Slashdot Mirror
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."
Will my $600 gold-plated monster superconductor cable support the new standards?
Why not just name them HDMI 1 and HDMI 2?
(or HDMI 3, etc)
and so will your coathanger.
Unless you are doing a permanent wall installation, if you spend more than $10-$15 on an HDMI cable, you got Effed in the A!
Living With a Nerd
Confuse customers so the only guidance they have is the price. "Well, it's more expensive so it has to be better!" Once you get consumers thinking that, they're easy pickings. Oops. I should have sugar-coated that with some intellectual discourse to obscure that simple truth... Oh well.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
> 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?
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Welcome to marketing ploy 101.
There are a myrad of confusing options. The only real solution is the really high end that does everything costs the most. Anything else is "it might work". It can also be sold with the "you are going to get the 4K TV someday arn't you?" approach.
There is only one solution and it will cost the consumer. It was planed that way.
Are we surprised ?
...just jizzed all over his monitor.
I used to have an old cheap HDMI cable I bought off of newegg that I used for my old TV and it worked fine. When I upgraded to a new Samsung TV, it worked for picture, but not for audio. At first I thought the TV was defective. So I tried another cable of the same type (I had bought them both at the same time) and got the same results--picture was fine but no audio. But when I tried out a newer, more expensive cable it suddenly worked fine. So, while I don't advocate spending big $ on ridiculously overpriced Monster cables, there apparently is a difference between some HDMI cables, at least for some TV's (maybe Samsungs are especially finicky).
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Looks like we'll just have to adopt the HDBaseT spec instead.
'Impossible' is a word that humans use far too often. -- Seven of Nine
The five grades listed make sense. Standard Speed and High Speed with and without Ethernet (total of 4 combos of those two) and the Automotive cable.
However the other stuff is poorly executed, like the "4K" rule. And do they have any rules on putting arbitrary meaningless bandwidth numbers on their cables like the example in the article and Monster? Any number that exceeds the bandwidth actually used by HDMI is meaningless, but manufacturers still stick crazy numbers on their cables anyway.
Manufacturers should be permitted:
To state which version of the HDMI spec they are compliant to, or very clearly defined capabilities (such as High Speed-No Ethernet)
To give specific physical properties of their cable's construction such as wire gauge and connector plating materials
They should NOT be permitted:
To advertise any electrical performance numbers that exceed the requirements of the defined HDMI specification, as these numbers are irrelevant to all users.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I can live with confusing names if they get around to supporting closed captioning data like they are supposed to. They misinterpreted the legal requirements for closed captioning as it being something which is handled by set-top boxes rather than TVs and elected to not transmit the data. HDMI's own FAQ makes this position clear. However, the law is quite clear that the TVs are required to render captions. Unfortunately, people use devices other than set-top boxes to push content to the TV. If you need captioning, you can't use HDMI with Blu-ray disc players or other devices.
> The invisible hand may not always work as we wish, but it can still slap
> down the business models that suck.
Unfortunately it is often handcuffed by government (with patents, in this case).
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
In a few years presumably some even higher bandwidth specification will come along - no problem if they used version-numbers, but once you have labelled the first generation "standard" and the current generation "High Speed" what're you going to be left with to use next and not end up looking stupid?
"new higher speed", "max speed", "ultimate speed", "super more ultimate than ultimate speed", "I Can't believe its not high speed... speed"?
Perhaps some day you will be able to apply that same intellect that allows you to detect snake oil in audio gear to the snake oil in sexual bigotry.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
It's a good idea to learn from the mistakes of others who like adding confusing naming.
Only for Americans. Obviously HDMI is digital but SCART has been a European standard for around three decades, including three channel video. Welcome to 1980!
Hell, as far as I recall, HDMI was the one that locked down everything with DRM and would no longer work with older devices.
Please, please stop spreading this bullshit, and start correcting people when they repeat it.
How hard is it to tell the difference between HDMI and HDCP?
HDMI -- DVI plus audio, maybe plus ethernet, in a neater form factor.
HDCP -- encrypted video signal, which works over DVI just as well as over HDMI.
If you're currently using DVI instead of HDMI because you're afraid of the DRM, you're a moron. Again: It's just DVI which is easier to plug in. It doesn't do DRM unless your video card, OS, and monitor all agree to do so.
I'm sorry if I'm overreacting, but EVERY FUCKING SLASHDOT ARTICLE that mentions HDMI, there's at least two people who confuse it with HDCP. That's like refusing to buy a DVD burner for backup because you're afraid of DRM on DVDs.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
As a lot of the above posts say, you are thinking about HDCP, not HDMI. There is on copy protection built into HDMI, just like there is no copy protection built into DVDs. Copy protection can be added (HDCP for HDMI, CSS for DVDs), but it isn't required. The cables don't really matter. Even with HDCP, they don't do any decoding/encoding whatever. They are just glorified strips of metal with plastic insulation around them.
I'm guessing you are too young to have any idea about this, but you do know that computer monitors have been exceeding the HD spec since years before there was an HD spec? Furthermore the GP is right, HD isn't a video spec. It's a marketing term. The monitor in front of me says "HDdisplay" in the corner of the bezel. Gee, which HD mode supports 1920x1280 at 120hz? The TV also connected to this computer says HD in the corner. But it won't run at that resolution. It prefers 1920x1080 at 65hz. One of these displays is 16x10 one is 16x9, they don't support the same video modes, or refresh rates. So what the HELL does HD mean anyway? Exceeds ?x1080? My ancient CRT (in the closet) does that, and it predates "HD" by at least 5 years.
Bulshytt
My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
I'm guessing you are too young to have any idea about this, but you do know that computer monitors have been exceeding the HD spec since years before there was an HD spec? Furthermore the GP is right, HD isn't a video spec. It's a marketing term.
Don't be too hard on the young ones. It's kinda fun watching them flame & down-mod me, as most young people go through that stage of knowing everything before they discover how smart the old people they ignored in their youth really were as they mature.
It's almost like having millions of grand-kids, many with ADD, except no drama over holiday family dinners. :D
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
HDMI Lineup:
1.4 - High Speed
1.5 - Full Speed
1.6 - "It goes to plaid."