HDMI 2.1 Specification Sets New Resolution Standard

[Chino]

HDMI Forum, Inc. today announced the release of Version 2.1 of the HDMI Specification which is now available to all HDMI 2.0 adopters. This latest HDMI Specification supports a range of higher video resolutions and refresh rates including 8K60 and 4K120, and resolutions up to 10K. Dynamic HDR formats are also supported, and bandwidth capability is increased up to 48Gbps. Supporting the 48Gbps bandwidth is the new Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable. The cable ensures high- bandwidth dependent features are delivered including uncompressed 8K video with HDR. It features exceptionally low EMI (electro-magnetic interference) which reduces interference with nearby wireless devices. The cable is backwards compatible and can be used with the existing installed base of HDMI devices.

Version 2.1 of the HDMI Specification is backward compatible with earlier versions of the specification, and was developed by the HDMI Forum's Technical Working Group whose members represent some of the world's leading manufacturers of consumer electronics, personal computers, mobile devices, cables and components.


"The HDMI Forum's mission is to develop specifications meeting market needs, growing demands for higher performance, and to enable future product opportunities," said Robert Blanchard of Sony Electronics, president of the HDMI Forum.

HDMI Specification 2.1 Features Include:

• Higher video resolutions support a range of high resolutions and faster refresh rates including 8K60Hz and 4K120Hz for immersive viewing and smooth fast-action detail. Resolutions up to 10K are also supported for commercial AV, and industrial and specialty usages.
• Dynamic HDR support ensures every moment of a video is displayed at its ideal values for depth, detail, brightness, contrast and wider color gamuts-on a scene-by-scene or even a frame-by- frame basis.
• The Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable supports the 48G bandwidth for uncompressed HDMI 2.1 feature support. The cable also features very low EMI emission and is backwards compatible with earlier versions of the HDMI Specification and can be used with existing HDMI devices.
• eARC simplifies connectivity, provides greater ease of use, and supports the most advanced audio formats and highest audio quality. It ensures full compatibility between audio devices and upcoming HDMI 2.1 products.
• Enhanced refresh rate features ensure an added level of smooth and seamless motion and transitions for gaming, movies and video. They include:
• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) reduces or eliminates lag, stutter and frame tearing for more fluid and better detailed gameplay.
• Quick Media Switching (QMS) for movies and video eliminates the delay that can result in blank screens before content is displayed.
• Quick Frame Transport (QFT) reduces latency for smoother no-lag gaming, and real-time interactive virtual reality.
• Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) allows the ideal latency setting to automatically be set allowing for smooth, lag-free and uninterrupted viewing and interactivity.

The HDMI 2.1 Compliance Test Specification (CTS) will be published in stages during Q1-Q3 2018, and HDMI adopters will be notified when it is available.



The HDMI Forum Reaches Out to Grow Global Membership
The HDMI Forum is an open trade association that guides the future direction of HDMI technology and develops new versions of the HDMI Specification. The HDMI Forum currently has a membership of 92 companies, and is actively inviting more companies to apply for membership and help shape the future of HDMI technology. There is also a focus to encourage more companies to participate as the global presence of HDMI-enabled products and solutions continues to grow.

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[Solidstate89]

Damn, they've just leap frogged ahead of DisplayPort.

 

[dicktracy]

RIP Displayport and PC monitors in general. The trend is that TVs are dropping like mad in price and input lag while having a way better picture quality and way bigger screen for the money. HDMI 2.1 gives us 4k 120hz and VRR. When all of these actually hit the market, there’s no room for Asus and Dell to overcharge for their crappy edgelit LCDs that doesn’t even have HDR, or render them correctly. OLED is also continuing to drop in price and guess what? They’ll use HDMI 2.1 exclusively.

 

[neatfeatguy]

And here I am enjoying the life of 1080p on a 50" TV and on my 24" monitors.....I must be doing something wrong for not rushing out to buy an overpriced 4K TV.....

Help me! I think I'm broken!

 

[Chaitanya]

And here I am enjoying the life of 1080p on a 50" TV and on my 24" monitors.....I must be doing something wrong for not rushing out to buy an overpriced 4K TV.....

Help me! I think I'm broken!

Dont think you are broke, even though I have a 1440p monitor still I prefer to play at 1080p.

 

[dozenfury]

The HDMI 2.1 spec was finalized back in Q1 2017 iirc, so this is more of a symbolic announcement than anything. It's probably not a coincidence though that this was announced just the 2nd business day after Black Friday. Consumers doing tv or monitor shopping for BF would have been more inclined to wait if the upcoming hdmi 2.1 spec had been more publicized. But we're still probably looking at 2019 before tvs and monitors really start to ship with it and use it. I'm hoping we start to see some early products that use it in 2018 though.

 

[CheapMeat]

The naming conventions on a lot of these tech improvements always confuses me though. That big of a leap and it's just ".1" in the name? I feel like that just makes it visually confusing for consumers who aren't the type to constantly read up on these things.

 

[Midland Dog]

The naming conventions on a lot of these tech improvements always confuses me though. That big of a leap and it's just ".1" in the name? I feel like that just makes it visually confusing for consumers who aren't the type to constantly read up on these things.

Im guessing it is due to the fact that this is an improvement and modification to HDMI2.0, theoretically HDMI3.0 would be a new design, or im talkin out my ass i dunno but thats my thoughts

 

[Prince Valiant]

RIP Displayport and PC monitors in general. The trend is that TVs are dropping like mad in price and input lag while having a way better picture quality and way bigger screen for the money. HDMI 2.1 gives us 4k 120hz and VRR. When all of these actually hit the market, there’s no room for Asus and Dell to overcharge for their crappy edgelit LCDs that doesn’t even have HDR, or render them correctly. OLED is also continuing to drop in price and guess what? They’ll use HDMI 2.1 exclusively.

More likely is that the DisplayPort spec will be updated, monitor features will be improved, and prices will be adjusted. Monitor manufacturers aren't simply going to roll over and die because the HDMI spec improved.

Input lag of TVs is still worse on average than monitors last I knew. Unless OLED gets some entries under $1000 in the next year or two it's probably not making it to the mass market.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I don't care that HDMI claims to have outpaced DisplayPort because I know I'm not going to have problems with DisplayPort. HDMI is physically designed to handle 1920x1200 @ 60 Hz. Now they're trying to ram a semi through it. It's not going to go over well.

Businesses don't want HDMI to connect their monitors because they have enough headaches without it. Two DisplayPort 1.3 cables is preferable to one HDMI 2.1 cable.

 

[Manu_PT]

lol what you on about? Ofc you will need new HDMI 2.1 Ports, don´t expect to use HDMI 2.0 with this cable and get HDMI 2.1.

And yes I hope displayport dies and monitor companies adopt hdmi2.1. Enough of the fragmentation we currently have (hdmi 2.0 vs DisplayPort). Some monitors don´t even have HDMI2.0 ports and they ended up being a glorifired heavyweight for many players that bought a console aswell (ps4pro/xbox one x).

Better they catch up or good luck. You don´t even need Oled to have superior tech and image compared to any PC monitor out there. Even samsung LEDs rape any monitor.

But keep paying for your overpriced blacklight bleed/glow/muddy fest Asus/Benq crap.

Meanwhile the consoles have most recent titles with HDR and the TV tech keeps developing. But hey, PC is only relevant for CS GO and Pubg anyway /sarcasm

 

[Crustybeaver]

lol what you on about? Ofc you will need new HDMI 2.1 Ports, don´t expect to use HDMI 2.0 with this cable and get HDMI 2.1.

And yes I hope displayport dies and monitor companies adopt hdmi2.1. Enough of the fragmentation we currently have (hdmi 2.0 vs DisplayPort). Some monitors don´t even have HDMI2.0 ports and they ended up being a glorifired heavyweight for many players that bought a console aswell (ps4pro/xbox one x).

Better they catch up or good luck. You don´t even need Oled to have superior tech and image compared to any PC monitor out there. Even samsung LEDs rape any monitor.

But keep paying for your overpriced blacklight bleed/glow/muddy fest Asus/Benq crap.

Meanwhile the consoles have most recent titles with HDR and the TV tech keeps developing. But hey, PC is only relevant for CS GO and Pubg anyway /sarcasm

My monitor is rocking only 4ms of input lag, what about your OLED that cost you four, five ten times as much?

 

[wiyosaya]

Unless OLED gets some entries under $1000 in the next year or two it's probably not making it to the mass market.

A year or two is probably a well within reason given this 55" LG C7 OLED for under $1,700 US.

 

[NTM2003]

Oh great and I just updated all my tech to 4K lol time to start saving.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

That's exactly why they changed to digital: encourage everyone to replace their TVs every few years instead of every decade.

 

[NTM2003]

I just got a 4K tv in April and the Xbox one x and my pc so it’s like whatever I give up. Just brought a new phone with 1440p I wait till 20k lol

 

[Manu_PT]

My monitor is rocking only 4ms of input lag, what about your OLED that cost you four, five ten times as much?

Oh really? Tell me more about how on many games do you need 4ms of input lag? twitch shooters? competitive multiplayer? nice, high refresh monitors are targeted for those ones, but anything else is way better on an Oled TV with HDR. 18ms input lag won´t bother you at all, won´t make you play worse on those games.

But yeah keep enjoying your 4ms input lag monitor on single player non competitive games with backlight bleed, glow, crappy colours, inexistant 700:1 contrast ratio aka Fog window.

 

[dicktracy]

Oh really? Tell me more about how on many games do you need 4ms of input lag? twitch shooters? competitive multiplayer? nice, high refresh monitors are targeted for those ones, but anything else is way better on an Oled TV with HDR. 18ms input lag won´t bother you at all, won´t make you play worse on those games.

But yeah keep enjoying your 4ms input lag monitor on single player non competitive games with backlight bleed, glow, crappy colours, inexistant 700:1 contrast ratio aka Fog window.

TVs have been dropping their input lag every year while still offering a much superior picture quality vs PC monitors. We went from average of 40ms in 2015 to 20ms 2017 because TV makers finally realized how big the gaming market is compared to home cinema. It will not be surprising if they reach sub 10ms in the coming years.

 

[yogurt_21]

TVs have been dropping their input lag every year while still offering a much superior picture quality vs PC monitors. We went from average of 40ms in 2015 to 20ms 2017 because TV makers finally realized how big the gaming market is compared to home cinema. It will not be surprising if they reach sub 10ms in the coming years.

not too concerned with input lag so much as text on screen. TV's have had terrible text on screen in the past. Is that no longer the case? Because a 50" 4k TV is dang cheap these days, far more so than 4k PC monitors.

 

[Bansaku]

" The cable ensures high- bandwidth dependent features are delivered including uncompressed 8K video with HDR. It features exceptionally low EMI (electro-magnetic interference) which reduces interference with nearby wireless devices. The cable is backwards compatible and can be used with the existing installed base of HDMI devices. "

Must use the same magical tech that USB3 cables use.

While I completely understand the need for better materials to ensure consistent, uninhibited signal flow (like CAT-5 vs CAT-6), this will only give 3rd party vendors a reason to charge a premium for these cables, slapping on star-bursts and bullet points on how superior they are to their predecessor. Unless the pin configurations have changed (looking around at the available data, it hasn't), any good quality HDMI cable should work.

 

[Crustybeaver]

Oh really? Tell me more about how on many games do you need 4ms of input lag? twitch shooters? competitive multiplayer? nice, high refresh monitors are targeted for those ones, but anything else is way better on an Oled TV with HDR. 18ms input lag won´t bother you at all, won´t make you play worse on those games.

But yeah keep enjoying your 4ms input lag monitor on single player non competitive games with backlight bleed, glow, crappy colours, inexistant 700:1 contrast ratio aka Fog window.

Pipe down dickhead. No one I know uses a TV for competitive PC gaming. TVs have their place, and it isn't on a desk two feet from your face.

 

[Solidstate89]

That's exactly why they changed to digital: encourage everyone to replace their TVs every few years instead of every decade.

How does that have literally anything to do with digital vs analog in display tech? That's complete nonsense.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Oh really? Tell me more about how on many games do you need 4ms of input lag? twitch shooters? competitive multiplayer? nice, high refresh monitors are targeted for those ones, but anything else is way better on an Oled TV with HDR. 18ms input lag won´t bother you at all, won´t make you play worse on those games.

But yeah keep enjoying your 4ms input lag monitor on single player non competitive games with backlight bleed, glow, crappy colours, inexistant 700:1 contrast ratio aka Fog window.

yeah ok, come back when you have a clue and can have a conversation like an adult instead of some 4chan kid.

 

[iO]

Finally a HDMI spec that isnt already outdated before its release.
But this wont get adopted anytime soon..

 

[R-T-B]

But yeah keep enjoying your 4ms input lag monitor on single player non competitive games with backlight bleed, glow, crappy colours, inexistant 700:1 contrast ratio aka Fog window.

My benq VA panel has 3000:1 static contrast, actually registers more in reviews.

Not sure where you are getting the idea that all monitors are crap, and that HDMI is good for even TV signal. It's in general a shitty standard.

Pipe down dickhead. No one I know uses a TV for competitive PC gaming. TVs have their place, and it isn't on a desk two feet from your face.

How 'bout we keep the namecalling out of this?