There are a growing number of smartphones capable of shooting 4K ultra HD video. But there’s really not much reason to watch 4K video on a phone. You wouldn’t be able to see most of the detail on a pocket-sized screen.
So chip maker Qualcomm is developing a device that could make it easy to beam high-resolution videos from your phone to a TV.
Tech industry analyst Patrick Moorhead got a look at an early prototype at a Qualcomm event this week. He tells PC World the device is designed to let you stream 4K content from a phone or table to a TV without wires.
Initially the focus is on videos you’ve shot with your 4K-capable camera. But eventually the TV dongle could add support for online video from sites like Netflix as well as support for mirroring your phone or tablet display on a big screen.
The prototype has a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor under the hood, but you won’t need a Qualcomm-powered phone to use the wireless streaming device.
That dongle seems to be very small form factor!
USB “C” type connector already solves this (and is a passive cable). It has optional 4 displayport links and can support 5k video (with very high RGB resolution). I see 4k HDTVs as having both HDMI 2.0 and USB “C” connectors.
Wireless needs a box connected to the HDTV… Qualcomm is going down the wrong path on this approach.
Heck, you can charge your cellphone up to 100W with the C type connector. The one cable to rule the world. You heard it here first.
Is USB 3.0 going to be a requirement?