News Panasonic is ending support for the humble VGA port on its Let's Note laptops

[Admin]

Panasonic has announced updates to its long-established Let’s Note laptop series, and the VGA ports are gone.

Panasonic is ending support for the humble VGA port on its Let's Note laptops : Read more

 

[PiersPlowman]

In Japan, the general philosophy accompanying technology is to use it until it blows up and the wheels fall off. And, given that Japanese tech is usually pretty good, it means tech remains serviceable well into obsolescence.

In education, I have seen multimedia carts being wheeled around with tech dating back to the early 1990s, possibly earlier (cassette decks). I have even seen a few OHPs kicking around, but I confess to having a soft spot for them. Naturally, this equipment pre-dates HDMI, and by quite some margin, so you are left with the humble D-SUB to drive the projectors, which, incidentally, is the only piece of equipment that is periodically upgraded.

Trains are the same. Outside of the Shinkansen, rolling stock is 30+ years old, and the only upgrades I have seen are the display indicators that are now a white dot matrix display instead of an orange and green one. Absolutely no new upholstery on board, but when the seats are granite upholstered in coarse-woven Kevlar, I can see why the rail companies do not bother.

 

[wr3zzz]

1. US government is still using floppy disks so let's not gloat too fast.
2. Government contracts is likely the last market held by Japanese domestic PC/laptop makers and why so many legacy tech is still supported.
3. The only people who still think Japan as "futuristic" are people over 50...

 

[newtechldtech]

3. The only people who still think Japan as "futuristic" are people over 50...

have you ever visited Japan ? They are still futuristic !

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

VGA has uses since it's still ubiquitous in projectors and such, as was pointed out, but given how inexpensive, portable, and feature rich usb-c docks are, especially when they can also be plugged into a usb-c phone as well, there's little reason to keep including it on laptops.

 

[bit_user]

I bought a server motherboard just 2 years ago, and the BMC on it still had support only for VGA! I had to buy a VGA -> HDMI converter, just so I could plug it into my KVM switch.

The BMC chip is an ASpeed AST2500, which is fairly popular among OEMs who don't make their own BMC. I think the AST2600 finally added support for HDMI.

 

[bit_user]

VGA has uses since it's still ubiquitous in projectors and such,

VGA doesn't support HDCP. As such, copy-protected content often will not display over VGA.

For a while, I had not a VGA monitor, but an old DVI monitor that lacked HDCP support, as a second screen. When I'd have a web browser open and a video ad would show some content that happened to be copy-protected, the screen would cut out. Very annoying.

VGA has uses since it's still ubiquitous in projectors and such,

Also, projectors wear out. The bulbs die (and you can only get replacements for so long), the pixels in the LCD or DLP screens get stuck. CRT projectors fade and get burn-in. This is a problem that eventually solves itself.

 

[bit_user]

1. US government is still using floppy disks so let's not gloat too fast.

New floppy disks are no longer being made. Anyone using them won't have a choice but to transition, before long, as the supply of refurb disks is drying up.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

In Japan, the general philosophy accompanying technology is to use it until it blows up and the wheels fall off. And, given that Japanese tech is usually pretty good, it means tech remains serviceable well into obsolescence.

In education, I have seen multimedia carts being wheeled around with tech dating back to the early 1990s, possibly earlier (cassette decks). I have even seen a few OHPs kicking around, but I confess to having a soft spot for them. Naturally, this equipment pre-dates HDMI, and by quite some margin, so you are left with the humble D-SUB to drive the projectors, which, incidentally, is the only piece of equipment that is periodically upgraded.

Trains are the same. Outside of the Shinkansen, rolling stock is 30+ years old, and the only upgrades I have seen are the display indicators that are now a white dot matrix display instead of an orange and green one. Absolutely no new upholstery on board, but when the seats are granite upholstered in coarse-woven Kevlar, I can see why the rail companies do not bother.

Negative. They are however hesitant to adopting new technology and processes until it's absolutely necessary as a society. Tons of things that could be done electronically are still done in writing.

As for the wheels fall off, the irony of you using that analogy is coincidentally funny (not in a making fun of you way). In Japan they actually get taxed out of this world for older vehicles and opt to buy new vehicles instead as it costs them far less annually in taxes. That's why there JDM scene gets all these low miles engines from Japan. Granted I've been out of the JDM scene for years so maybe laws have changed.

---

Anyway back in topic, VGA has its uses in IT for legacy purposes but for the average consumer, it's time to move on. There is no practical use for it anymore and don't even recall the last time I encountered a product with a VGA port.

It does make me think back to years back though working IT when we had a shipping sized recycling crate worth of cables, all that copper...

---

@bit_user I know you only said it for informational purposes but I sure wouldn't trust refurb floppies for anything critical.

 

[bit_user]

Anyway back in topic, VGA has its uses in IT for legacy purposes but for the average consumer, it's time to move on. There is no practical use for it anymore and don't even recall the last time I encountered a product with a VGA port.

I was rocking a pair of 24" CRT monitors, until about 6-7 years ago. When I bought my GTX 980 Ti, I chose it specifically because its DVI connectors still had analog pins, meaning a simple cable or passive adapter could be used to hook it up to VGA monitors.

By contrast, the AMD RX Fury cards only supported digital out.

It does make me think back to years back though working IT when we had a shipping sized recycling crate worth of cables, all that copper...

At my job, we still have lots of VGA and DVI cables wasting space in various bins and boxes.

@bit_user I know you only said it for informational purposes but I sure wouldn't trust refurb floppies for anything critical.

There's no other option. If you're still using floppies, that's the only thing on the market for a few years, already. Inventories of unused disks are gone.

 

[bit_user]

BTW, here's a fun fact I learned only recently: most DisplayPort connectors are also capable of outputting HDMI signals. This standard is known as DisplayPort++ and usually (but not always) indicated via the logo:

DisplayPort plus plus
Video Electronics Standards Association (displayport.org), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
​

This enables the use of cheap, passive cables or adapters. The alternative were expensive, hot, and potentially problematic active converters. Today, most DisplayPort -> HDMI cables and adapters you can buy are the passive kind.

Even if a DisplayPort doesn't have that logo, it's still probably worth trying to get a HDMI signal out of it, so long as the device is new enough (DisplayPort 1.2 or later, I think).

 

[artk2219]

BTW, here's a fun fact I learned only recently: most DisplayPort connectors are also capable of outputting HDMI signals. This standard is known as DisplayPort++ and usually (but not always) indicated via the logo:

​

​

DisplayPort plus plus​

Video Electronics Standards Association (displayport.org), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons​

​

This enables the use of cheap, passive cables or adapters. The alternative were expensive, hot, and potentially problematic active converters. Today, most DisplayPort -> HDMI cables and adapters you can buy are the passive kind.

Even if a DisplayPort doesn't have that logo, it's still probably worth trying to get a HDMI signal out of it, so long as the device is new enough (DisplayPort 1.2 or later, I think).

Yep, I was going to mention this, displayport is easily adapted to HDMI, dvi, or VGA. I haven't found a computer or graphics card with display port that I couldn't use an adapter for to convert to another connection, and Usb-c has a similar capacity. Honestly HDMI sucks as a standard, and the licensing for it doesn't help.

 

[LaminarFlow]

I would gladly play extra (to reasonable amount) just to have a physical Ethernet port.

 

[Thomas Kenney]

@wr3zzz re:

1. US government is still using floppy disks so let's not gloat too fast.

Probably DEC RX-01. I used to know a guy who would have had a dozen working units on hand in his menagerie of important storage hardware.

 

[KennyRedSocks]

Another disadvantage of VGA highlighted was that it is a rather bulky port for thin and light designs like the Let’s Note

It's no thicker than the Ethernet port.

 

[danny009]

More dollars to known pests named Management/CEOs. Quality drops. Retro tech was and still is better.

 

[Armbrust11]

BTW, here's a fun fact I learned only recently: most DisplayPort connectors are also capable of outputting HDMI signals. This standard is known as DisplayPort++ and usually (but not always) indicated via the logo:

​

​

DisplayPort plus plus​

Video Electronics Standards Association (displayport.org), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons​

​

This enables the use of cheap, passive cables or adapters. The alternative were expensive, hot, and potentially problematic active converters. Today, most DisplayPort -> HDMI cables and adapters you can buy are the passive kind.

Even if a DisplayPort doesn't have that logo, it's still probably worth trying to get a HDMI signal out of it, so long as the device is new enough (DisplayPort 1.2 or later, I think).

The amount of IT support I had to give because Microsoft Surface used DisplayPorts that were not the ++ kind, so I had to explain that the customer needed to request or buy an active adapter instead.

Some people still have the "if the plug fits it should work" mentality, including adapters.

 

[Notton]

HDMI to VGA adapter cables are totally a thing.
They are passive and I don't think they require a driver.

 

[Armbrust11]

I would gladly play extra (to reasonable amount) just to have a physical Ethernet port.

Usb ethernet adapters work really well for 99% of people. Shame on any usb hubs or docks that don't at least have gigabit ethernet though.

My real problem is that it's getting harder and harder to find ethernet connection points (hotel rooms, workspaces, etc.)

I have the ethernet cable and usb dongle in my travel bag but I'm considering leaving it home since I can rarely actually use it.

 

[Armbrust11]

HDMI to VGA adapter cables are totally a thing.
They are passive and I don't think they require a driver.

They are all active (a passive adapter is physically impossible).

They are produced in sufficient volume for institutional use that their cost is only slightly higher than other kinds of passive adapters, and they don't need to worry about maintaining HDCP handshakes.

But from a user perspective they are plug n play in the truest sense

 

[SyCoREAPER]

DVI was as confusing to customers back rhen as the misleading reclassification of HDMI 2.1 a year or whatever it was made. There were what 4 or 5 main types DVI? Some worked with others while others the pin out was very slightly different. That was definitely a stopgap solution. Don't miss DVI one bit.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

VGA doesn't support HDCP. As such, copy-protected content often will not display over VGA.

For a while, I had not a VGA monitor, but an old DVI monitor that lacked HDCP support, as a second screen. When I'd have a web browser open and a video ad would show some content that happened to be copy-protected, the screen would cut out. Very annoying.


Also, projectors wear out. The bulbs die (and you can only get replacements for so long), the pixels in the LCD or DLP screens get stuck. CRT projectors fade and get burn-in. This is a problem that eventually solves itself.

The first really isn't an issue for projectors used in conference rooms and such that will be used for PowerPoint and the like. The second is the only reason many places will replace perfectly functional equipment. Plus remember that as recently as last year there were new laptops with DVD writers and VGA ports on sale for over $2000.

https://www.windowscentral.com/hard...a-vga-port-but-not-for-the-reason-youd-expect

 

[Pemalite]

Just buy a USB or HDMI to D-SUB adapter.

 

[bit_user]

displayport is easily adapted to HDMI, dvi, or VGA.

Uh, not always easily.

DisplayPort -> DVI dual-link (needed for anything above 1920x1200) requires an active converter. I used one of these, for a while, and it was expensive and very flaky. Tended to get hot, as well. Not only that, but it had a sticker that said "Rev. 2" on it, indicating it was the manufacturer's second try!

The only time you get VGA "for free" is when there's a DVI port which has the analog pins. In any other case, you need an active converter. The really nice ones are expensive. In general, they tend to be bulky, hot, and temperamental.

Similarly, the VGA -> HDMI cable I bought for that board I have with a VGA-only BMC was only cheap because it just had to support 1920x1080, which is the highest resolution supported by that BMC. If I needed higher-resolution support, it would've gotten expensive.


BTW, for a long time, gamers liked VGA, due to its inherently low latency. It wasn't really until LCD monitors could crank up to 144 Hz and higher that the market fully shifted away from it.

 

[bit_user]

HDMI to VGA adapter cables are totally a thing.
They are passive and I don't think they require a driver.

No, a passive converter is one that's basically just wires. If it contains electronics, then it's not passive!

A HDMI -> VGA converter must be active, since HDMI contains no analog RGB signal. Essentially, what you need is a video DAC.

I'd guess you're confusing "active" with a converter which requires supplemental power. Not needing a separate power cord does not necessarily mean a converter is passive.