Slashdot Mirror
What's the Matter with HDMI?
mrnomas writes with a link to the Audioholics site, which wonders why the HDMI standard is such a mess? The article's author suggests that the format was designed for the benefit of the content-producers and not the consumer. The result is a signal that's hard to route and switch, as well and unnecessarily complicated cable assemblies. They reach back to the DVI standard to see what might be done to make HDMI a little more consumer-friendly, with numerous technical elements woven through the discussion. "DVI lacked a couple of things which the consumer audio/video industry wanted. It was implemented on a variety of HD displays and source devices, but it was confusing for the consumer because of the many variants on the standard and different connector configurations, and it didn't carry audio signals. A consortium to develop and promote a new interface, HDMI, was formed; the idea was to come up with a standard which could be implemented more uniformly, was less confusing, and offered the option of routing audio signals along with video."
I have a JVC 5U D-VHS deck with HDMI out the back. This is connected to a Sony HD-20 digital projector via HDMI. While these units use an older HDMI spec, they also show serious handshaking problems - often in the middle of displaying content. Not only does it take seconds to handshake, but right in the middle of a movie the screen might go blank and then I'll have to yank the power plug on the VCR to renegotiate. Fortunately, with the PJ I can just switch to other inputs to clear out whatever cruft is confusing its HDMI interface.
The PJ and deck are about three years old. I assumed these handshake issues had long been dealt with. Apparently not. Walt helps Locke out of the pit to kill Naomi. So... the DRM is more than just a PITA. It's plain broken.
Worse yet, there are so many compatibility problems that there are devices that have to be used in order to complete a moderaly-complicated HD setup. These devices specifically perform man-in-the-middle attacks by handshaking with each device separately. So by screwing up the spec so badly that the hardware is extremely flaky, they've actually spawned devices that can be used to circumvent the protection and yet cannot be attacked because not only are the legitimate, but they're also quite often necessary in order to get everything working together.
At least CSS-enabled DVDs played in legitimate players. The protection might have been a joke, but the failings of the technology didn't stop the technology from becoming popular.
DO NOT read parent if you don't want to know details of the LOST season finale!!