HDMI 2.1: here’s everything you need to know about the new standard

In 2018, it was a black technology blowout in the field of consumer electronics. The new technology of mobile phone manufacturers was frequent, and many old SLR manufacturers launched new products. The price of 4K TVs began to become civilian, and 8K TV became a new high-end choice. It can be expected that the electronics market in 2019 will bring even greater surprises to consumers. In addition to some products that the public care about, iterative upgrades may also appear in niche areas, such as high-definition video.

According to CNET, a technology website, the new version of HDMI may soon be coming to the fore. The biggest change is the support for 10K video and the introduction of a new cable standard.

HDMI is High Definition Multimedia Interface, high-definition multimedia interface. This is a video and audio industry proposed in 2002, a fully digital video and audio transmission interface, can send uncompressed audio and video signals, without the need to convert back and forth between digital and analog signals. Therefore, one HDMI HD cable can replace multiple analog transmission lines. With this advantage, HDMI has gradually replaced VGA cable, DVI cable and other wires, becoming the mainstream choice for high-definition audio and video systems.

The current mainstream version of HDMI is HDMI 2.0 or a variety of derivative versions. Since the beginning of 2017, the HDMI 2.1 standard has been proposed. After so long, what impact does the new version have on the user experience? The answer is no impact, let alone Large-scale popularization, even a small range of trials have not seen, only a very small number of products can experience. There are no HDMI 2.1 devices on the market, and the existing 2.0 devices cannot be upgraded to version 2.1. In theory, this update is very forward-looking, but too advanced. It takes into account the format and resolution of Ultra HD, but ignores the fact that these formats and resolutions will not be popular for years.

However, CNET said that although at the CES early next year, the relevant version of the technology is not expected to be officially updated, but many TV manufacturers have introduced new products, even as a gimmick. If you want to buy TV in 2019, you should make sure that the limitations of the HDMI 2.0 version and the new features of the 2.1 version are clear.

In general, HDMI 2.1 brings more features and higher bandwidth, but the interface specifications have not changed. At the same time, version 2.1 is also backward compatible with version 2.0, and existing wires can be used on related devices. Of course, if you want to enjoy the visual experience brought by new technology, you still have to spend money to change the line.

New version overview

In order to take care of some impatient readers, Xiao Bian first provides a general description. In fact, if you don't want to understand the history of technology and just want to enjoy new technology, then it is enough to know a few things:

1. The physical interface and cable are the same as the current version of the HDMI device;

2. Increase bandwidth from 18Gbps to 48Gbps for HDMI 2.0;

3. A video signal capable of transmitting higher resolution and frame rate;

4. High resolution and frame rate signals require new cables to be implemented;

5. In 2019, the small area will be popularized.

The above is an overview of the new technology. If you want to know more information, please turn it down.

bandwidth

Transmitting higher resolution TV signals means that the amount of data transmitted is greatly increased. HDMI produces 4,800 x 2,160 4K Ultra HD signals with four times the amount of data in 1920 x 1080 HD. Comparing a cable to a water pipe, the amount of data is water flow, and the transmission of 4K signals requires a pipe that is thicker than 1080p. The same is true for high frame rate signal transmission. At the same resolution, transmitting 60fps images requires a thicker tube than 24fps.

The current HDMI cable can meet most of the current data transmission needs, but the rapid development of TV technology requires a certain forward-looking industry. Recently, the new TV products have increased the frame rate. The TV manufacturers led by Samsung and Sony have set off the concept of 8K ultra-high resolution. There may be 10K TVs in the future. (Of course, considering that the market share of 4K TV has not been dominant for many years, there has been a phenomenon of degraded consumption in the near future. It is still unclear when these concepts become a reality)

This is why HDMI 2.1 was born. It is foreseeable that in the short term, this standard is only proposed to meet the needs of 1% of consumers on the market. In the future, perhaps 4K 120fps TV will become the mainstream of the market, 8K 60fps as a high-end supplement, which requires HDMI 2.1.

Briefly introduce the current status of 8K TV: Samsung and Sony have introduced 65-inch, 75-inch and 85-inch large-size panels this year. The mainstream panel manufacturers in China and South Korea are actively planning 8K products. However, consulting firm Qunzhi Consulting expects that the global 8K panel shipments will only reach 300,000 units next year, with a penetration rate of 0.1% and only 3.6% by 2022.

In addition, in addition to hardware devices, we must also consider the content. As of now, PCs and high-end gaming platforms are the only source of 60fps high frame rate audio and video content, which means that in addition to more than a dozen HFR movies, the current ultra-high frame rate TV is useless. In addition to sports-related live content, there is no timetable for transitioning to high frame rates in the movie and television sectors. In the short term, consumers will not use HDMI 2.1.

It is the old saying that "one penny is worth the goods, and the money is two cents." 4K TV is more than 1080p TV, and 120fps TV is more limited than 60fps TV. The increase in perception is limited, but in order to improve, consumers need The price paid has doubled. From the point of view of actual demand, 8K TVs - even 4K TVs - are suspected of overperformance.

Also note that 1 point: HDMI 2.0 also supports 8K resolution, while the first generation 8K TV is also 2.0 standard, these TVs are not compatible with version 2.1. After the first generation of 4K TV was launched, it could not support the 4K Blu-ray and 4K streaming media content, which led to complaints. Consumers should keep their eyes open and avoid the recurrence of tragedy.

Practical new features

Resolution and frame rate are the most widely understood concepts, so new technologies are often the biggest selling point. In addition, don't forget other useful features that may be more useful to some people.

Dynamic HDR

"Dynamic HDR" is an interesting name for the HDMI organization to make a big improvement. After High Definition (HD), the biggest interest of high-definition audio and video enthusiasts has shifted to the High-Dynamic Range (HDR) improvement. Because of HD itself, the most common HDR format is HDR10. It transmits "metadata" to the TV, telling the TV how to handle HDR content. In the current version of HDR10, the same HDR display mode is used in one movie or one game.

Dynamic HDR is different. It can adjust the scene in the game or movie frame by frame to provide the best picture in the current frame. The approximate effect can be seen from the picture below, remember 1 point: you see them on a non-HDR screen, so this is not the best result.

In fact, the individual scenes are nothing compared to the dark scenes highlighted in the highlights (such as the bonfire at night) and the bright scenes highlighted in the dark (such as objects that are backlit to photograph objects), giving a different look and feel. But if it is static HDR, the same processing will be done for these scenes, and dynamic HDR will be processed separately, so that each has the closest look to reality.

Certain HDR standards such as Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Technicolor have begun to transmit dynamic metadata using HDMI devices. The emergence of HDMI 2.1 will enable dynamic HDR effects in non-proprietary format content.

eARC

"eARC" is a new evolutionary phase of the audio return channel that allows AV devices such as televisions, video players and audio systems to simply establish a connection between each other. In the past, because most TVs were limited to outputting compressed surround sound or even stereo audio, decoding high bit rate audio typically required the source device to be plugged directly into a compatible audio/video receiver. With eARC, you can plug an HDMI device directly into the TV, and the TV will send uncompressed, high-quality audio directly from the eARC port to the sound bar, receiver or amplifier, greatly simplifying HD device deployment.

eARC is a new standard feature of HDMI 2.1 designed to provide the best audio resolution through TV. The new configuration requires eARC support for TV and audio devices, which means that older versions of HDMI devices do not support this feature.

Game mode VRR

For gamers, "Game Mode VRR" is a potentially interesting feature that allows the use of "variable refresh rate, enabling 3D graphics processors to display images while rendering images, providing more detail and smoother reductions. Or eliminate delays, agglomerations, and tearing of the picture. In other words, when the graphics card creates an image, the buffer required for each frame will be reduced, causing degradation in picture quality and input latency. This technology is similar to NVI's G-Sync and AMD's FreeSync, but the latter two are only available through DisplayPort.

HDMI® Specification 2.1 is the most recent update of the HDMI specification and 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.

Some game mode VRRs can be implemented in existing cables (between 2.1 compatible two gears), but if you want to transfer video larger than 4K 60fps, you still need to have one super high speed HDMI cable.

New cable

The HDMI organization has not proposed a new cable standard for a long time, but this time the bandwidth increase is too large and the old specifications are already overwhelmed. From the appearance, the old and new cables look exactly the same, and the plug sockets are always the same. These cables, originally called "48G", were officially named "Super Speed ​​HDMI Cables". The quality of these cables is about 2.6 times better than today's better 18 Gbps HDMI cables. The new cable is backward compatible, so interested and wealthy friends can buy it first and use it on HDMI 2.0 devices.

HDMI® Specification 2.1 is the most recent update of the HDMI specification and 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.

When will it be available?

According to CNET, according to their internal intelligence, in 2019, there may not be a full version of HDMI 2.1 devices, but consumers can slowly spend money to upgrade, for example, you can buy 8K 30fps TV, etc. 8K 60fps Or 120fps came out and changed. In addition, technologies like eARC or VRR, which have already been implemented on Xbox One X, may appear earlier. In short, it won't be long before you can see some TVs with the "HDMI 2.1" label on the market, but what kind of HDMI 2.1 is still to be carefully understood.

• [cf7ic]