https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/6/23948486/usb-c-cables-marking-speed-power-delivery-elgato

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Please make more USB-C cables like this

Please make more USB-C cables like this

/

Elgato has a simple and useful approach to reduce USB and HDMI cable
confusion: listing the important information on the connector itself.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming,
console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to
Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Nov 6, 2023, 1:44 PM UTC|

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Elgato's USB-C cable with bandwidth information.
Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Elgato hasn't just made an excellent teleprompter, it's also made a
great USB-C cable that ships with it. Professional audio engineer
Matt "Spike" McWilliams spotted that Elgato's latest USB-C cable has
the bandwidth and USB type imprinted on the connector, and now I wish
all manufacturers did this.

I recently spent too many hours sorting my USB-C cables into ones
that are high speed, ones that can deliver fast charging, and ones
that can do both. None of them had any marker to let me know the
speed or type of USB-C cable without me having to test them. It's a
common issue for people switching to USB-C right now, and even a
small indicator like Elgato's can certainly help. The writing on
Elgato's cable tells me it's USB 3.0 compatible and can support up to
5Gbps in bandwidth.

The USB Implementers Forum has a logo that manufacturers can use on
packaging, but that's often useless later on when you're searching
for a specific USB-C cable in your box of cables. I've also purchased
plenty of USB-C cables that have claimed, on the box, to deliver a
certain bandwidth and failed to do so in reality.

Elgato's solution is so simple I didn't even notice it when I unboxed
its Prompter hardware recently, but it's so useful that I wish it was
more widespread. "You'll see spec data on all Elgato USB and HDMI
cables going forward," explains Julian Fest, senior vice president at
Elgato, in a post on X (Twitter). "No more guessing if the cable is
the culprit of a tech issue."

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