HDMI has become the standard for audio and video cables for most people. If you're watching a Blu-ray on your living room TV, you have it connected via HDMI. The same thing goes for your streaming boxes like the Apple TV 4K and Roku Ultra. The point is that HDMI has become an everyday part of life, but it doesn't apply to all aspects. My PC doesn't have an HDMI cable anywhere near it, and it hasn't for several years. For PC, it feels like DisplayPort reigns supreme, and there are a few reasons for that.
The big reason I can see for people to be using DisplayPort is that manufacturers are essentially forcing you to. My RTX 3070 Ti has just a single HDMI slot, but it has three DisplayPort slots. This means if you're using a multi-monitor setup, you need to use DisplayPort. The good news is that DisplayPort is a perfectly fine format, and there are many people who prefer it over HDMI. When it comes to PC, I do prefer it, but there are still places where HDMI is suitable for PC. There are even situations where HDMI is the only option, which might be a bit surprising.
Quiz
HDMI Ports & History
Trivia Challenge
Think you know your HDMI versions from your ARC from your eARC โ put your display tech knowledge to the ultimate test!
HistoryVersionsFeaturesHardwareStandards
In what year was the first HDMI specification (version 1.0) officially released?
Correct! HDMI 1.0 was released in December 2002 and became commercially available in 2003. It was developed by a consortium of electronics manufacturers including Sony, Panasonic, and Philips as a successor to analog standards.
Not quite โ HDMI 1.0 arrived in late 2002 and hit the market in 2003. It was a landmark moment for home entertainment, replacing bulky analog connections with a single digital cable capable of carrying both audio and video.
Which…