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3D HDMI Specification Is Set Free
An anonymous reader writes "The licenser of the HDMI specification has announced the intent to 'secure the application of 3D' by making the 3D portion of the HDMI 1.4 Specification available for public download, as well as extracts from the upcoming HDMI 1.4a. While the spec includes a 3D component, apparently not everyone has decided to sign up to adopt it. Given the developments happening in DisplayPort v1.2, the next year in displays looks like it will be an interesting one."
Sure you can download part of the spec. But it has a restrictive license (and only valid 1 year, after that it will self destruct), and it is actually quite useless without the rest of the HDMI spec.
Very nice of them to allow us to read the spec. Now what about the patents? the rest of the HDMI spec on which this piece depends?
If you can't implement the standard, what good will it do you to be able to read it?
The document has an EULA. While that is bad enough on its own, in it you find this gem: "The term of this Agreement is one year. Agent in its sole discretion may terminate or extend this Agreement at any time and without prior notice. Upon expiration or termination of this Agreement, You shall immediately destroy and cease all use of the Specification Portion and all materials and information related to the Specification Portion." To add insult to injury, they also slap an indemnification clause to the document's EULA.
So, you agree to not distribute it and to destroy the document after one year. If they are sued for whatever reason, and they can blame it on you, you agree to cover all their expenses. Yay for openness!
I have a hard enough time convincing people they need to re-buy cables (and peripherals) for their new TV as it is.
"You need an HDMI cable"
"But I already have this SCART thing and this composite thing"
"Yeah, but you only have HDMI on your new TV"
"Is that because it's HD?"
"Well, no, you can send an HD signal over SCART or composite just the same, but they just don't want to let you. They want you to buy HDMI leads and TV's and equipment with HDMI."
"Who's they?"
"The people who license the HDMI technology."
"Er... so I have to throw away my DVD player unless I pay extra to get legacy ports too?"
"Or buy a Blu-Ray with HDMI or a newer player with HDMI. The new ones upscale the DVD so it *looks* like HD but isn't really."
"Mmm..."
And then add an hour of conversation as you explain the various *revisions* of HDMI and everything else, and why they can't just buy a £10 signal-splitter or cable-switcher without it potentially interfering with their recording of HD programmes, or why some models just won't negotiate a HD signal with some other models, or why the cheap, shit imported versions of DVD players and Blu-Ray let you just use a composite output, or why all this was to stop pirates when you can find and download HD-anything online in the same time as you used to be able to download SD content.
Call me when consumers get bored of this crap. Then I might have a look and see if there's a *standard* (i.e. unchanging, common, open, useful) cable set I can use to watch TV and record the stuff I want. To be honest, there already is - it's called "ADSL over a phone line from a widescreen laptop".
You know, what you're describing as "virtual reality" is really just the interface. It's like calling your monitor a first person shooter. The actual virtual reality is the programmed world, and sure we were promised virtual reality immersive headgear which didn't really transpire (augmented reality is the new virtual reality, it seems), but the promise of an interactive world certainly came to pass in any number of online multiplayer games.