How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love HDMI
Being primarily a PC gamer, I've never thought too highly of the HDMI interface. On a computer, the benefit of having your video and audio signal transferred through one cable (HDMI's first and foremost features), is not very attractive since high end video cards and sound cards are usually not combined into one device.
When it debuted, one of the biggest "features" of HDMI was HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection). So being a new interface primarily designed around the concept of not letting us, the end user have complete and total access to our media, didn't earn HDMI many points in my book.
From a technical standpoint, HDMI also seemed more complex than it needed to be, compared to other cables in its manufacturing process. This was probably one of the reasons why early adopters were paying such ridiculous prices for them. In hindsight, I couldn't blame Microsoft and Sony for not initially bundling HDMI cables with their HDMI enabled consoles, nor could I blame the manufacturers of blu-ray and hd-dvd players for omitting them while they were duking it out in the great HD standard war of '07.
But now that HDMI has had time to proliferate, we see it on more home theater devices than ever before. The HDMI interface is even starting to be utilized on some computer components. However the benefit of it has not fully realized itself on the PC. While HDMI inputs are being offered on more and more computer LCDs, video card output support is not growing as quickly.
While it may not be so wonderful in the PC world yet, I finally got to experience some benefits of HDMI when I recently picked up a Playstation 3. Now, while hooking up a game console to a home theater is not a difficult task to begin with, I was still pleasantly surprised at how simple HDMI made it. It was not only easy, but it did not make the rats nest of cables behind my TV any worse than it was. Immensely satisfied with that fact alone, I went on to see that it automagically set my resolution and sound output to the max supported configuration my setup allowed.
Before, my devices required component video cables along with a fragile optical audio toslink cables. Handling that mess was now a thing of the past. Now I have my blu-ray player and my PS3 (yeah, I know PS3s can play blu-ray discs, but I have an unhealthy addiction to electronics) connected to my HDTV with only 2 cables and ZERO setup beyond that. I even have to specify the resolution on my PC when I plug in a LCD, not to mention dealing with video drivers.
Seeing as though I don't do any video ripping, editing, or encoding on my home theater setup, HDCP hasn't bothered me one bit. Also the home theater devices lately have handled this form of copy protection much better. Unlike on a PC where a driver installation gone awry, and installing a non HDCP compliant disc drive or video card could ruin the experience.
The only gripe I still have with HDMI are the multiple versions that exist of the standard. what doesn't help is their poor record of educating consumers on the differences of each. But after looking into the revisions from 1.0 to 1.3 I found that the differences are not that interesting and probably not of much a concern to most consumers. Currently HDMI is up to version 1.3, and is the only revision that provides anything to get excited about.
Some things to keep in mind when shopping for HDMI products is that if you plan to enjoy HD content at 1080p resolution, you will need HDMI version 1.1 cables or above. However HDMI version 1.3 provides a nice boost to refresh rates and color gamut. Version 1.3 effectively lets your HDMI 1.3 enabled devices (like say, a Playstation 3) to output beyond the typical 24-bit color range, 1.3 allows for "deep color" (30, 36, and even 48-bit color). Though this may seem somewhat confusing, it's actually not a terribly bad learning curve since older cables are likely to be phased out as all newer versions are backwards compatible, now wasn't that considerate of them?
As far as I'm concerned, the results are spectacular, installation was a snap, and configuration was almost non existent.
Hopefully HDMI or competing standard, DisplayPort, will find a way to bring this experience over to the PC world in the near future.
Dr. Strangelove on July 13, 2008 at 06:28 AM
The original inspiration for the story title, the film Dr.Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, was highly ironic.
Hmmm.
Mark Stoner on July 13, 2008 at 08:29 AM
I found a website that provides you with a very quick delivery service HDMI cables at extremely convenient prices with the best quality possible. I understand the site is by the Company that manufactures the HDMI cables for DVD/PC makers for them to put it in the box eventually sold to us.
Mark Stoner on July 13, 2008 at 09:10 AM
AH !!! the site is:
www.cablesondemand.com
MS
DGC on July 13, 2008 at 12:49 PM
That's great, unless you do rip and edit video. In that case HDMI is an abomination.
Jim S on July 13, 2008 at 12:53 PM
"The only gripe I still have with HDMI are the multiple versions that exist of the standard."
It could be worse. It could be SCSI.
gattsuru on July 13, 2008 at 01:06 PM
That's great, unless you do rip and edit video. In that case HDMI is an abomination.
Only if you rip and edit HDCP-enabled video. Of course, that's a problem with all HDCP-enabled media, regardless of what wiring you try to use.
George on July 13, 2008 at 01:09 PM
Leo Laporte just recommended www.monoprice.com on his radio show I heard on KGO.
John on July 13, 2008 at 03:41 PM
The reason cables were so expen$ive is that cables are a high markup item for big box stores. HDMI is digital, so there is no benefit to fancy-schmancy buzzword compliant cables. Either the signal gets to the other end, or it doesn't. There is no degradation in the encoded digital information, unlike encoded analog signals. Buy the cheap cables.
Redeye on July 13, 2008 at 06:19 PM
The only other downside I see to HDMI is that I'm still stuck with my toslink cable if I don't have a HDMI receiver (which I don't). When hooking up my up-scaling DVD player (or a Bluray player, if I had one), I have to send HDMI to the TV and toslink to the receiver if I want 5.1 surround. Thanks (no-thanks, really) to the HDCP requirements supported by HDMI, I cannot simply use the toslink signal that is already coming from my TV to my receiver. By the standard, that signal must be 'down-converted' to a simple stereo signal once it leaves HDMI-land. They are not allowed to simply pass the 5.1 signal through to the toslink connection, even though it would be no problem to do so. A small aggravation, but that's just one more cable I have to buy and sort through on the back of my receiver.
Greg Q on July 14, 2008 at 01:18 AM
While I don't rip off IP holders (after I, I am one), I do my best to never have anything to do with anyone who is trying to force copy-protection (read "back prevention") schemes on me. So I don't care how convenient the cables are, I won't be using them.
Not until there's an easy way for me to beat their backup prevention "features".
Grant S on July 14, 2008 at 02:33 PM
HDMI is the most awful thing to A/V since ... well, ever. The copy protection scheme is utterly offensive and sets a horrible precedent. It renders the HDTV and receiver you bought three years ago uselessand forces you to go to the store and drop another $6K so the MPAA can pursue its Sysiphean quest to stop piracy.
Ethics aside, the inability to mix and match components is crippling. I'm a moderate audiophile, and with HDMI I couldn't use a high-end DAC or soundcard. Worse, when I purchase a video card, I have to pay extra for sound hardware I have no intention of using.
So to hell with HDMI and to hell with the MPAA.