[mythtv-users] HDMI out

[Steven Adeff]

On Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 12:57 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 7:10 PM, Marc Randolph <mrand at pobox.com> wrote:
>  > On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 7:02 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht at gmail.com> wrote:
>  >  > On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 4:54 PM, Justin Johnson
>  >  >  <justin.johnson3 at gmail.com> wrote:
>  >  >  > Hi,
>  >  >  >  I'm looking for a way to output video and audio over HDMI. I've seen
>  >  >  >  some video cards that have internal S/PDIF headers to connect your sound
>  >  >  >  card to. However they all seem to be out of stock. I also saw a
>  >  >  >  converter box for $270, a little more than I'd like to pay. Most of the
>  >  >  >  cards I've seen have fans and are ATI. I'd really prefer nVidia and
>  >  >  >  definitely want passive cooling, there's just no reason to add noise to
>  >  >  >  my HTPC. Any suggestions on cards to look for?
>  >  >  >
>  >  >  >  --
>  >  >  >  --Justin Johnson
>  >  >  >
>  >  >
>  >  >  I saw I small article on the subject of audio over HDMI just this
>  >  >  morning. It requires HDMI Rev. 1.3 compatibility but if you're buying
>  >  >  new maybe you can swing it.
>  >  >
>  >  >  spdif - optical or coaxial  - will work fine as long as your receiver
>  >  >  will sync to the spdif you're sending. Most receivers do. (Mine does
>  >  >  and it's cheap.) I use optical spdif..
>  >  >
>  >  >  Here's the article link:
>  >  >
>  >  >  http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/podcast/2008/04/hdtv_and_home_theater_podcast_270_-_movie_downloads_and_hdmi_vs_component.php
>  >  >
>  >
>  >  Howdy Mark,
>  >
>  >  I don't believe it's accurate that HDMI v1.3 is required for baseline
>  >  audio.  Each version has added additional audio modes, and my
>  >  understanding is that v1.3 added even more.  See:
>  >
>  >  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#HDMI_1.3
>  >
>  >  Have fun,
>  >
>  >    Marc
>
>  I agree. I think the point of the article, reading between the lines a
>  bit since I have no experience with HDMI, is that prior to Ver. 1.3
>  there have been problems getting real-world devices to talk reliably
>  to each other. I *think* they were saying that with 1.3 that's finally
>  getting behind them and devices are starting to work better.

It wasn't that the earlier HDMI standards didn't support it or there
was something wrong with the standard, it had more to do with
manufacturers making "crappy" hardware that just didn't work. Of
course, it wasn't just audio, the early HDMI hardware that was only
1.0 and 1.1 compliant had interoperability issues with video as well.
It just so happens that the newer hardware with 1.3 support also fixes
a lot of the issues that *some* 1.2 devices had with audio, same as
the 1.2 hardware fixed issues that 1.0 and 1.1 had with video.


>  If I was spending money today on a PC to home theater receiver
>  interface I would at least want to look at HDMI-1.3 but I'd still
>  probably want a back-up, such as spdif, to get the audio across.

Honestly, unless you see any of the lossless multichannel codecs that
are on BluRay being supported in linux AND support in the graphics
drivers for channeling this signal through the HDMI port, theres no
need to care about which version of HDMI you get.  I don't see the
first of those happening in the near future, making the second a moot
point. If you can get a standard 5.1 signal over HDMI with the
hardware your choosing (which any level of HDMI supports iirc) then
"yay!" you have one less cable to run between your PC and your
receiver, other than that, no other advantage.


of course, with Myth being ported to windows, I wouldn't be surprised
if we all start running MythTV on linux for our backends and MythTV on
Windows for our frontends in order to take advantage of "proper"
BluRay playback in Windows...

-- 
Steve
Before you ask, read the FAQ!
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions
then search the Wiki, and this list,
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/
Mailinglist etiquette -
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List_etiquette