Thursday, March 7, 2013

How to tell the difference between Micro, Mini, and regular HDMI connectors

Right Angle HDMI
Micro HDMI Extensions
HDMI Mini Left Angle Cables.

With HDMI haivng different connectors, how can you tell the difference between them?  That's the question that we began asking ourselves when we started working on our own designs for the HDMI products that we're developing.  

HDMI uses 3 main connectors:
A - Regular HDMI - Used on most computers, TV and DVD players
C - Mini HDMI - Used mainly on larger DSLR cameras and tablets.
D - MIcro HDMI - Used on smaller cameras and some smaller tablets.

See the image below to find out which port your device has


Now, we found the most confusing one to be the Micro HDMI port.  It's a bit deceptive because it's very close in size to the Micro USB 2.0 size.  If you don't have them side-by-side, and they're not labeled, it can be very easy for even a seasoned pro to get confused.

To help clear things up, I went to my local best buy to peruse the tablet section.  I found one tablet that had both of the connectors side by side, the Kindle.  Here's a picture of it so that you can see the two side by side.  It's obviously a large picture, so it's much easier to see than with the naked eye.
So, from this picture, you can see that the Micro USB is slightly wider and shorter, than the Micro HDMI.

Hopefully this will help to clear your confusion, and what port that you have... that is, until you only have a Micro USB 2 that also includes MHL functionality.  We'll talk about that in another post, though.  The difference and incompatibility of some cables with MHL, and the varieties of MHL connections is a whole story all in itself.

Good luck

9 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
catherinetramell said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

What about slimport MyDP micro USB 2.0
Is this a different style/size ?
For Kindle Fire HD (4th Gen.)

Roy Spray said...

comment on this old post but thanks. Got what I needed on info. Thanks for posting.

Gary Bisaga (aka fool4jesus) said...

Thanks, I'm with Roy. For some reason this information is hard to find and your site gave me what I needed. Thanks!

Rick Wessley said...

Thanks for the comments. I work in the industry, and when I go to charge the kindle, even I still have a hard times sometimes remembering which connector is USB, and which is HDMI! So, if I have a hard time, I'm sure others will as well - that's one of the reasons I thought this post would be helpful when I wrote it almost 3 years ago. Glad that the article has some legs and is helpful!

ListsUK said...

Yep, @Rick - still helpful, thank you :)

So far, been through what feels like 221 pages of Amazon HDMI adapters and still couldn't determine which size I actually needed (other than knowing it wasn't either of the last two I bought - haha).

But now I'm sorted: a mini (not micro!) hdmi female to a regular hdmi male. Easy :)

Bill Williams said...

Thanks for this useful info.