Question

Difficulty: EasyMobile Device Ports and Accessories

A user asks a technician why connecting their mobile smartphone to an external monitor using a USB Type-C cable fails to display video, even though the cable fits securely into the port. Which of the following best explains this issue?

  1. The physical USB Type-C connector shape does not guarantee that the device hardware supports video output protocols.Answer
  2. B
    All physical USB Type-C ports natively support high-speed Thunderbolt video transmission by default specification.
  3. C
    The mobile device must first be configured with Exchange ActiveSync protocols to enable video signals over cable.
  4. D
    Mobile Application Management (MAM) software must be installed to activate physical video hardware ports on mobile devices.

Answer

The physical USB Type-C connector shape does not guarantee that the device hardware supports video output protocols.
USB Type-C refers strictly to the physical form factor of the port and cable plug. Features such as video output via DisplayPort Alternate Mode or high-speed data via Thunderbolt are optional capabilities that must be specifically designed into the host controller by the mobile device manufacturer.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the physical connector type versus its supported underlying protocols.
The device features a USB Type-C physical interface.
USB Type-C defines the 24-pin reversible physical plug design, not the active feature set.
2
Determine why video output may fail despite physical connection compatibility.
Video transfer requires alternate protocol support (such as DisplayPort Alt Mode) built into the host device controller.
Not all mobile device manufacturers include video transmitter capabilities in their USB Type-C implementations.

Key Concept

Distinguishing physical port form factors (USB Type-C) from optional data and video transmission protocols (DisplayPort Alt Mode / Thunderbolt)
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