 38 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:38,720 because ARC sends an audio signal back down the same HDMI cable. So if you got audio originating 39 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:44,640 from a Netflix app on your TV, it can piggyback on that one HDMI cable all the way down to your 40 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:50,480 speakers. And HDMI also allows you to adjust the volume with your display's remote if you're using 41 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:56,160 something like an HDMI soundbar. So both ports have their strengths, but you can see that they're 42 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:01,280 designed for different use cases despite the fact that they both carry insanely high-quality video 43 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:06,720 signals. Sure, it would be nice if we could use one port for absolutely everything, but what's 44 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:12,320 the fun in that? Huge thanks for watching. Hit like. Don't hit dislike. Check out our other videos. 45 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,040 Actually, I guess you can hit dislike. No one sees it anymore. Does it even matter? 46 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:17,920 Comment your video suggestions down below and just have a great day.