Versions of USB mainly differ in how fast they transfer data and how much power they can supply, but the names do not do a good job of conveying that. — Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
If you have ever tried to buy a cable or an adapter for your devices, you may have encountered terminologies like Universal Serial Bus (USB) type-C, MiniUSB, MicroUSB, and so on, which on their own are already confusing to the average shopper.
The thing is, it gets much worse.
Universally perplexing
The USB standard has gone through multiple iterations, with its naming scheme becoming more and more obtuse over time.
Each new iteration and its name are determined by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) – a nonprofit made up of companies that developed the standard, including Microsoft, IBM, and Intel.
Take, for instance, your standard USB type-C cable, which can be split between either USB 3 or 4 – sounds simple enough, right?
Well, USB 3 is split into a few different sub-versions, with USB 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2, which can further be broken down into a whole mess of terms like USB 3.1 Gen 1 and USB 3.2 Gen 2x2.
On top of that, USB 4 is based on the Thunderbolt standard (which also uses the USB-C connector by the way, so that muddies the waters even more), further adding to the already long list of terminology.
At first glance, the difference between each iteration or sub-version is basically a mystery to an onlooker.
Versions of USB mainly differ in how fast they transfer data and how much power they can supply, but the names do not do a good job of conveying that.
Take, for instance, USB 3.1 Gen 2 and USB 3.2 Gen 1 – you’d be forgiven for thinking that the one under the 3.2 banner is the faster option, but you’d be wrong since it only supports a 5Gbps data transfer rate while the 3.1 option goes to 10Gbps.
This means that users could be bottlenecking their devices simply because they are not aware of their cable’s limitations, thus taking longer than they should to perform tasks like file transfers.
Attempts have been made by the USB-IF to streamline the naming scheme by having manufacturers market their products with the USB SuperSpeed, SuperSpeed+ 10Gbps, or SuperSpeed+ 20Gbps.
However, the SuperSpeed branding has since been killed off last year in favour of the simpler USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, USB 20Gbps, and USB 40Gbps.
But even then, both the SuperSpeed and USB brandings are not a common sight on products like cables and power adapters.
Optimal choices
Thankfully, digital display standards like High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and DisplayPort (DP) have maintained a relatively linear naming scheme, though these aren’t without their pitfalls.
As with USB, both HDMI and DP use numbering for their iterations, though it’s far more clear-cut – as long as it’s a newer version, it will support higher bandwidth.
The important thing here is to make sure that you know how much bandwidth is actually needed for a specific use case.
For example, if you own a 4K monitor and want to run it at 144Hz, that will require a cable capable of 35.83Gbps data transfer rate, according to Intel.
This would limit your options to something like a DP 2.0 or HDMI 2.1 cable, which can handle that data transfer rate.
In this case, if a cable that can’t handle that data rate is used, whatever is displayed will be degraded with either artifacting or stutter.
The only way around that would be to either lower your resolution or refresh rate in order to use that display with a lower-quality cable or get a better one that supports the required bandwidth, though usually at a higher cost.
Shopping smart
The key takeaway should be to always make sure that you have done your research before shopping for any kind of device or cable, especially in terms of its specifications and compatibility.
Otherwise, you could be left with either something that isn’t able to do what you need it to do, or you could end up paying a premium for something that is excessive for your use case.
Make it a point to look up any unfamiliar terminologies online when shopping for tech products, while also keeping an eye out for any kind of branding or logos that might clue you into what the device is capable of.
