What Moron Designed the HDMI interface and why?

[Ross Ridge]

People being able to put electronics where it used to be difficult (outside, ceiling/top corner of a room, bathrooms, etc). No longer a worry to have a power cable there as well.

Custom installers are still going to be the ones doing those kind of difficult jobs. That Cat-5 cable still needs to go someplace.

 

[alcoholbob]

The real fail of HDMI is how frail the connector is and how often it causes the hdmi output boards to fail.

 

[Patranus]

Since HDMI is just DVI + digital sound, I could understand if people weren't fussed about DVI vs HDMI . . . but I don't know how folks can live with VGA.

Nope.

HDMI is limited to certain resolutions.

Try getting 1:1 pixel mapping over HDMI at 1366x768. Not going to happen.

your graphics drivers may allow for overscan/underscan adjustments

HDMI is far superior to VGA

Doubt anyone could tell the difference in a real world setting.

 

[Patranus]

The biggest issue for HDMI is its connector.

 

[0roo0roo]

screw connectors on the back of a thin tv, not practical

better it pop out than your tv fall over as well.

 

[Zargon]

Doubt anyone could tell the difference in a real world setting.

besides the fact that it cant push the bandwidth to do anything decent faster than 60hz liek I already mentioned.


and I have so little issue the connector, I love it compared to VGA.

i have a monitor that im using righ tnow ona l laaaaarge wallmount with a HDMI plugged in vertically, its been there for months, its not going anywhere

 

[A5]

Nope.

HDMI is limited to certain resolutions.

Try getting 1:1 pixel mapping over HDMI at 1366x768. Not going to happen.

Yeah - we need to separate the discussion of HDMI cables and HDMI protocols. I love HDMI cables, but I'm not a big fan of the HDMI protocols.

 

[queequeg99]

screw connectors on the back of a thin tv, not practical

better it pop out than your tv fall over as well.

I'm not sure why it isn't practical. Screw connectors for VGA or DVI inputs are on the back of every LCD computer monitor I've ever owned.

 

[iCyborg]

Nope.

HDMI is limited to certain resolutions.

Try getting 1:1 pixel mapping over HDMI at 1366x768. Not going to happen.

No, WildW is right, those two are identical, same signal and same pins, I've said a couple times here that you can even get audio out through DVI if the GPU detects an approved DVI->HDMI adapter. If the monitor supports 1366x768, video card will send it over HDMI, just as it can over DVI. It's the TVs that usually only support 720p or 1080p over HDMI, but this is not a fault of HDMI nor the source. GPU won't send native 1366x768 if TV/monitor tells it it can't (or doesn't want to) support that mode over that particular connector.

I hope Display Port gets used more widely, it's royalty free and 1.2 is faster than DVI/HDMI. PC monitors are doing well here, most new ones support it, but HDMI is owned by Panasonic, Philips, Sony etc., i.e. mostly TV manufacturers, so it's in their interest to push HDMI on to us...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Nope.

HDMI is limited to certain resolutions.

Try getting 1:1 pixel mapping over HDMI at 1366x768. Not going to happen.

Do I have to correct your misinformation in every thread?

HDMI does support 1:1 pixel mapping at 1366x768 just fine. It depends on your display's EDID data.

 

[Patranus]

---

 

[Rifter]

Do I have to correct your misinformation in every thread?

HDMI does support 1:1 pixel mapping at 1366x768 just fine. It depends on your display's EDID data.

I can also confirm this, works fine on my HTPC, ATI 4830 HDMI out to a 32" Sony LCD TV 1366 x 768.

 

[sdifox]

I think Modelworks worked on HDMI 😛

 

[darkswordsman17]

HDMI does in fact suck ass. The connectors are flimsy. The cables are thick and unbendable for any decent length run. There must be something about the protocol because syncing issues are extremely common over HDMI. A 90 degree adapter between the 25' cable and my projector and the image sparkles and cuts out. It's completely unwatchable.

Bring on HDBaseT. The sooner HDMI dies a horrible death the better off the home theater crowd will be. Audio and video over cheap-ass cat 5e? I'll take ten.

You're buying crappy cables or something. Half of your complaints are definitely dependent on what cable you buy (quality of the connectors, flexibility), and I'm going to guess the rest might be as well. The issues you describe sound like either a cheap cable that is not properly spec'ed or else your setup.

I've done a ton of HDMI and it has actually been a godsend compared to what was before, as 99% of the time it just works right, you might have to tinker with some settings to get fully setup and configured, but you'd have to do that anyway so its not a big deal.

I have yet to have an HDMI cable break or the connector either. I've had far more Cat5 connectors break in fact, and likewise I've had more issues with VGA and even DVI, although both are fairly rare as well.

While I agree it would be better over Cat5/6, HDMI was actually a big improvement for many years there.

Its not perfect, and yes the updates makes it a bit of a pain, although that's not so much the cable's fault as it is technology where it went from progressing slower than molasses for audio/video setup, to now there's 50 different things they want to do (1080p, 3D, 2K, a ton of color crap that is pointless right now and there's so many different standards and formats there that its a giant pain already), while also supporting old tech.

Also, to the person that said HDMI isn't any better than VGA because you can get VGA cables molded with digital audio cables, um, you can't get that with support for lossless surround formats, the only way you get that is with HDMI.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

You're buying crappy cables or something. Half of your complaints are definitely dependent on what cable you buy (quality of the connectors, flexibility), and I'm going to guess the rest might be as well. The issues you describe sound like either a cheap cable that is not properly spec'ed or else your setup.

You're right. I should have bought a $300 25' cable from Monster. Or maybe they could have a designed a protocol that keeps a quality signal over long distances without needing cables made from unicorn hair and leprechaun farts. A cheap-ass Cat5 cable can be custom cut and crimped for <$5.

As for my setup, plug one end of the cable into the Blu-ray player, the other into the projector. What's wrong there?😕 Maybe the Blu-ray player has a weak transmitter. I still need to buy a decent receiver.

I agree HDMI is a godsend compared to prior video cables. It brought quite a bit to the table with integrated audio and high bandwidth. I'm just saying there are a few issues that would have been solved with some foresight.

 

[Patranus]

I can also confirm this, works fine on my HTPC, ATI 4830 HDMI out to a 32" Sony LCD TV 1366 x 768.

Might work sometimes, might not work.
Its not part of the HDMI standard so you are really rolling the dice compared to VGA or DVI which doesn't have defined standard resolutions.

 

[JoeBleed]

Also, to the person that said HDMI isn't any better than VGA because you can get VGA cables molded with digital audio cables, um, you can't get that with support for lossless surround formats, the only way you get that is with HDMI.

I didn't say it wasn't better, i said it didn't meet the stated "far better" than hdmi.
edit: i'll add that most people aren't going to notice much, if any, difference between a lossy and lossless audio on their tv speakers or cheap wal-mart bought sound system. I use vga for desktop use and the molded 3.5mm audio jack works great.

 

[darkswordsman17]

You're right. I should have bought a $300 25' cable from Monster. Or maybe they could have a designed a protocol that keeps a quality signal over long distances without needing cables made from unicorn hair and leprechaun farts. A cheap-ass Cat5 cable can be custom cut and crimped for <$5.

As for my setup, plug one end of the cable into the Blu-ray player, the other into the projector. What's wrong there?😕 Maybe the Blu-ray player has a weak transmitter. I still need to buy a decent receiver.

I agree HDMI is a godsend compared to prior video cables. It brought quite a bit to the table with integraded audio and high bandwidth. I'm just saying there are a few issues that would have been solved with some foresight.

I don't get your attitude. You trash the entire spec and then go off on hyperbole when it sounds like you just have a faulty cable. Did you not try to get a replacement from wherever you bought it?

I didn't say it wasn't better, i said it didn't meet the stated "far better" than hdmi.

Gotcha, although the lossless surround formats are a pretty big improvement so I'd say coupled with the fact that its in just about every cable without needing to buy one that's specially molded, does make it far better in my opinion.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Real answer?



DRM. None of the previous connectors provided a good way for them to regulate what you've purchased.

 

[Zargon]

You're right. I should have bought a $300 25' cable from Monster. Or maybe they could have a designed a protocol that keeps a quality signal over long distances without needing cables made from unicorn hair and leprechaun farts. A cheap-ass Cat5 cable can be custom cut and crimped for <$5.

As for my setup, plug one end of the cable into the Blu-ray player, the other into the projector. What's wrong there?😕 Maybe the Blu-ray player has a weak transmitter. I still need to buy a decent receiver.

I agree HDMI is a godsend compared to prior video cables. It brought quite a bit to the table with integraded audio and high bandwidth. I'm just saying there are a few issues that would have been solved with some foresight.

you remember s-video?

that was a POS. but a 'godsend' isnt 'far superior'?

 

[iCyborg]

I can also confirm this, works fine on my HTPC, ATI 4830 HDMI out to a 32" Sony LCD TV 1366 x 768.

Might work sometimes, might not work.
Its not part of the HDMI standard so you are really rolling the dice compared to VGA or DVI which doesn't have defined standard resolutions.

You just trolling or what?
I, as well as several others, explained above: there are no standard resolutions for HDMI cables. There are standard industry resolutions defined for sources and sinks for compatibility reasons, but these exist for VGA and DVI too (640x480, 800x600 etc). It is your TV that doesn't want to receive 1366x768, nothing to do with HDMI protocol. I have a 22" 1680x1050. Why can't I send 1080p to it over DVI? I mean, DVI supports anything, right?

From HDMI 1.3 spec, section 6, first sentence:
"HDMI allows any video format timing to be transmitted and displayed.

http://www.dybkowski.comule.com/download/hdmi/hdmi_spec_1.3_gm1.pdf

 

[iCyborg]

You're right. I should have bought a $300 25' cable from Monster. Or maybe they could have a designed a protocol that keeps a quality signal over long distances without needing cables made from unicorn hair and leprechaun farts. A cheap-ass Cat5 cable can be custom cut and crimped for <$5.

1. Cheap-ass cat5 cables are <100mbps. HDMI is 10.2gbps. A factor of 100 kind of makes a difference...
2. There are cat5/6 extenders for HDMI over network cable. E.g.:
http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/hdmi-cat5e-cat6-extender-30m.html

 

[Howard]

I don't think a single thing in your OP is true.

lol this

 

[Howard]

So what were they thinking when they made HDMI. The resolution is worse than VGA/DVI and the scaling sucks. HDMI and computers don't seem to get along very well. Other than sound, what is the advantage? Sharp edges like text, look crappy in HDMI and the image does not fit the screen. Why did they re-invent the wheel and get it wrong? HDCP is another issue. This past weekend I went to the trouble of installing an HDMI video card in my HTPC and the one movie that I have that is HDCP does not benefit at all from 1080 resolution. Actually, I have found that the new releases are almost as good in DVD as they are in BD. Yeah if you are 3 ft from the screen you can see some difference but sitting on the couch it is really hard to tell. Tonight I went back to VGA interface on the computer when I found out I could not see the borders in windows.

Perry

quoted for posterity and fool of the year 2011

 

[Emulex]

geforce 430 seems to do hdmi very well. 3d/passthru/4K video support (3d requires this) all at the same time. cheap too. great for 2D/HTPC. not sure if it supports ethernet over DP/HDMI though.