USB A connectors

[#1]

What is the difference between a USB A Type 2 connector and a USB A Type 3 connector?

I am trying to connect my wife's camera which has an HDMI interface to her laptop which has a USB A Type 2 interface, but the best solution I have found so far seems to be a  cable that has a USB A Type 2 Male connector at one end and a USB C Socket at the other, plus another cable that had a USB C plug connector at one end and an HDMI connector at the other.

From what I understand of USB, a USB A Type 2 connector and a USB A Type 3 connector apparently differ by the Type 3 having an extra pair of contacts. Is that correct? If it is correct can I use a Type 3 plug in a Type 2 socket, without doing some damage?

Is my solution too simple? Do I have to take into account something else, in which case what?

Thanks for any help.

[#2]

USB2 and USB3 ‘should’ be interchangeable despite the extra cores in the USB3 version. Have you tried just using the one cable? You won’t damage anything.

The extra cores in the USB3 is used to increase the potential bandwidth of the cable.

[#3]

@penneck  Honestly, I don't think an HDMI port can connect to USB in any useful way with "dumb" cables, you need an "active" adapter of some sort to convert the signals. They will often take power from the USB port.

Loads of devices available to buy for beer money, so check you exact requirements and Google for options.

What is it you're actually trying to do, what sort of data are you hoping to move from what to what?

e.g. HDMI is typically used to carry continuous live video signals, whereas USB copies finite data files or fixed size images.

[#4]

@HPsauce 

 My reading is that @penneck is successfully transferring data using a USB 2 extension plugged in to a USB 3 to HDMI cable. So all that is happening is that the USB2 to USB 3 interface is happening at the cable junction.