The USB world is a mess, yet you managed to deliver a very clear and informative video. Nice job !

@danbennett1005

Жыл бұрын

Yep. It's still clear as mud in some ways, but that's the clearest and most up-to-date explanation I've seen. Leave it to Chris to cut through the confusion, esp. regarding the insane name change of a spec after it was already in use.

@dustinlouder

Жыл бұрын

USB 3 alone is very confusing! The graph was very helpful, though. The channel, as a whole, has been so helpful in learning about computers (technology, in general) as a consumer.

@chuckintexas

Жыл бұрын

@@dustinlouder Absolutely !! We've been P-C'ing" for nearly a HALF CENTURY and "they" STILL struggle with the BASICS !

@mmadmic

Жыл бұрын

In the begining, one of the purposes (if not the main) was to have ONE standard connector to replace ALL existing ones (DBx/DBxx, Parallel cables, proprietary connector, ... ) and now, there're dozen of different cables, no standard and even companies fighting against standardisation such as Apple.

@lesjones471

Жыл бұрын

I agree too.The colour is the problem & mixing the speeds of the blue colour. Read my submission. It means change colour change connector and item to suit.

CORRECTION: Note that in the initial graphic showing all connectors and standards (c. 00:34 in the video) the labels Mini-A SS, Mini-B SS and Mini-AB SS should be Micro-A SS, Micro-B SS and Micro-AB SS. You can see a corrected version of the chart here: www.explainingcomputers.com/images/USB_Connectors_Specs_CORRECTED.jpg Everything is correctly labelled elsewhere in the video where each connector is covered in depth. My apologies. This video was reviewed and corrected four times before upload, but this still crept through the checking process. :(

@dankierson

Жыл бұрын

Bit of work creating these USB ID matrices. Thanks. 🙏

@NicolasChapadosGirard

Жыл бұрын

Micro or mini, almost the same. No need to worry 😃

@BILLY-px3hw

Жыл бұрын

just a "small" mistake

@Spyd77

Жыл бұрын

How fitting that a video about USB needs corrections and amendments.

@GeorgeStar

Жыл бұрын

It's confusing even you!!!

As a mechanical design engineer for 43 years, I was forced into learning about computers to stay current and relevant. I soon learned that the nice thing about standards are that there are so many of them to chose from 😉😂🤣😆😁

@dallesamllhals9161

Жыл бұрын

Yup! Why do simple if... ;-D

@malcolmstonebridge7933

Жыл бұрын

“The good thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.” ― Andrew S. Tanenbaum

@paulwarner5395

Жыл бұрын

That reminds me of the RS232 standard. It wasn't standard

@kayakMike1000

Жыл бұрын

Wow. You're one of those old-school guys, you had to do drafting by hand with a slide rule! Much respect. Most of the CAD tools these days are so complex, it feels like knowing the software is really the hard part.

@kayakMike1000

Жыл бұрын

@@malcolmstonebridge7933 Tanenbaum is one of my heroes. Brilliant computer scientist.

Easily one of the most confusing topics in the computing world, I'm sure I speak for all of us in thanking you for the effort of creating this video & putting such great detail into this. All the best Chris!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Niall. :)

@deusanysantos

Жыл бұрын

Yes Niall you speak for many of Us.... we all are glad

@cokeforever

Жыл бұрын

Generally, it is a good idea to speak for yourself and noone else ;)

@FunIsGoingOn

Жыл бұрын

Have you tried code golfing in Haskell, ASL or Golfscript? There is always something more confusing. ;)

@mrdali67

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately the speed issue is not the whole picture. Try ask how many have had the issue of plugging in an USB memory stick and suddenly both your mice and keyboard is lagging, and start a file copy your system is beeing almost totally unresponsive untill the copy is finnished. There really need to be a better way of telling people how the different usb hubs integrated on the mobo is physically connected. Even people that have a good idea of how the usb is set up and understands that they often share a pcie lane with other perifials, can have a headacke to figure out what is wrong. It's not common for every board to have an actually complete layout of how everything is connected on the board to and from the cpu, which perifials is connected direct to the cpu and which is provided via an external controller on the mobo that gives eg extra sata, nvme, usb connectors via a single pcie lane which leads to these problems that either at best the system itself disables some functionality when plugging one of its services in because the controller can't handle them, or if not you get an unresponsive system.

In fact, that renaming of standards is so contagious, that even HDMI adopted this madness for HDMI 2.1... There's a half bandwidth version which was formerly HDMI 2.0 and a full bandwidth version for 8K60p with HDR support...

@Robbie-mw5uu

Жыл бұрын

The naming standards in tech are what happens when you don't employ women. 802.11 Wifi 0 802.11a Wifi 2 802.11b Wifi 1 802.11g Wifi 3 802.11n Wifi 4 802.11ac Wifi 5 802.11ad 802.11af 802.11-2016 802.11ah 802.11ai 802.11aj 802.11aq 802.11-2020 802.11ax Wifi 6 802.11ax Wifi 6e 802.11be Wifi 7 Xbox Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series XIS Nintendo Gameboy Advance Nintendo Gameboy Advance Micro Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP Nintendo Wii Nintendo Wii U Nintendo Wii Mini Nintendo DS Nintendo DS Lite Nintendo DSi Nintendo DSi LL/XL Nintendo 3DS Nintendo 3DS LL/XL Nintendo 2DS Nintendo 2DS LL/XL Apple Macbook Pro (2012) Apple Macbook Pro (2013) Apple Macbook Pro (2014) Apple Macbook Pro (2015) Apple Macbook Pro (2016) Apple Macbook Pro (2017) Apple Macbook Pro (2018) What happens when you do employ women: Playstation 1 Playstation 2 Playstation 3 Playstation 4 Playstation 5

The comment about throwing his hands up and sitting in the corner literally made me laugh out loud. Another excellent video that I will be sure to recommend to others.

"USB 2.0 is still fast enough for keyboards, rodents and... " Absolutely my all time favorite thing I've ever heard

@RolandoGarza

Жыл бұрын

Ha! Glad to see I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the quip.

Thanks. You just saved me a lot of grief. I have an external disk with a damaged Micro USB-B SS connector. I'd not realised that an ordinary Micro USB-B connector could be used. I'm now (slowly) recovering the data from the disk.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

This is a good result! :) And you are the second person to comment on this particular point. I can never guess which parts of a video will turn out to be useful.

@johnphilippatos

Жыл бұрын

If the disk is external and the only thing that is damaged is the case's connector, you can buy a new case for a few quid and move the disk in the new one. You'll save your disk and your day.

@Graham_Rule

Жыл бұрын

@@johnphilippatos That was the grief I've avoided. Getting the disk out of the case looked decidedly non-trivial as it was firmly glued shut. It was going to be a matter of using a Dremel to cut it open without damaging the contents. Instead I'll just leave it copying on to a spare laptop and check on it in the morning.

@johnphilippatos

Жыл бұрын

@@Graham_Rule Ok, when you are done with transferring the data, you can always go back and check whether you can still salvage the disk by cutting the case open.

@bulletholeteddy9223

Ай бұрын

I used to think usb micro b ss was a proprietary connector, it does look very odd next to the other micro and mini connectors

Explaining Computers is an invaluable asset in understanding Computer Technology.

Thanks for this Chris. I find it absolutely incredible that the USB people thought it would be a good idea to rename standards as they went along! It truly boggles the mind.

@austinharding9734

4 ай бұрын

clearly their the same people that renamed pluto; let's call it a dwarf now!

@Nikifuj908

3 ай бұрын

@@austinharding9734 That one actually made sense tho. If their definition of “planet” had included Pluto, it would also have included a bunch more random rocks that we would have had to memorize.

Whoever named the type-A SS and and the Mini-A SS, deserves a raise.

"A little light in the chaotic world of USB ports!" Thank you for this exemplary presentation!

Universal Serial Bus was created in order to remove the confusion created by all the other means of connecting, like serial, parallel, SCSI etc. Now it has created a confusion of its own. The next protocol will be named USB OMG! Great video again Chris. Thanks.

@Jimwill01

Жыл бұрын

However, one of my biggest complaints, the serial and parallel were seldom (if ever) used to charge the f'king batteries. And those connectors were much more robust than the USB connectors!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

I am now waiting for USB OMG Version 2.0 Gen 2x4.

@rolandhazuki8787

Жыл бұрын

Remind me to how Sony branding their products with confusing long name too 😂

Great video Chris, it's amazing how complex the USB story is 👍

Been using USB since I started using computers in '99. Naming conventions went to crap and I completely lost track of what was going on. Thank you incredibly much for giving such a clear, concise explanation. Also, throwing my hands up in defeat too!

Real world USB speeds seem to vary incredibly and rarely get anywhere near their theoretical limits.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

True. Hence I noted a five-times increase in real world speeds for USB 3.0 over 2.0, after an eight-fold theoretical increase! :)

@zorktxandnand3774

Жыл бұрын

The big difference is that up to USB 2.0 it was a half duplex connection, so data could only travel one way at a time, and this made the practical speed more like 25-30 MB/s than the theoretical 60 MB/s. From USB 3.0 it became a full duplex connection, so you could get much closer to your theoretical max speed.

@Reziac

Жыл бұрын

And oh, the slow pain when one decides it's not speaking to another and falls back to 1.0 speeds....

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

@@zorktxandnand3774 A very good point!

@_Digitalguy

Жыл бұрын

@@zorktxandnand3774 But with USB 4 (and Thunderbolt) we are back at barely more than half the speed, around 22-23 Gb/s vs 40 (or 2800 MB/s vs 5000)

Only Explaining Computers could make sense of that mess of specs and connectors. I know - I tried this winter to understand it by watching other youtube videos and Chris is a master of taking complex subjects and making them understandable by mere mortals. Thanks so much for this video. I will never look at a usb outlet or plug the same way again - now I will know what to look for!

Great video! One point of note, you omitted the difference between 5 pin mini-B and 4 pin mini-B. 5 pin mini-B is the connector we're all used to, 4 pin mini-B was included on certain digital cameras and OH GOD HELP YOU if you're on vacation and misplace your 4 pin mini-B cable.

It's the measure of Chris's ability that he's able to turn a subject as null as USB connectors and standards into something interesting and informative. As soon as I hear those words "So let's take.....ah....closer...look", I know it's going to be good... Well done Chris and thanks for all the time you have poured into these videos over the years.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind feedback.

Every family need an uncle like you who introduces their nieces and nephews to not only the use, but also to the history of all the gadgets they take for granted. Great vid, like always. Cheers!

As the saying goes, the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from. I didn't even know there was a USB 4. You gave a nice overview, Chris. That must have taken a long time to collate.

I'm at class today, Teacher!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Greetings Leslie! :) Here we are on another Sunday.

@ArniesTech

Жыл бұрын

For real. Listening to Chris Videos really feels like attending one of his lectures live at the University. 💪🙏

I’m an IT pro and I always learn something new from your videos.

I recently built a newer computer that has the orange USB 3.2 at 10gb/s and was pleasantly surprised when my old ssd hd on an older USB 3.0 micro b cable worked at what appears to be twice the speed of USB 3.0. Having that backwards compatibility is very much appreciated! Thanks for the great video 👍🏼

@offspringfan89

Жыл бұрын

Hmm, in this is case it's forwards compatibility, no?

@Wandering_Horse

Жыл бұрын

@@offspringfan89 In my thinking, since it is a newer standard that is compatible with older hardware, would make it going backwards in time. I could also credit the actual cable I purchased as being forward compatible by being capable of supporting the higher speeds. I suppose you can look at it from either perspective and both would be correct.

@SINDRIKARL1

Жыл бұрын

@@Wandering_Horse it is a newer standard being compatible with older hardware, but since it's at the newer speed it's considered that your SSD is forward compatible since it supports newer stuff than itself.

@__Brandon__

4 ай бұрын

If it can use USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds after upgrading the host then the peripheral always supported it but was being downgraded to USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds. It's not forward or backwards compatibility, it's just he's using the right equipment now and can use Gen 2

This is one of the most tricky topics when usb3.1 comes up, you handed this perfectly. This is the clearest explanation about what’s happened and happening to usb. I will be pointing other towards this video. Thank you.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Mark. :)

Louis Rossmann also has a video on how not all USB-C chargers work on all devices. Making you think the device is broken. Have you ever looked deeper into the different kinds of quick charge technology for usb-c? Hopefully we can see such a video one day.

Excellent and timely presentation. I've been in this field for 40 years and I still learn a lot from you. Thank you !

I’ve been very confused about the different connectors and speeds. You confirmed that you can’t tell the speed by the colour or shape of the connector, only by testing. “Keyboard and rodent “ 😂. Informative and useful information, thanks

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Good to see Stanley in agreement there.

"The USB standard..." [waggles impressive bundle of mutually-incompatible cables] Priceless!! Standards -- so many to choose from... OTG probably explains why I've given up getting a PC and a camera to speak civilly, and now just extract the data card to a reader.

@MoonLiteNite

Жыл бұрын

but they ALL are compatible..... you just need the correct adapter to get the connector type correct. Everything is combatable with everything. I still run a 20 year old USB 1.1 HUB, through a USB-B to USB-C cable... and all my devices work on the HUB, at 1.1 speeds. Of course the HUB came with a USB-A to USB-B cable, but my current laptop doesn't have USB-A, no worries. Just find a USB-B to USB-C cable and problem solved.

@Reziac

Жыл бұрын

@@MoonLiteNite That's dandy if you only need 1.1 speeds, such as for printers or keyboards. It's quite awful for an external drive that hosts big files, or for booting from an ISO. Also, a lot of 1.1 cables don't support 2.0 (that is, even if the device can fallback, it won't work), and they're not marked, so trial and error to learn which are which. Some 1.1 cables won't work at all with 2.0 devices, and some early 2.0 cables won't work with 1.1 devices. And early 1.1 and 2.0 mainboard chips had all sorts of quirks about what they would or wouldn't support. I have a pile of adapters, but they only solve the port issue, not the speed issue nor the version-specific cable issue.

It's a shame how little useable information is in the various USB designations. While it should not be necessary, I'm very glad this video exists. Chris' delivery and methodology make for much needed clarity on this subject.

Superspeed and Superspeed+ as well as the Type C connector are the best ideas they've come up with so far. Great video.

Thank you so much for the excellent video on USB. Your videos on evolving technical standards help me keep up with the changes.

I wasn’t even aware of the USB4 release! Thanks, Chris!

Great video with simple explanations. It’s a wonder in 30 years we moved from baud rates where you took an hour to download an IBM fix pack disquete image to 100gigabit per second network ports!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Yes, progress across a few decades has been amazing.

This is easily the best explanation of USB speeds and connectors in the universe! Thanks, Christopher!

Amazing explanatory presentation to address the madness of confusing USB naming schemes. Well worth watching and bookmarking for later.

USB is a joy compared to what we had before it. If only Commodore had the job of naming the different USB versions, we'd have Alan, Betty, Charlie and Daphne. But then Evelyn would arrive, and Daphne would become David. A good vid, I really enjoyed it. Thanks.

@glittalogik

Жыл бұрын

Bit tangential but your comment sparked a wave of nostalgia for me, happy memories of loading up a game in my C64 tape drive before lunch so I could come back 45 minutes later and actually play the damn thing ☺

Calling mice rodents, I love it. The confusion comes from USB Type C 2.0 on new devices. It's near 2023, and all new phones, tablets, and other handheld computers should be using at the very least USB 3.0 and support display out, even if PD isn't offered on said devices.

@ironfist7789

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, the problem is some manufacturers probably have bins of the old stuff they need to run out of :(

I always reserve my sunday mornings expecting to watch another video from ExplainingComputers.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Great to hear!

I love this flavour of ExplainingComputers video. I needed a quick refresher on filesystem differences and remembered your video. I saw this Explanation of USB standards on my way and was delighted! Thank you very much Chris :)

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching Dan. :)

This is the clearest explanation I have seen...and I still got a headache. Going into a corner to hide with my box full of legacy cables.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Good old cable corner.

@boboften9952

Жыл бұрын

Hint Put a label on each cable of the device you use each cable for Eg smart phone , portable hard drive , printer As and when you use them put another label on the cable , fast , faster , " warp speed " Hope this helps

@rjbook51

Жыл бұрын

@@boboften9952 Then I would miss the fun of dumping out the box searching for the one cable to rule them all. I wonder which cable is speed "Go to Plaid" (Spaceballs reference)

Fascinating stuff. Another topic that I'm aware of through use, but haven't had the time or inclination to try and bottom it out. Seeing this video confirmed that position! I remember when RS-232 was described as "the most non-standard standard". They hadn't seen anything yet!

@Mizai

Жыл бұрын

-$2.99

Another clear explainitory video Chris. Thanks for your continued great work.

Love your delivery and humor! Thanks for putting my mind at ease that I know nothing!

Great video as usual. The whole usb naming used to simple. Now it's confusing.

The USB rabbit hole doesn't stop there. There's also Thunderbolt. At first, Thunderbolt used a Mini DisplayPort connector, but as Mini DisplayPort was phased out in favor of USB Type-C, Thunderbolt also made the jump to a Type-C connector. The USB 4 standard now includes Thunderbolt, which is important because it finally allows AMD systems to use Thunderbolt (which was initially a collaboration between Intel and Apple).

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

I plan to cover Thunderbolt in a separate video -- there was already a lot of detail in this one! :)

@Robbie-mw5uu

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, the newest USB standard is superior to Thunderbolt so it no longer being proprietary is meaningless.

@niter43

Жыл бұрын

@@Robbie-mw5uu superior in what sense?

Very clear, very descriptive, well documented and presented in an excellent manner as always. Congratulations for yet another professional-grade upload. Many, many thanks!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind feedback, appreciated. :)

Your deliveey of information is simply outstanding. It sets you apart. This was a great informative video. Thank you!

I really love this highlight of my Sundays. The perfect balance between clear well communicated facts, and dry succinct humor. I would strongly suggest designers of usb equipment to watch this video very carefully. Particularly if they want to utilize PD to it's limits. Usb 1.1 transferred 2.5 w. Things really had to stack up against you to start a fire with 2.5 watt. Almost two orders of magnitude larger is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Chris, you did a great job explaining the mess that is USB revision nomenclature. And I don't care what the USB consortium says, I'll still call USB 3.2 Gen 1, 3.2 Gen 2, Gen 2x2 and USB4 as 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 and 4.0 respectively.

Yet another fantastically informative video Chris, thank you.

Since 2016, people raged on dongles or coined dongle-gate (about the use of many dongles in majority of laptops shipped only with USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3/USB4), meaning the majority of cables will be got tangled with the use of their old devices (like connecting using VGA, HDMI, or other USB-A cables). I think that USB-C only will be the future in majority of devices shipped, including the one-cable solution in all of the peripherals, displays, and others. Hope to make a video about wireless specifications that sometimes people confused about. Great video for this week!

I consider myself to be fairly up to date on stuff like this and in 2013 it started to confuse me. But generally, as long as the plugs fit, they worked and worked fast enough. However, the type c connector has become my favorite by far, small and reliable.

eureka moment for me,thanks for the clear and concise breakdown.i'm off to order the correct cables for my new build.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Good luck with your build.

Always good to learn new things. I think i finally understand the 2x2 part of the USB 3.2 spec.

Best video on USB specs I've seen! Thank you so much 😊

I am old enough and been in IT long enough to get the Julie Andrews reference. Even though I knew most of this, I enjoyed the concise but thorough explanation of all things USB.. will definitely refer this to friends!

Don't forget USB "alpha" - Atari SIO designed by Joe Decuir who later designed USB 1.0. SIO required all devices to have firmware, supplied 12V over the cable, and supported a wide variety of equipment just like USB.

This video helped me understand how little I know about the usb family. It also explained why certain type c cords that I have work differently. I realize now they are both different speeds so do not treat all devices equally. Thanks for the lesson.

Thank you for the very succinctly explained introduction to USB. Likely the best I've seen so far in its class! :)

Very informative, as always, but I think you haven't managed to capture the frustration that us consumers face when it comes to things like purchasing an USB cable. Recently I lent a type-C to type-A cable from my father, to use with an external SSD, and after using it a couple of times and feeling it was unusually slow, I checked it just to find out that it was USB 2.0, with just four pins on the type-A end 🤦🏻‍♂️ And general USB cable quality is so low! Why do they even sell these products? Anyway, great video, as always! Keep it up 👍🏻

@soragranda

Жыл бұрын

This is plus that apple had in their ecosystem for laptops for years, using thunderbolt SSDs and peripherals is so easy :/.

@boboften9952

Жыл бұрын

In the early days of USB Belkin was the brand of cables to follow , use , purchase Momax is now the brand of cables to follow , use purchase Also short cables result in the portable device ( smart phone ) having to be place down , while with very long two metre cables , the smart phone can still be utilized while being charged

@mharris5047

Жыл бұрын

@@boboften9952 I have had good luck with Anker USB cables but haven't used anything with the new USB 4 standard yet. Belkin cables should also be of decent quality but I haven't used any of their USB cables to comment from personal experience.

@Andrew_Fernie

Жыл бұрын

@@mharris5047 Yes, that's the difference between a £20 cable and a £2 cable. I also find the Anker cables to be excellent and reassuringly expensive

@macsound

Жыл бұрын

@@Andrew_Fernie Don't be fooled by Quality. Even Anker's most expensive Series 7 USB C cable is only USB 2 speed, but is touted at 140w. Generally I've seen most USB C cables are designed for power and not data.

Thank you Chris, now this is grass roots ExplainingComputers, and something that should be mandatory viewing in schools and colleges! It's an increasingly confusing USB world, I long for the the old days of Centronics cables, dip switches and serial ports...

@brodriguez11000

Жыл бұрын

Not really. What people forget is just how thick and expensive a lot of those cables were. Going serial made a big difference.

The people who got the most benefit from all these connectors are the cable manufactures!!! Great video as always and true to the name "Explaining Computers"!!! Keep up the good work my brother!

Thanks Chris for the clear and concise rundown. The USB naming has been a real debacle.

Thanks for explaining the difference between the version of USB. Very informative indeed.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

No problem 👍

Great overview of the various versions of USB. I was involved in the early versions of the spec 1.0 & 1.1. Our goal was to provide a single high speed and low speed (mouse guys did not want to use shielded cable) interface that could replace the plethora of special purpose connectors then used on PCs. Power delivery was another strong requirement. Remember at the time neither Ethernet non Firewire (IEE1394) were able to deliver power. Back then the laptop guys hated having to deliver 500 ma. All in all USB has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. The two most surprising developments for me is the emergence of USB Flash drives (back then 500 MB disk drives were mainstream) and USB being used to power an ungodly array of widgets. All in all a pretty good track record considering we could not figure out a clever marketing name so it came to market with the name we used in development. .

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Fascinating post. Thanks greatly for sharing this here. :)

@encycl07pedia-

Жыл бұрын

Tom, did you use a specific front-end to leave that comment, or is the lone dot on the end just a habit?

@tomschmidt381

Жыл бұрын

@@encycl07pedia- Probably just a typo on my part.

@encycl07pedia-

Жыл бұрын

@@tomschmidt381 OK. I know that's how a lot of older software signals the end of a message/post. Thank you for clearing that up!

@runed0s86

Жыл бұрын

I'd blame muscle memory but I'm not familiar with your experience of Morse code.

i knew all this already.. but i still watched this video in it's entirety. it's a fascinating topic and this channel is so entertaining and interesting! thank you for making these videos!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching. :)

My man, first video that I see on your channel and you nailed it. Great stuff

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! :)

USB is pretty confusing and complicated. Thank you for this clear overview.

Let's hope that USB type C lasts for next 10 to 15 years. The main advantage of type C is that it is same for hosts and peripherals of different form factors, plus it can also act as a power delivery port. And last but not the least, it is reversible. The only complaint I have is why it took so many years to come up with something like this.

@CommodoreFan64

Жыл бұрын

On the reversible part, there have been reversible USB A male plugs for sometime now, as companies like JLab use them on their true wireless earbuds cases that's also very thin for charging with pins on both sides of the plug, and I have I had a right angle USB C female to USB A male adapter(came with a Gulikit USB C Bluetooth adapter for Switch that also works on PC as it acts like a USB sound card) that can be reversed, and it plugged in either way with the USB A plug that has normal metal shielding around it, that not only charges, but supplies data. Having said that, they are not very common sadly.

@johnm2012

Жыл бұрын

Despite its many advantages, the problem I have with the Type C connector is that it doesn't lock in place unlike, say, a DisplayPort connector.

This video is yet another demonstration of how explainers should be done. Excellent work Mr. C!!!✌

Superb video. Every time I get a new phone, battery pack, game controller or hard drive I have to run around looking for so many different USB cables. So confusing! Great to to see the history and clear concise info on an everyday computer necessity 👍👍

USB from a coder's side is incredibly difficult. The 4v2 standards were published a few months ago but the naming convention sparked a lot of controversies.

@SirFaceFone

Жыл бұрын

Why are the names so confusing anyway? It seemed to make sense before USB 3.

I think I may have planted the seed for this video... great to see a fantastic job as always trying to explain the different standards and definitions with both visuals and graphs. It's always puzzled me why USB (and HDMI and Display Port for that matter) have moved away from doing some sort of physical difference of the ports or cables, when they started going from the older black or white inner cable to the blue version of 3, it made a lot of sense.... and then they abandoned all sense whatsoever. They could have used other colours like red or green or the like or put a stamp on the plastic around the cord or port... but as you say... you really need to test both cables and devices or have a reliable manual tell you which version you have. And of course, dodgy cable sellers will always mark up their data and power rate numbers and increase the price when they are really selling older generation types which they hope the end user won't notice. :-\ Anyway, thanks for putting up with the madness though. :-D

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this.

@mrdali67

Жыл бұрын

Plus on some systems the "blue" ver 3+ connectors is RED which doesn't really help either 🙃

Extremely well made video. Thank you for explaning this clearly.

This is so timely! I recently had to order a USB cable to power a dash-cam. It was so hard to figure out which "B" connection to specify, & I ended up having to enlarge the online pictures to compare with the cable. Next time, I can just rewatch this to determine which of the 14 connectors is needed! Thanks for another well done tutorial.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

I don't think you are the first person to enlarge pictures to compare connectors -- and you won't be the last! :)

Thanks. Reminds me of a camel-horse designed by committee. Was a little disappointed that you avoided the naming problems of the different standards, Hi Speed etc. For me that was their biggest sin. I think there's another important takeaway - as long as the plugs fit, all standards are compatible, albeit at the lowest performance of the partners. There is/was another problem, mixing different versions on hubs slowed the hub for all devices on it, and daisy chained...

"... keyboards, rodents, and lower-capacity storage." Rodents just sent me

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

:)

@ArniesTech

Жыл бұрын

Chris Humor is so smoothly under the radar and so dry, it Kills me every time 🤣

Yet another fabulous video! Thank you for all the hard work you clearly put into these videos. 👏🏻

If I understand correctly, one of the main reasons for going from a mini-b to micro-b plug was the 'barbs' that kept the connector together. In a mini-b the barbs are inside the host and not the cable. So if they broke, the device had a difficult time keeping the connector connected. On a micro-b, the barbs are on the cable, so if they break, you can easily swap the cable.

Thanks for so many great videos, I really appreciate the effort you have put in every week for so long. God bless.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. :)

Let's go algorithm people need this information

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

:)

Helpfully demystifying the process of getting connected. Many thanks!

You're a daring man. I would assume by the time I had the video edited a new standard would appear.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Nice. :)

Phone manufacturers still sell USB-C devices with 2.0 speeds, which, if 4K video is and Micro SD extension/swap isn't an option, feels like a deliberate troll at this point.

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Yes, there are a lot of USB-C USB 2.0 implementations. It brings us back to the issue of the connector not indicating the specification.

Thank you for this informative and well presented video. Could you please consider making a supplementary video with a more detailed explanation of the USB PD specification and how this affects users in terms of backward compatibility and safety. I was comfortable with the USB standard whilst it was limited to 5v. It seemed safe to use any charger with any device. I am not sure if this is still true. My latest phone charger has a USB-A connector and is capable of supplying voltages of up to 20v. I presume that it is safe to use this with any new device using a new USB-A to USB-C cable. However, I still use an 8-year-old Amazon Kindle Paperwhite with a USB-A to micro-USB cable. I doubt that this would survive a 20v input and it is unlikely to incorporate logic to control the charger voltage. Is it safe to connect this to the phone charger? I have heard reports that some older USB-A to USB-C cables are incompatible with the latest standards and should be discarded. If this is true, how can they be identified? The EU are seeking to encourage the use of universal chargers and charging cables. This is a laudable goal but is it safe with current hardware?

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

This I may well do -- it depends hw well this video does. I did download 17 USB PD specifications/revisions whilst making this video.

@jagadishk4513

Жыл бұрын

Getting 20V out of the charger is not that easy there are clear steps listed in the protocol. You can get a passive cable that has specific resistors to get 5v but for more than 5v there are lot of steps a usb pd downstream port has to do to negotiate 20V from the charging brick.

@jagadishk4513

Жыл бұрын

I think ur ok as long as you don't use any sketchy active cable. Any ordinary passive cable which doesn't communicate with the brick will get 5v, 0.9A at most. The protocol is such that legacy devices don't get destroyed if used.

Beautifully explained as always, thank you. Love this, thanks for sharing and explaining.

That is fabulously informative... I had given up trying to get my head around USB standards.

This standard created to simplify connection standards has become the most convoluted mess consumers have ever seen in electronics. The people charged with making the USB standard should be ashamed of themselves having failed miserably in their one and only task. To understand USB is to have been watching tech news week after week for years.

I haven't laughed as hard in any of your other videos as I did when you said "This was madness!" I remember describing USB specifications to someone, and when I pulled specs up to show him, things had changed and I was giving technically incorrect information. 📌Madness!📌

@andrekz9138

Жыл бұрын

I do want to add a proposition that interfacing peripherals into a system's OS (especially into a universal standard) is probably challenging, considering the variety and possible combinations. Raspberry Pis and Arduinos are another story.

@SuprousOxide

Жыл бұрын

I think their defense is "It's not OUR fault if marketers just use our specification names rather than using names like USB Super Speed, USB Super Ultra Speed and USB Mega Speed.

@andrekz9138

Жыл бұрын

@@SuprousOxide 100% with you. The best naming scheme tells the critical info in the name as opposed to iteration numbers which stand for something else, ie USB-A-10G cable or a USB-C-20G port. Right now, we have to search a table online and that's an annoying step.

I was totally unawares of the bewildering array of USB's that have come and gone. Thank you, I've learned a great deal this day.

so many variations.......thanks for categorising the ever changing world of the USB

I had no idea I could insert the small microUSB cables into the microUSB SS ports!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Result! :)

@arch1107

Жыл бұрын

i have been doing that since 2015, didnet knew it wasnt a thing untill now

Thanks!

@ExplainingComputers

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your support Jim, appreciated. :)

Thanks for your effort to bring some clarity to a nightmare of 'oh let's try something different'.

Amazing tutorial, as always! Thanks Cris!

Rodents...love that!

@Praxibetel-Ix

Жыл бұрын

Now I'm thinking about Jerma985's "Rat Movie". 🐀😅 "Rats, we're rats, we're the rats! We prey at night, we stalk at night, we're the rats!"

Had no idea about the backwards compatibility of Type-B SS and Mini SS sockets! That was satisfying to watch, and an elucidating video all round. I don't understand the adoption of USB-C connectors if it doesn't make use of the later specifications. I have two Focusrite audio interfaces, and the later one use a USB-C connector even though it's still using a USB 2.0 interface. The older one with a Type-B connector can withstand a couple knocks of the lead, but the USB-C completely loses its connection with a slight tap. So I'd say it's an objective and unnecessary downgrade in reliability. A USB-C that can lock (like DP, XLR or 8P8C) would be an improvement for prosumer grade tech.

@ironfist7789

Жыл бұрын

I think it is because they want them to fit on all skinny devices. As far as some usb-c connectors not having some features, probably for cost savings for cheaper suppliers (not sure). If I'm not mistaken, some usb cables have fewer wires.

@johnm2012

Жыл бұрын

@@ironfist7789 Cables that are designed specifically for power delivery using Type C connectors will have nice heavy copper conductors joining the power pins but they usually don't bother implementing the Super Speed data pairs. So what might look like a high quality cable simply won't work above USB 2.0 speeds. Similarly, you can pay a lot for a cable that's specified to work with Thunderbolt and find it's hopeless for charging your laptop, despite having exactly the same connectors.

Chris, as a retired electronics engineer, I loved your easy-to-understand video (c/w correction). For example. you said, Power delivered (watts) to a device is "negotiated" with variable voltages. This is a non-trivial, little appreciated forthcoming change in the USB standard! fers at 240watts!

So when talking about micro A and micro b does there exist any micro A only receptacles? Because I've never seen one