Phones get smaller and smaller each and every year. That’s a given. But connectors don’t, which is a problem. There are handsets out on the market today that have mini HDMI connectors and boy they sure are ugly and highly impractical. Not only do you need an adapter, which almost no one ever remembers to bring with them, but they also make building a device more complicated than it should be because of all the additional space needed on a motherboard.
Enter MHL, which was first introduced with the Galaxy S II back in early 2011. It promised to enable HDMI to be passed through microUSB. Great idea, right? It is on paper, but the Galaxy S III broke the MHL standard by switching up the pin configuration of the connector. In plain English, the cables that made MHL work on the Galaxy S II don’t work on the Galaxy S III.
So what’s a consumer to do? Well, VESA, the Video Electronics Standards Association, has just introduced MyDP. That’s short for “Mobility DisplayPort”. Here’s what you need to know: It’s just like MHL, meaning it can transmit audio, video, and power, but there’s one key addition to MyDP. It also features a 1 megabit per second data channel. That’s not a heck of a lot of speed, but it’s perfect for mice, keyboards, and other such accessories.
When are we going to see MyDP enabled devices out on the market? VESA says Q4 2012. Either way, it’s starting to look like neither MHL or MyDP will get any attention thanks to all the wireless dongles that are currently being pushed. HTC has their own, as does Samsung, and let’s not forget about the one that started it all: the AirPlay feature in the Apple TV.
Wireless A/V standards are even more messed up, so let’s not go there.