HDMI Labeling Requirements Promise a Stew of Confusion

An anonymous reader writes "In many ways HDMI has revolutionized the way we connect devices. By unifying video and audio into a single cable manufacturers have been able to make their products easier to set up than ever before. Until recently there hasn't actually been much difference in HDMI cables. But things are about to get confusing with the introduction of HDMI 1.4. By the 1st of January 2012 manufacturers of products with HDMI ports won't actually be able to call HDMI 1.4 by its real name. In fact, come November 18 this year those selling cables won't be able to use HDMI 1.4 or HDMI 1.3 to delineate between different products. Instead cables that support version 1.4 of the HDMI standard will have to use one of five different labels. The new labels? Well, as this story explains, they're going to cause a new level of confusion for anyone hooking up a home cinema. Add to this the fact that the HDMI organisation keeps the details of its specifications secret, and translation between version numbering and marketing-speak will be well nigh impossible."

Comments

Re:How hard was it

[VGPowerlord]

> By unifying video and audio into a single cable manufacturers have been able to make their products easier to set up than ever before.

Seriously how hard was it to hook up the $2 three color coded RCA jacks?

3 RCA jacks? Sure, if you want analog video and analog 2.0 audio.

Meanwhile, the rest of us moved to cables that offer us digital video and digital 5.1-7.1 audio.