HDMI-Enabled Graphics Cards Debut

TrackinYeti writes "HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), is the first industry supported digital-only interface, that requires a single cable to connect an output source to an HD-ready device, such as a television or monitor and deliver HD video, plus multi-channel digital audio, like Dolby Digital and DTS. Recently, Asus Computer released versions of their GeForce 7600 and Radeon X1600 cards with HDMI outputs on them, driven by an on-board Sil1930 controller. These are some of the first graphics cards to hit the market that can output HDMI natively with an integrated HDCP cipher engine and support HD-audio as well. Just the thing for that HTPC?"

oh boy oh boy oh boy oh ...

[tomstdenis]

Wait, I still use a VGA monitor, with a higher dot pitch than most any HD TV ...

I guess this is good for folks who build home theatres out of their computers, but then why do they need a 3D accelerator to show TV or videos?

Tom

Just means more DRM controlled hardware..

[mulvane]

Great, now I can watch all the legal stuff I have valid licenses for. What about my HD rips I make from my legally owned collection for viewing among any of the tv's in my house and for safe archiving of original content?

Hmm

[26199]

Whenever I read 'high definition' these days I think: great, another product that's broken by design.

Someone wake me up when they've passed that part...

Is this anything but a sales gimmick?

[troels]

Is this anything but a sales gimmick really? I mean, you can already get cards with DVI and HDCP which means you just need a DVI to HDMI cable to connect it to a TV anyway. So now they hope to sell more of these because people who have bought a HDTV might already know the HDMI name and think they need that? Well, i guess the one benefit i can see is that you can save the audio cable, but personally i don't want the audio to go to the TV anyway.

I'd trade it for a PCI-based CableCard reader

[Dachannien]

This card might be great if you never watch Plain Old Cable Television. But who bothers with a HTPC that can't record TV as well?

We're still waiting for CableLabs to stop fellating the movie industry and license someone to make a PCI-based CableCard reader. I mean, I'd subscribe to digital cable service today, if I could tune it and record it on my PVR PC without needing to tape an IR emitter to the front of a set-top tuner.

Their loss, I suppose.

This is worse than DVI+HDCP

[Brit_in_the_USA]

I would much rather have a DVI connectors on my graphics card than HDMI.

HDMI = single data link with HDCP
DVI = single data link with HDCP + dual data link for very hi res screens + Analogue

With the use of DVI to VGA adaptors and DVI to HDMI cables you get the most flexibility.
My Nvidia 7950GT card has DVI and HDCP for quite a while. A $10 cable gives me HDMI output...

Re:oh boy oh boy oh boy oh ...

[Ajaxamander]

What hardware do you have in your HTPC, and what OS are you using? I'm using Knoppmyth (Debian) with a GeForce3, and when I run the GeForce's DVI through a DVI->HDMI cable, (or in any way convert it to HDMI) I get this nasty red digital snow. I've tried a few different arrangements (short of spending $$$ to try other HDMI hardware,) but I can't seem to get it to go away. I assume your setup is working without issue.

Re:Hmm

[greed]

High Definition, HDMI and the DRM is not the devil - it's merely a mechanism that prevents movies from being copied.

Tell that to my PS3, Harman/Kardon AV receiver and Panasonic Viera TV that get along like a house on fire when dealing with HDMI signals. As in, screaming, flashing, and a lot of smoke but not much worth watching. It's not just Westinghouse that has "blinking screen" issues. The audio drops out on my ExpressVu HD box over HDMI.

Both work flawlessly up to 1080i on component and optical digital; well, as far as I can tell, it's only a 720p native TV.

Frankly, I love the idea of a single-connector interconnect between devices. But the day I see copy protection technology that actually permits unencumbered playback while preventing copying I'll... I'll... I'll switch to Windows.

Re:This is worse than DVI+HDCP

[Overzeetop]

I don't think the HD hype has hit the sound card market yet, at least not in name. 7.1 cards are everywhere already, and I think many will already do 192kHz/16(+) bit decoding witht he right source.

As for amps - you do have a point. I've been without one for a while, so the "big" tv just gets the one cable. (okay, more like a dozen once you add the comp input, plus the two sd inputs and the coax..what a mess). I'm grasping at straws here, but it would also be useful for sending the HDMI to a splitter and feeding it to multiple sets, where the remotes might not have a separate amp.

As for those 3840x2160p sets...well let's just say that I'm having a bit of a hard time even finding components to keep my Dell 400sc useable in the HT arena, and it's only 3 yeras old (it's AGP and socket 478...I may as well be using a vcr with wired remote ;-)

"HD Ready" is newspeak for "DRM ridden".

[plasmacutter]

I remember reading up on the requirements for "HD Ready" tags 2 years ago on the eff homepage.

there were so many drm requirements for that trademark cert it made my head spin.

I decided then and there i would never buy anything marked "HD Ready"

I fully expect linux drivers for these cards to be DMCA'd to death, if the hardware based lockdown even allows the development of linux drivers (you probably have to reverse engineer the handshake.. then get hit with the DMCA bat).

then there's the fact that cablcard cant be read in these cards... making them completely useless for real pvr's.

as for the previous poster mentioning HD-DVD and BLU-RAY backup utility, atm it's in its most primitive states. they are still in development(theyre still reverse engineering the final 40% of the process) and far from layman usable. There is still a distinct possibility that, despite having a system worked out to repeatedly and relatively trivially crack AACS, that the number of updatable points will make it impossible for a dvd-decrypter style 1 click app (i see it requiring as much skill as proper use of avisynth for the next 1 to 1.5 years at the latest.

Re:oh boy oh boy oh boy oh ...

[InsaneGeek]

No, 1080i is 1080 action lines of resolution with only half of them being sent to the display at once, the TV's line doubler will then de-interlace the signal and dispaly a full 1920x1080 lines of resolution on the TV simultaneously (I can't think of any 1080i capable TV's that don't do it, mine built in 2000 does doubling and it only will support 1080i & 480p no 720p).

The way you are thinking would be that as soon as I play an interlaced video on my computer, the display resolution is automatically halfed which is not the case. The resolution stays the same, the number of lines that are showing active content is half at any one point in time, but it changes so quickly that you (in theory) can't see the difference.