# HDMI 2.0 is coming **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348 "2013-09-08T19:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/1 "2013-09-08T19:39:18Z")
So, you just got that new 4k HDTV and you’re wondering how you’re going to feed it right? AHAHAHA. Yeah, right. Well, Sony has slashed $1000 off the price of their entry level model to a mere $4000, but if you’ve held on to your purse strings this long, you should probably wait a bit longer for the full adoption of the [new standard](http://www.techhive.com/article/2048106/hdmi-2-0-spec-released-with-beefed-up-4k-video-support-and-audio-channels-galore.html). > [@](#): > > The Ultra HD “4K” TVs and computer monitors are a-comin’! But pushing that many pixels places is a mighty big strain on the cables used to transfer audio and video to your displays. In fact, while the HDMI cords used today are technically capable of handling 4K video, it can only do so at 24 to 30 frames per second, depending on the exact resolution. Meh. > No more! HDMI 2.0 was [announced Wednesday morning](http://www.hdmi.org/press/press_release.aspx?prid=133), with a big fat 18 gigabits-per-second data pipe—nearly double the 10.2Gbps that current HDMI 1.4 cords offer—capable of displaying 3,840-by-2,160 video at a glorious 60 FPS. Support for 21:9 widescreen aspect ratios is also included in HDMI 2.0, along with a newfound ability to deliver dual video streams on the same screen. > The improvements don’t stop with video, though. HDMI packs support for a whopping 32 audio channels, up from the 8 available in previous versions, along with “dynamic auto lip-sync” and support for [additional CEC extentions](http://www.techhive.com/article/143777/article.html) (for better “one remote to rule them all” capabilities.) Audiophiles will be happy to hear (get it?) that HDMI 2.0’s audio sampling goes up to 1536kHz, and the new spec can deliver up to four multi-stream audio channels to multiple users simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/2 "2013-09-08T23:25:36Z")
Yay!!! Er, I mean, if I was able to _afford_ any of this tech… ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/3 "2013-09-08T23:44:03Z")
What I want to know is, if they’re charging [over 200 bucks for a 2m cable](http://www.bing.com/shopping/audioquest-carbon-2m-6-56-ft-braided-hdmi-cable/p/F26BD166E42EA70B5006?q=audioquest+hdmi+cable&lpf=0&lpq=audioquest%2bhdmi%2bcable&FORM=EGCA) now - which I assume is just HDMI 1.4 - then Jesus, what are they going to try to butt rape me for when they might have something approaching a legit excuse for charging a little more? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/4 "2013-09-08T23:50:59Z")
> [@](#): > > The improvements don’t stop with video, though. HDMI packs support for a whopping 32 audio channels, up from the 8 available in previous versions, along with “dynamic auto lip-sync” and support for additional CEC extentions (for better “one remote to rule them all” capabilities.) Audiophiles will be happy to hear (get it?) that HDMI 2.0’s audio sampling goes up to 1536kHz, and the new spec can deliver up to four multi-stream audio channels to multiple users simultaneously. At some point you have to wonder just what all that technology is going to do that is worthwhile. I mean, I don’t sit in front of my modest stereo hi-fi saying, “Gee, if only I had a few dozen more channels, this would really sound good!” And audio sampling or reproduction above 44khz is unlikely to deliver anything meaningful for our pitiful and aging human ears, so 1536kHz is really overkill. Of course, if you build it, they will come. The uses, that is. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/5 "2013-09-08T23:59:14Z")
You’ll get a lot of people who disagree with you on the 44khz thing. I only listen to flac recordings as a general rule but those times when I’ve had to listen to mp3’s, it’s usually been a somewhat unpleasant experience by comparison. The sound seems muddy and indistinct by comparison and you seem to get artifacts that I don’t normally notice. But I’m not going to argue this to the death since I’m hardly an audiophile. I do have a pretty good system in my office (NHT speakers) and decent one for my home theater (Polk) but it’s not like I do a lot blind A-B comparisons. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/6 "2013-09-09T00:10:08Z")
What I want to know is whether the new standard will allow for closed-captioning to be sent over the cable. The current standard doesn’t support closed captioning. So if you want to see the captions, you have to turn them on at the cable box. On mine, the process is so complicated that I never turn on closed captions. Enabling captioning should require only a single button press. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/7 "2013-09-09T00:31:52Z")
They discuss the issue [here](http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/faq.aspx#117) (first question) and seem to say the issue is really with how CC is handled. It seems to be decoded by whichever device decodes the digital signal, so if that’s a set top box, then that’s why you have to turn it on there. IDK, I just gave it a quick scan. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/8 "2013-09-09T00:34:16Z")
I know, but I hoped that the HDMI Forum might have addressed this question in designing the new standard. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/9 "2013-09-09T00:37:54Z")
Oh, you’re hoping that devices might someday talk to each other. Silly dreamer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/10 "2013-09-09T00:41:33Z")
That’s me; the eternal optimist. BTW, I just tried it. Comcast has simplified the process of enabling captions, so that it only required about half a dozen button presses. That’s better than the old process: Turn on the TV Turn off the DVR Press the Menu button, on the Comcast remote (or on the Comcast box) You will see the USER SETTING screen on your TV Move down to the CLOSED CAPTIONS entry using the arrow buttons Press the right-arrow to switch between ENABLED and DISABLED Press the Menu button Turn on the DVR Easy as pie! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/11 "2013-09-09T00:45:38Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > You’ll get a lot of people who disagree with you on the 44khz thing. I only listen to flac recordings as a general rule but those times when I’ve had to listen to mp3’s, it’s usually been a somewhat unpleasant experience by comparison. The sound seems muddy and indistinct by comparison and you seem to get artifacts that I don’t normally notice. MP3s are different from straight sampling (like WAV files), not only for sampling rates, but for compression artifacts. If you’re not familiar with Nyquist, I suggest you check out that term. If you are, then our only difference is in subjective listening. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/12 "2013-09-09T01:07:15Z")
I assume you’re talking about [psychoacoustics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics). I’m generally familiar with the concept and it’s use in lossy compression and yes I realize I was being imprecise. But I figured you would get the point I was making. Flac recordings for example normally use at least double the sampling rate of CD’s plus use lossless compression. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/13 "2013-09-09T02:56:00Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > What I want to know is, if they’re charging [over 200 bucks for a 2m cable](http://www.bing.com/shopping/audioquest-carbon-2m-6-56-ft-braided-hdmi-cable/p/F26BD166E42EA70B5006?q=audioquest+hdmi+cable&lpf=0&lpq=audioquest%2bhdmi%2bcable&FORM=EGCA) now - which I assume is just HDMI 1.4 - then Jesus, what are they going to try to butt rape me for when they might have something approaching a legit excuse for charging a little more? Don’t buy HDMI cables from anyplace other than [monoprice.com](http://monoprice.com) Here, have a [25 footer for less than $17.](http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024006&p_id=2841&seq=1&format=2) ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/14 "2013-09-09T03:28:20Z")
Thanks. 🙂 That’s what I’ve always heard. Not about that vendor specifically but that any decent cable is just fine. I use no name HDMI cables to pipe the digital audio from my video cards to my receivers in both my office and for my home theater and bypass the cheesy onboard chipsets completely. I don’t understand why people even bother with sound cards any more, especially if you want multichannel. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/15 "2013-09-09T10:28:33Z")
I do not really get the upgrading of connection types like this. Where is the room for improvement? I mean, ultimately the cable is just a bunch a copper wires isn’t it?\* There can’t be much you can do to improve that technology. You can have more wires running in parallel, but that is not any sort of big technological leap, and if more are better, why didn’t they use more in the first place, and why wasn’t the available bandwidth, from the start, close to the physical limit of whatever a flexible copper cable can handle reliably? Are improvements like this really, ultimately software improvements (even if it takes a new chip to implement the software): a better, more efficient way of compressing and uncompressing the data to send it down the wire, or something like that? If that is not it, what is really going on? ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ \*If they are really optical fibre or something, rather than copper, the argument still goes the same. Where is the room for massive bandwidth improvement from one version to another? Why wasn’t the available bandwidth the maximum the medium (copper, fibre, whatever) in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/16 "2013-09-09T11:52:28Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > I assume you’re talking about [psychoacoustics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics). I’m generally familiar with the concept and it’s use in lossy compression and yes I realize I was being imprecise. But I figured you would get the point I was making. Flac recordings for example normally use at least double the sampling rate of CD’s plus use lossless compression. I am not familiar with the details of Flac, but I once heard an A/B comparison (not blinded) in a professional audio studio of an uncompressed digital recording vs. a MP3 conversion (and I don’t remember the tech specs, either, but we had an excellent engineer at the board, and he had no ax to grind). To professional ears, on top-notch equipment, in a studio environment, there was a _very_ subtle difference, and the difference was due not to sample rate, but MP3 lossy compression. That’s the best comparison I’ve ever heard, and if it hadn’t been A/B, I think it would have been unnoticed. I’ve never heard an equivalent sample rate comparison, but I’m dubious about extremely high rates. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/17 "2013-09-09T11:57:31Z")
I’ve bought several HDMI cables from “Poundland” here in the UK. Care to guess how much they cost? 1.5m in length and all work perfectly. Give it a year after HDMI 2 comes into play and the same will be true of that standard too. It’s only digital. It works or it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/18 "2013-09-09T16:36:12Z")
I haven’t paid over $5 for an HDMI cable in years… I’ll be damned if I’m gonna start paying hundreds just so I can have a 32 channel audio system in my tiny ass apartment. does anyone even produce anything that has sounds in 32 separate channels??? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/19 "2013-09-09T16:50:24Z")
Cool. Can’t wait to watch 720p Netflix movies on one of these babies! ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348/20 "2013-09-10T00:26:40Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I do not really get the upgrading of connection types like this. Where is the room for improvement? I mean, ultimately the cable is just a bunch a copper wires isn’t it?\* There can’t be much you can do to improve that technology. You can have more wires running in parallel, but that is not any sort of big technological leap, and if more are better, why didn’t they use more in the first place, and why wasn’t the available bandwidth, from the start, close to the physical limit of whatever a flexible copper cable can handle reliably? Are improvements like this really, ultimately software improvements (even if it takes a new chip to implement the software): a better, more efficient way of compressing and uncompressing the data to send it down the wire, or something like that? If that is not it, what is really going on? > > ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ > > \*If they are really optical fibre or something, rather than copper, the argument still goes the same. Where is the room for massive bandwidth improvement from one version to another? Why wasn’t the available bandwidth the maximum the medium (copper, fibre, whatever) in the first place? Sometimes, it’s the technical ability to run at higher speeds - being able to track the 0s and 1s faster, effectively. USB full speed and USB high speed effectively use the same protocol, but with a massively different clock rate. You may need to tighten up the shielding on the cables and route your signals a little better to make it work. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hdmi-2-0-is-coming/668348.md?page=2)