Technology & IT | Tuesday 18 August, 2015 12:06 am |

Analogix Semiconductor, Inc. and Granite River Labs (GRL) today announced the expansion of the SlimPort® Adopters Program (SAP℠) to include the USB Type-C™ connector. Available to any USB Type-C device manufacturer, the program offers SlimPort® certification including signal quality pre-test for DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA, interoperability testing to confirm the maximum display resolution with devices available in the market, and functional testing of power, data, audio and video transfer. 

The benefit for mobile device manufacturers is to ensure that their devices work with the USB-C accessories available in the market. This includes the first wave of USB-C devices such as Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter and the Google USB Type-C to HDMI Adapter. 

The benefit for accessory makers is to ensure that accessories work with the many video source devices with USB-C connector supporting DisplayPort Alternate Mode already released in the market, as well as the many smartphones, tablets and notebook computers coming soon that will support DisplayPort Alt Mode. Since its adoption by the 12-inch Apple MacBook and the Google Pixel 2 Chromebook, as well as the recommendation from Microsoft in their New Guidelines for USB for Windows 10, DisplayPort Alternate Mode has become the de facto standard for sending video over the USB Type-C port. 

“Most leading mobile device manufacturers and accessory makers are aggressively switching to USB-C connectivity and SAP is in place to provide cost efficient solutions for interoperability testing and compliance reporting. This is increasingly important as resolutions increase on mobile devices. With USB-C, DisplayPort supports 4K 60Hz and beyond simultaneously with USB3 data transfer,” said Andre Bouwer, vice president of marketing for Analogix. “The SlimPort® trademark signifies to the end user that the device interoperates with the leading products available in the market, and with other SlimPort devices.” 

Testing is performed in the Analogix EasyHD Lab in Beijing, which was established in 2006 to address the interoperability issues in HDMI and DisplayPort devices, and at Granite River Labs with testing facilities in the US, Taiwan, Japan and India. GRL is amongst the first test houses able to certify devices with USB Type-C connectors and DisplayPort Alternate Mode support. 

“In addition to the USB and DisplayPort certifications, we are delighted to expand our offering of test services with the SlimPort Adopters Program. This program includes interoperability and functional tests that go beyond the standard CTS tests helping device makers release their product with greater confidence and faster time to market in the growing USB-C ecosystem,” said Quintin Anderson, Co-Founder and COO for GRL. 

Once products receive certification, adopters will have access to marketing collaterals and technical support, receive listings on www.slimport.com and the option to use the SlimPort® trademark on their products to highlight the video-out capability.