Elite to use HDMI 1.2...Not 1.3!


Recommended Posts

Over on the AVS forums, an insider from Microsoft let the kitty cat out of the bag on the Xbox 360 Elite's use of HDMI. According to the post, the Elite will incorporate HDMI 1.2 and not the newer 1.3 version which the PS3 uses. What's the big difference you ask? Well, not too much other than HDMI 1.3 features TrueHD and DTS-HD audio output and other small fixes where as 1.2 does not. There's a lot of technical mumbo jumbo to be read, so if you're into all that technical jazz feel free to read up on the differences. For the HDMI noobs amongst us (which we mostly all fall under) check out Wikipedia's HDMI 1.2 vs 1.3 comparison and get learnified.

Full Stories!

Gizmondo Link

Xbox 360 Fanboy link

RD

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/550832-elite-to-use-hdmi-12not-13/
Share on other sites

While I still think its a dumb idea not to have gone with the latest version.... its not going to make that much of a difference... the people who truly can take advantage of TrueHD and DTS-HD audio will have dedicated equipment to handle this... they wont be using the add-on HD-DVD player, they will have the Toshiba HD-DVD player or another dedicated player... not the 360.. so before all the MS haters come running in here there may not have been any advantage to using the 1.3 besides that extra bandwidth... on a side note can the optical cable carry the TrueHD or DTS-HD audio???

Here is a post pulled from the original article.. pretty much sums it up nicely..

"This is a complete non-issue. Games don't output TrueHD/DTS-MA, and probably never will.

HD-DVD doesn't output TrueHD/DTS-MA, and probably never will. (Yes, discs are encoded in TrueHD, but the player MUST have a TrueHD decoder in it, so that it can do mixing of multiple audio streams (menu sounds, commentary). And once the player's decoded it, it can send it as uncompressed multi-channel digital audio over any version of HDMI without any degradation at all. There's no reason at all for it to recompress to TrueHD at that point.)"

Well, the Xbox 360 doesn't support TruHD or DTS-HD (or even DTS)... so it can't support HDMI 1.3. Adding that support would mean revving more internal hardware. Like anyone is going to notice the difference between DD and TruHD in a game anyway...

Aside from that minor detail, how many people are even going to run sound through HDMI? Not many, I'd bet. Fortunately they are shipping optical audio out as well, which is what most people are going to use.

Well, the Xbox 360 doesn't support TruHD or DTS-HD (or even DTS)... so it can't support HDMI 1.3.

Aside from that minor detail, how many people are even going to run sound through HDMI? Not many, I'd bet. Fortunately they are shipping optical audio out as well, which is what most people are going to use anyway.

Gee ... and here I thought HDMI was a 'High Definition Multimedia Interface'. :p From my understanding, the biggest draw to HDMI is the 1080p (digital) signal - however, there's also the fact that it delivers high res video as well as digital audio in one cable, reducing clutter and cable confusion. I'm pretty sure if someone bought a TV/receiver with HDMI, they would want to use the video and audio portion of the cable, otherwise why not just use HDMI to DVI-D and an optical cable? You can still use HDMI for both and get the Dolby Digital sound (not DTS or TruHD but what's the diff?)

Like anyone is going to notice the difference between DD and TruHD in a game anyway...

Like anyone can really notice the difference from regular DVD image to HD image :rolleyes:

Yes, there is a noticeable difference between DD and Tru-HD. Heck, there is a major difference between DD and DTS @ 1.5mps, and yes the difference is night and day on a well mastered disc.

From what I have gathered, the HDMI config that MS is using was based upon what was available at the time as a solid platform (1.2a). The 1.3 format was not even codified as of yet, so MS had not choice but to support what was available when developing this (meaning Elite sku was under development for quite a while now kids). Nay sayers may say, but wait, the PS3 has 1.3 support, which is true. However, Sony, unlike MS, is one of the key founders and developers of the format so they had instant access to all data regarding the new standard.

Brandon, it is an insult and bad PR when one of the key players of a new format is unable to meet all the specs that are the key points of said format. Its supposed to be about HD audio and video, not just video. What makes it worse is that every MS rep I have heard from now has flat out said in so many words: "Sorry kid you lose on this one. Go buy another competitors product since we cant provide what you want."

I'm pretty sure if someone bought a TV/receiver with HDMI, they would want to use the video and audio portion of the cable, otherwise why not just use HDMI to DVI-D and an optical cable? You can still use HDMI for both and get the Dolby Digital sound (not DTS or TruHD but what's the diff?)

I think what he means is that most people who are concerned about HDMI will also be concerned about audio quality, so they'll have the separate optical cable going to their receiver and surround setup rather than to the TV through HDMI. I know a lot of TVs will then let you pass the audio back to a receiver from there, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having an all-in-one cable in the first place.

Like anyone can really notice the difference from regular DVD image to HD image

I'd definitely say that it's easier to notice quality differences in a visual medium, so maybe most people wouldn't notice. Most people can't tell the difference between an original CD and a 128kbps AAC file or 192kbps MP3 file (just an example). I haven't experienced TruHD yet, though, so I'm just talking out of my ass ;)

Well, the Xbox 360 doesn't support TruHD or DTS-HD (or even DTS)... so it can't support HDMI 1.3. Adding that support would mean revving more internal hardware. Like anyone is going to notice the difference between DD and TruHD in a game anyway...

Aside from that minor detail, how many people are even going to run sound through HDMI? Not many, I'd bet. Fortunately they are shipping optical audio out as well, which is what most people are going to use.

very very true.

changing all the hardware would be pointless at this stage in the game..

I know if i get an Elite, i'll be using optical audio out like i do now

What HDMI version does the PS3 use?

PS. Honest question folks, as I have no idea.

Yeah because the difference is so noticable between them :rolleyes: I'm sorry but who cares? This is littearly splitting hairs having a 30bit pixel depth on a video game wont do much for it over the previous 24bit depth and having a higher bandwidth, so what? it still can handle what it has to handle

1.3

Thank you for the quick answer.

Yeah because the difference is so noticable between them :rolleyes: I'm sorry but who cares? This is littearly splitting hairs having a 30bit pixel depth on a video game wont do much for it over the previous 24bit depth and having a higher bandwidth, so what? it still can handle what it has to handle

I care, and for me that is more than enough people caring.

i think its pretty dumb to come out with the elite so quickly. Not to mention to call it "elite" and its already outdated spec's. For the money I would want 1.3 and gigabit ethernet

yeah your right.. microsoft should of forked over the cash to put in an HD-DVD drive, compatable with blu-ray discs, and used HDMI 1.3, with TruHD.. what were they thinking???

/sarcasm

they didn't use it because maybe it's not needed? almost like bluray for games, and HDMI 1.3 with TruHD audio... like the PS3 has.

alright so what does HDMI 1.3 offer that you can noticable see or hear different from 1.2? because the differences are soooo small for human perception...

It only allows for the streaming of HD audio to be decoded by receivers or preamp/processors that are equipped wit the tech :whistle:

In other words, it brings both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray offerings into their full goodness. The HDMI cable for the Elite will allow some gamers experience 1080p resolution on their sets.

With everything, if you haven't experience either HD audio or video, it may not mean ot much to you. For those that have they will appreciate being able to enjoy it on the 360 now.

Edit: Lyles, the ability to have 1.3 specs and have the audio streams bypass the 360 all together would be great. 360 cant decode it since MS doesn't have the rights or the chips under the hood to do it, and they ain't gonna either.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • This seems backwards. You should have to explicitly authorize files for outside use. It shouldn't be the default.
    • Wow you are right, I never even noticed this until you said it! (870E Aorus Master) Before testing this card I had a TP-Link tx401 10GbE PCIe card in that slot (now using XikeStor 310 Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter).
    • Lack of 5.1 makes this a no sale. What I really wish creative would make would be a USB version that supports 5.1 analog audio for speakers, can switch to headphone mode, and matches the specs of their top tier cards. The current X870E AMD motherboards dont have a great option for adding a PCIE x1 card without cutting down pcie lanes to the graphics card.
    • The Microsoft Office feature that time forgot by Usama Jawad I have been actively using Microsoft Word for the past couple of decades in academic, professional, and personal capacities. Although I used it through the perpetual version of Office apps at the start, I have been an active subscriber of Microsoft 365 Family subscription for over five years now. This means that my Word installation is regularly updated with new features, some of which I don't really like, but that's beside the point. As new features get continuously added, old ones that used to be a staple of Word have started to take a backseat. While I was reminiscing over my Windows experiences from my childhood today, I suddenly remember one such capability that I heavily used in my younger years but have not really touched in over a decade, and haven't seen in documents created by others either. That feature is WordArt. Just to clarify, WordArt is not a Microsoft product specific to Word, and is included in other Office apps like PowerPoint and Excel too. However, Microsoft Word is the app that I used Word Art in heavily, while making assignments or other deliverables for school. If you're unaware, WordArt offers a collection of styling techniques for text, introducing 3D effects like shadows and reflections in the text. It used to be one of the coolest things ever when I was at school and me and my classmates would often compete to ensure that our assignment's title in WordArt was truly the best and stood out above the rest. See some examples of WordArt, still present in the latest versions of Word below: Although WordArt is undeniably cool, it has taken a bit of a backseat, and has been relegated from the Home tab to the Insert toolbar, along with a bunch of other utilities, making it very easy to miss. This isn't exactly surprising because WordArt doesn't really have a place in academic and professional documents anymore, and while I have seen some creatives using it while developing promo material, even that sector has gravitated more towards dedicated graphic designing tools in the past years. For the vast majority of us, WordArt doesn't really exist, and that's alright. At least, it's still an option that can allow us to reminisce our childhood or even make some quick text stylization, if we really need it. Perhaps its usage has waned over time or the novelty has worn off, but I haven't even seen children use it in their academic assignments anymore. In fact, many don't even know that it exists. Maybe that's the fate of every beloved feature. What once felt cutting edge eventually becomes a relic, quietly tucked away as tastes, trends, and technology move on. WordArt may no longer dominate school assignments or decorate the covers of classroom projects, but for those of us who grew up with it, it remains a colorful reminder of a time when making text glow, bend, and cast giant shadows felt like the height of creativity. Hidden behind a few clicks in modern Word, it still survives not as a productivity tool, but as a small piece of computing nostalgia that refuses to disappear.
  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      DrWankel earned a badge
      First Post
    • Reacting Well
      DrWankel earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      Supreme Spray LV earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Genuinetonerink- Dubai earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Genuinetonerink- Dubai earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      495
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      158
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      88
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      74
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      70
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!