HDMI 2.1 has lots of really cool features, and a few of them are so essential that they’ve a big impact on the purchasing decisions of all gamers and regular users alike. Nevertheless, regardless of how excited you might be on the prospect of buying latest HDMI 2.1 gadgets, there may be a serious caveat that manufacturers may not even inform you about. Similarly, each time a new edition of USB comes out, recently every latest USB product has been marked as USB 3.1 and newer than USB 3.2. Even when it doesn’t support the new edition’s maximum speeds. Quite silly. Unfortunately, evidently HDMI falls into the identical trap.
The problem first got here to light when a report discovered a seemingly misleading feature list for the Xiaomi 240Hz Monitor. While the specs clearly state that it supports HDMI 2.1, it also clearly states that the display’s maximum resolution is just 1080p, with the older HDMI 2.0 already supporting 1080p at 240 frames per second.
After all, simply because a tool supports HDMI 2.1 does not imply it can routinely achieve 10K resolution. That is the very best resolution supported by HDMI 2.1, otherwise we’d all be stuck paying 1000’s of dollars for each display we desired to buy. That is not the purpose. But the perfect part was that this 1080p display didn’t support any of the brand new HDMI 2.1 features in any respect. So why was it still labeled as HDMI 2.1? Was it just a few mistake? Or perhaps Xiaomi is attempting to mess with us?
Actually, this spec was totally wonderful under the silly latest rules. It seems that the actual problem is that HDMI 2.1 licensing requirements now consider all old HDMI 2.0 features to be a subset of HDMI 2.1. In other words, the name HDMI 2.1 replaces the name HDMI 2.0, and manufacturers, at the very least for now, have a free hand to slap HDMI 2.1 of their devices, even in the event that they don’t offer anything latest.
But don’t fret, poor buyer who just wants a pleasant TV that can work with the Xbox you paid scalper-level prices for. Because there may be also a requirement that if a product supports any of the brand new HDMI 2.1 features, the manufacturer must list exactly which of them to scale back uncertainty. And that is probably higher than nothing. But again, this is identical scheme that USB uses today, and almost every technology observer on the planet has identified that this can be a silly method to indicate the capabilities of the product. And as an alternative of creating the water clearer, it can simply muddy the water. Worse yet, if the corporate really desires to deal with its customers and just keep on with HDMI 2.0 within the specs, then guess what? Manufacturers can not even get their products certified for the HDMI 2.0 standard. It must now come under the HDMI 2.1 banner.
Although this will be surprising news, it mustn’t cause a positive shock. Many equipment manufacturers support the HDMI standard and, in fact, they care about good sales of their products. And HDMI 2.1 sounds sexier than HDMI two-point. Especially for many who know concerning the latest features but may not know concerning the craziness that comes with the brand new naming scheme. Perhaps someday the industry will give in on this terrible anti-consumer idea. But within the meantime, read the specs rigorously before you drop a bunch of cash on a shiny latest TV or monitor, especially if the box you only found next to your Black Friday bin says HDMI 2.1.
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