So is he on Yamaha's payroll? If so it's not an unbiased situation. If he isn't then post the results. If everyone is so worried about what someone like Gene is going to find then why don't they send them units prior to public launch? I mean seriously why would Gene think he needs to be in a position where he has to worry about unflattering results? I guess my skepticism comes from being in similar situations in the auto industry which I know very well. I definitely know how games are played in that industry!
It might be a mix of personal and wider industry circumstances. I will not comment on personal circumstances. It's up to him to make a call. I think he will go for integrity, publish it and sweaten the language, similarly to CX/MX-A5200 review. From a wider perspective, Gene knows that AVR mainstream industry definitely needs a breath of fresh air, positivity, reliability, boost of confidence, popularity and bigger revenue. It's been rough, from Onkyo's almost RIP to on-going troubles with HDMI 2.1 transition and trying to elbow their way into gamers' lucrative market, a new adventure...
Comparing to PC or TV industries, AVR is a small industry that grows steadily ~1.3% a year, so hardly a major breakthrough on global markets. Here is how it looks like, revenue-wise ~$2.2 billion at the moment.
By opening up the offer to console and PC segment, business leaders in AVR industry hope to accelerate the growth to 3-4% a year, perhaps even more. HDMI 2.1 transition provides a unique opportunity for this, as ports with wide video data bandwidth of 40/48 Gbps could attract more buyers that have not traditionally been interested in having an AVR placed in the middle of their PC ecosystem. This brings all sorts of video complexities that need to be addressed, so that video flows through as unmolested as possible. AVR companies have some serious job to do to convince the said market that their devices deserve the label "media and home entertainment hub". It is easier to perform the hub role with sources and TVs. It's a whole new game and level with PCs, as companies experienced in a painful way last and this year.
Breaking a direct connection PC-display with AVR is a big deal in terms of supported pass-though features, especially at 4K/120 resolution, sync features and colour space support in EDID. In PC world, DisplayPort is the king video interface and it comes in three flavours: traditional DP, DP over USB-C and Thunderbolt. AVRs do not support DisplayPort, as they rely on HDMI only and have been designing their boards in a very conservative way, meant for consumer electronics market. Consoles started to blur this line, but those are also limited to HDMI port only.
Challenges for AVRs to address in order to sell more machines to PC users:
1. For PC users, it's much more flexible with video connectivity and flexibility is expected by default. HDMI is just one of options. Almost every single monitor, motherboard and graphics cards have several different interfaces to allow users to connect whatever they want or happen to have at home. AVRs still do not have this luxury of port flexibility and are not perceived as media hub for that reason. So, there is that as the first obstacle in wider adoption among PC users.
2. In addition, video features are much better supported on DisplayPort than on HDMI. There are more combinations of screen resolutions, refresh rates, sync and colours in EDID than on HDMI. One simple symptom of this is 1440p, the most popular screen resolution in PC world. Very few AVRs support this in pass-through. In a typical AVR, it's either 1080p or 4K, which is geared towards TVs. As you know, PC monitors and laptops have greater diversity in this regard. So, AVR by default is a no-go for millions of PC users, as they do not want to compromise on video features that direct connection provides.
3. Plus, they have a myriad of other audio options, from headsets and small all-in-one multi-channel audio systems (e.g. Logitech gear), all the way to DACs from motherboards, add-in audio cards such as Sound Blaster and soundbars. There's tons of audio options for computers that compete on the market.
I hope we will finally have new video boards on AVRs by 2025, which will include DisplayPort support. It is the only way to penetrate PC market with greater success. Once people see at least two digital video interfaces, they can connect greater variery of sources and displays to AVR and treat it as truly integrating hub. It is product managers and engineers in AVR companies that need to give this a hard push and ask Qualcomm and other SoC makers to create chips that would support both interfaces. This is routinely done on PC motherboards, so it really should not be a big deal. It's not reinventing a wheel, it's modernising your own gear and getting your house in order to accomodate all sort of devices people use. It will not dramatically increase cost and it can bring greater revenues by establishing AVRs as more desirable devices in modern households.
