HDMI to Mini DisplayPort?

In the market, you can find lots of variant of Mini DisplayPort (DisplayPort) to HDMI Adapter and Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable.  They would typically cost less than $20.  But you could hardly find HDMI to Mini DisplayPort adapter…

Wait a minute, isn’t HDMI to Mini DisplayPort adapter same as Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter?

Answer is – No, they are different!

“HDMI to Mini DisplayPort  adapter” refers to PC output in HDMI to Display’s Mini DisplayPort.  Whereas, Mini DisplayPort to HDMI refers to PC output using Mini DisplayPort to Display’s HDMI.

DisplayPort is the newer technology than that of HDMI.  It is similar to VGA to DVI.  You have to use chips to “actively” convert the signal from the “old” to the “new” in order for it to function well.

On the other hand, the newer technology is backward compatible to the older technology.  For DisplayPort to HDMI, it needs not to do the conversation “actively”, as the “new” signals would contain all the “old” signals.  Hence, they are sometimes known as passive adapters.

Hence, it is meaningless to get a display that can support Mini DisplayPort and DisplayPort but your PC has only HDMI output!