Podcast #810: HDMI 2.1

HDMI 2.1 Well you knew it wouldn't last forever, but HDMI 2.0 is about to become the old standard and you guessed it, you will need another cable. But do you really need to upgrade? The HT Guys will help you sort it out. What's New? Higher Video Resolutions Dynamic HDR eARC Game Mode 48G cables   Let's look at each one in a little more detail:   Higher Video Resolutions - 4K50/60, 4K100/120, 5K50/60, 5K100/120, 8K50/60, 8K100/120 10K50/60, 10K100/120. Right now there aren't any TVs on the market that can make use of these new resolutions nor are there any plans for content providers planning on supporting these new resolutions. Based on resolution support, we say no need to hold off a purchase based on the new resolutions.   Dynamic HDR - The current HDR being used by the studios embeds metadata telling the television how to handle the image. This is done for the entire movie which means that some scenes look good and others not so much. It's a compromise. Dynamic HDR now embeds this data for each frame or series of frames. Note - Dolby Vision HDR already supports this on the current cable. You aren't missing much here. Buy a TV that supports Dolby Vision HDR and no need to wait for HDMI 2.1.   eARC - Support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. While you will need new TVs and receivers to support this feature, you won't need cables. Today's current HDMI cable will support this. This is only an issue if you are using apps on the TV to provide the audio to your receiver and you want Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. However, if you want to buy a TV now that doesn't support HDMI 2.1, go ahead. You can fix this issue by buying a $100 set top box and provide the video and audio directly to your receiver without going through the TV first.   Game Mode -  VRR features variable refresh rate, which enables a 3D graphics processor to display the image at the moment it is rendered for more fluid and better detailed gameplay, and for reducing or eliminating lag, stutter, and frame tearing. Translation - Faster gaming! Our take, if you are a serious gamer you may be interested in this. The HT Guys are not gamers.   48G Cables - enable up to 48Gbps bandwidth for uncompressed HDMI 2.1 feature support including 8K video with HDR. The cable is backwards compatible with earlier versions of the HDMI Specification and can be used with existing HDMI devices. You will need this to make use of the new video capabilities. Our take, buy them after they have been out for a while and then buy from Amazon Basics or Monoprice.