HDMI 1.3a vs b

[belizebound]

Are HDMI 1.3 cables backwards compatible with regular HDMI

[tigeraudio2007]

All cables have the same connector and will work no matter what version HDMI you equipment says it has. Remember, Cables that indicate they are version 1.3a or b or 1.2 certified just mean that they have met the tests and performance put forth by the HDMI version standard.

[MatrixDweller]

HDMI 1.3a or b is a little ahead of the game. You can buy a receiver that has a DolbyTrue HD decoder and HDMI 1.3 connections but there aren't any sources that pass the lossless audio formats undecoded. There are also not any players that can pass Deep Color. You could get deep color from a PC and/or maybe XBox or PS3 games, but Bluray and HD-DVD are encoded in 8-bit color. Maybe in a year or two we'll see sources but for now it's useless. HDMI 1.2a with LPCM is the highest technology you can take advantage of right now.

[tigeraudio2007]

Originally Posted by MatrixDweller

HDMI 1.3a or b is a little ahead of the game. You can buy a receiver that has a DolbyTrue HD decoder and HDMI 1.3 connections but there aren't any sources that pass the lossless audio formats undecoded. There are also not any players that can pass Deep Color. You could get deep color from a PC and/or maybe XBox or PS3 games, but Bluray and HD-DVD are encoded in 8-bit color. Maybe in a year or two we'll see sources but for now it's useless. HDMI 1.2a with LPCM is the highest technology you can take advantage of right now.

Everything you just said above is factually wrong. You can send bitstream audio of Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master HD to a receiver for decoding. This can be done with the Samsung BD-P1400, et. al. I use it everyday. Also there are large number of Blu-ray discs out there featuring DTS Master HD audio tracks. The Toshiba HD-A35 can also pass both formats bitstream to a receiver for decoding. The players can also internally decode these formats.

Also, the capability for Deep Color is there in these players. HDTVs are beginning to have this functionality as well. The problem lays in the software. Studios are not encoding the movies and releasing discs with enough bits of color to take advantage of Deep Color.

And finally, HDMI 1.3 is an absolute necessity if you want to transmit these bitstream audio formats to your receiver. HDMI 1.2 will only transmit them via PCM is the player internally decodes it first. Granted, most people don't know any of these differences, and far more likely, don't even care. However, to stay HDMI 1.3 is not needed is complete BS.