# New HDMI spec coming soon....



## Rogueone (Jan 29, 2004)

here's the article, kinda long so I'm not gonna paste it all here.

http://www.hdmi.com/press/pr/pr_20060103.asp

here are 2 that look to impact us video nuts the most:

 Higher speed: Though HDMI has more than twice the bandwidth needed to support all HDTV formats, HDMI will increase its single-link bandwidth to support the demands of future HD display devices, such as higher resolutions, deep color and high frame rates.
 Deep color: HDMI will support 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit color depths for stunning rendering of over one billion colors in unprecedented detail.


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## normang (Nov 14, 2002)

Those higher bit rates may be really cool for HD discs if any are ever released like that, but I doubt anything will ever be transmitted that way because of bandwidth constraints..


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## derwin0 (Jan 31, 2005)

of course, I finally got the wife to let me buy a 51" HDTV and now it'll be obsoleted...
hopefully the software upgrade port will future proof me...


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## ebaltz (Nov 23, 2004)

Rogueone said:


> here's the article, kinda long so I'm not gonna paste it all here.
> 
> http://www.hdmi.com/press/pr/pr_20060103.asp
> 
> ...


Now when will they upgrade our human eyes, which can't even differentiate between that many colors.


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## kmcnamara (Jan 30, 2004)

I don't think this obsoletes existing HDMI - it's just an expansion of the existing spec isn't it?


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

normang said:


> Those higher bit rates may be really cool for HD discs if any are ever released like that, but I doubt anything will ever be transmitted that way because of bandwidth constraints..


NETFLIX already has a small selection of HD DVD's.


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## socceteer (Apr 22, 2005)

kmcnamara said:


> I don't think this obsoletes existing HDMI - it's just an expansion of the existing spec isn't it?


Good question...!

Is this just a software upgarde or will the hardware also have to change...?


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## nataraj (Feb 25, 2006)

socceteer said:


> Is this just a software upgarde or will the hardware also have to change...?


HW. BTW, the biggest change is in allowing bitstream of the new HD 7.1 audio. You can checkout at the HiDef S/W media forum at AVSForum.


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## kmcnamara (Jan 30, 2004)

I still doubt that this will obsolete anything. There are too many HDMI components in the field now.


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## motts (Apr 11, 2006)

Why will this even make a difference when a good amount of tvs don't support that many colors anyway?


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## nataraj (Feb 25, 2006)

kmcnamara said:


> I still doubt that this will obsolete anything. There are too many HDMI components in the field now.


HDMI 1.3/2.0 will be backward compatible. Anyway, I think it makes a difference only for HiDef DVDs. Not for dish network anyway ...


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## derwin0 (Jan 31, 2005)

nataraj said:


> HW. BTW, the biggest change is in allowing bitstream of the new HD 7.1 audio.


That wouldn't affect a tv at all, since most don't output that many speakers (typically televisions only have surround sound). Would be stereo systems that benifit, but they get their signals optically, not HDMI'ly.


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## koralis (Aug 10, 2005)

derwin0 said:


> That wouldn't affect a tv at all, since most don't output that many speakers (typically televisions only have surround sound). Would be stereo systems that benifit, but they get their signals optically, not HDMI'ly.


Send sound to the TV via HDMI (1 cable) calculate any neccessary delays for the video/audio stream inside the TV (that knows what the delay will need to be) and then send the audio data to the reciever via a 7.1 DD out port (optical or coax.)

This would simplify connections generally, and simplify reciever configuration since the delays can be calculated to be near-perfect instead of being set to an arbitrary amount that can vary from channel to channel, etc.


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## dwcobb (Oct 13, 2005)

There is something fundamentally broken about how TV tech is developing. I really don't get it.

Unless the industry zeros in on a fixed spec for HD, there will be no material growth of HD. It is insupportable to keep upgrading spec every couple of years with the expense of the equipment involved. And even if people are willing to pay for it, programming won't continually shift up in quality to take advantage of the new developments.

I know it sounds wierd to argue against improvements, but at this point what needs to happen is a gelling of the spec so that programming can catch up with the technology already installed.

Unless there is a big push in developing upconversion, there is really no hope that all these improved specs will do anything to help the HD marketplace. In fact it will damage it since it will make the HD issue seem like even more of a morass for programmers who are thinking about starting to do HD.


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## nataraj (Feb 25, 2006)

derwin0 said:


> That wouldn't affect a tv at all, since most don't output that many speakers (typically televisions only have surround sound). Would be stereo systems that benifit, but they get their signals optically, not HDMI'ly.


That will change. Receivers with HDMI inputs will become common.

BTW, it is still debatable whether decoding in the receiver is the best option. Probably it is better to decode in the HiDef DVD player and send the resultant LPCM bitstream to the receiver via HDMI. SPDIF simply doesn't have enough bandwidth for LPCM 7.1 stream - so HDMI is a neccessity - but even 1.1 can handle LPCM.


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