When HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) first was released in 2003 it made sense that it got so much attention as it did, because it was a giant step in visual technology. The technology was put into devices such as Playstation, TV´s and later Blue Ray players. The HDMI specification was designed/manufactured by six consumer electronics giants: Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, and Toshiba.

Back then HDMI was a DVI improved technology. HDMI 1.0 offered 1920×1200 at 60Hz, which was great back then. But since 2008 when Displayport introduced to world by VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) there has been a dogfight between the two standards.

HDMI connectors has 19 pins and are manly manufactured in 3 sized:

• Type A (which is the standard HDMI)
• Type B (never been used in any products)
• Type C (which is the mini)
• Type D (micro)
• Type E (only used in Automotive Connection System)

DisplayPort connectors has 20 pins and are manufactured in 2 sizes:

• DisplayPort (standard)
• Mini DisplayPort

The mini DisplayPort technology and PCI Express data connections are added together and Intel created the Thunderbolt interface.

The HDMI connector connects uses friction to stay in place and all my experience tells me that this isn´t good enough, because over time customers has experienced that the connectors has fallen out. On the opposite side the fullsize DisplayPort has created its connector with a locking mechanism that avoids the cable from being accidentally disconnected.

My biggest issue with HDMI is that there are four different standards and unless you mark the cables yourself you would not really know the capability of each cable. Why you may ask, well there are loads of them:

• Standard HDMI
• HDMI with Ethernet
• High speed HDMI
• High speed HDMI with Ethernet

But HDMI dont stop there, they have released following versions:

• Versions 1.0
• Versions 1.1
• Versions 1.2
• Versions 1.3
• Versions 1.4
• Versions 2.0
• Versions 2.1

DisplayPorts only comes in DisplayPort and mini DisplayPort with 4 versions, so it should be much easier to find the right one..

If you comepair the speeds the of the two DisplayPort 1.2 has more bandwidth at 21.6 Gbit/s, as opposed to HDMI 2.0’s 18 Gbit/s and DisplayPort 1.3 increased that to 32.4 Gbit/s

For me its about time that all the big manufacturers removes HDMI from all computers, projectors, public displays, other meeting room and business devices and step into the light. DisplyPort are both more secure for installation use and has higher bandwith speeds.