1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,160
No, not again.

2
00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:07,640
Are you telling me that there's now a second version of USB 4, which already carried over

3
00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:10,480
the super confusing naming scheme from USB 3?

4
00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:17,240
Well, I guess here's another Techquickie where we explain why it's not just called USB 5,

5
00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,800
or at least USB 4.1 or something.

6
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:26,360
So what do you need to know? Unsurprisingly, it's fast, like really fast.

7
00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:31,000
USB 4 version 2.0 tops out at a whopping 80 gigabits per second,

8
00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,800
twice as fast as the existing USB 4 Gen 3 by 2.

9
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,960
And yes, I'm getting a headache just saying that.

10
00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,320
That works out to just under 10 gigabytes per second.

11
00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:46,240
So it's actually faster than that PCI Express 4.0 X4 connection,

12
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,920
the nice SSD inside your computer's probably using. And that's wild.

13
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:54,320
Because the USB implementers form hasn't yet published the full specification,

14
00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,760
there aren't many details at this time as to how they pulled off this speed increase,

15
00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,880
other than a vague statement about a new physical layer architecture.

16
00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:07,360
But we did find out from our friends over at CalDigit that the main way they did this

17
00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,440
was by switching over to a signaling scheme called PAM.

18
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,800
No, not the cooking spray. PAM basically means that instead

19
00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:19,040
of two possible digital signaling levels to represent a zero or a one,

20
00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:25,480
there are four signaling levels that can represent 00, 01, 10, or 11.

21
00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,600
So you're moving twice as much data at the same time.

22
00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,320
There still will be dedicated active 80 gigabit rated cables,

23
00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:37,160
which USB IF confirmed are aimed at folks who need to have longer cable runs.

24
00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,640
But to reiterate, you do not need a new cable

25
00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,440
to get the higher speed over shorter distances. Pretty good.

26
00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,040
This is great news for folks that need to move lots of data around quickly.

27
00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,560
Although this might make you think of people that shoot lots of high res video,

28
00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:56,680
the use cases potentially include everything from multifunction docks to external GPU enclosures

29
00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:02,560
to high performance displays. It's no coincidence that USB four, version two,

30
00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,240
has the same maximum bandwidth as the latest version of DisplayPort.

31
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:11,080
80 gigabits per second is enough to drive three 4K screens at 90 frames per second

32
00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:15,080
with HDR support. So as displays that offer high resolutions

33
00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,480
and HDR become more common, along with content and games

34
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,400
that can take advantage of them, this latest USB revision could get us closer

35
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,800
to a one cable for everything future

36
00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,000
instead of having to use separate HDMI and DisplayPort connectors.

37
00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,400
And even more impressive is that instead of running USB four,

38
00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,800
V2 in the default mode,

39
00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,480
which provides 80 gigabits upstream and 80 downstream,

40
00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,640
you can instead run 120 down and 40 up,

41
00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:47,980
which could allow even higher resolutions and refresh rates.

42
00:02:47,980 --> 00:02:53,020
But this isn't yet an official part of the spec. So it remains to be seen how widespread support

43
00:02:53,020 --> 00:02:57,740
for it will actually be. And not only does USB four, version two,

44
00:02:57,740 --> 00:03:03,660
carry DisplayPort 2.0 signals, it also continues to support PCI Express and Thunderbolt.

45
00:03:03,660 --> 00:03:08,100
That's how it can support an external GPU. But how soon will it actually be available?

46
00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:12,420
It's not exactly a big secret that the theoretical maximums of USB

47
00:03:12,420 --> 00:03:15,620
and other high speed interconnects have so far outpaced

48
00:03:15,620 --> 00:03:20,420
how the vast majority of people use them. Keyboards and mice require very little bandwidth.

49
00:03:20,420 --> 00:03:24,020
Flash drives often aren't used for much more than a few photos and documents.

50
00:03:24,020 --> 00:03:27,900
And most of us these days only use the USB ports on phones for charging.

51
00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:32,680
Given this, it shouldn't be surprising that the USB promoter group has come out and said

52
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,340
that the update is being released mostly for the benefit of developers at the moment.

53
00:03:37,340 --> 00:03:41,940
Even if it does seem useful to run several high bandwidth devices off a single port,

54
00:03:41,940 --> 00:03:47,180
it's hard to find mainstream laptops that even have any USB four version one ports,

55
00:03:47,180 --> 00:03:51,700
as you mostly have to look at the higher end of the laptop market if you wanna be on the bleeding edge.

56
00:03:51,700 --> 00:03:56,700
So USB four V2 won't exactly be consumer ready

57
00:03:56,900 --> 00:04:01,900
for the holiday season. And there isn't yet a timetable for when you'll be able to fork over a ton of money

58
00:04:01,900 --> 00:04:05,680
for a computer and or a display that actually supports it.

59
00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,300
Think of this more as a small step towards a more simple future

60
00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:13,320
without a boatload of connectors. Though there are absolutely no signs

61
00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:19,180
that the USB IF is interested in a future where the names of our USB connectors are equally simple.

62
00:04:19,180 --> 00:04:22,580
God, come on! You know what is simple though?

63
00:04:22,580 --> 00:04:26,520
Me thanking you for watching this video. Hey, like the video if you liked it,

64
00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,420
dislike it if you disliked it, check out our other videos, comment below with video suggestions,

65
00:04:30,420 --> 00:04:33,620
and don't forget to subscribe and follow the Techquickie.

66
00:04:33,620 --> 00:04:36,500
It's simple, you should be able to do it.