Are there any receivers out with HDMI 2.1b or is that still way into the future?

[Tao1]

Greetings,

I have been using an AV receiver to power speakers for a PC for years now. However, I recently made the mistake of buying a video card with only 1 HDMI port. The receiver only has HDMI 1.4 so I need to pass video directly to my TV, but I have issues with ARC.

Since I would be in the market to look for a new receiver, I may as well look for something with HDMI 2.1b to be sure I won't be replacing it well into the future. Are there any receivers with this spec yet? Even looking on Yamaha's site, it doesn't go into details of what spec the HDMI ports are on their products.

Thanks!

 

[ban25]

HDMI 2.1b doesn't bring much to the table relative to HDMI 2.1a. Just QMS, I think?

FWIW, the current line of Yamaha AVRs are a bit old (2021 vintage) and it may be worth holding out for a refresh if you're keen on having the latest and greatest.

 

[Tao1]

Thanks!

Taking a second look, the confusion seems to be that the HDMI Forums' 'new features' for 2.1b was just regurgitating all of the standard 2.1 features. One of many reasons why I can't stand marketing...

 

[ban25]

Thanks!

Taking a second look, the confusion seems to be that the HDMI Forums' 'new features' for 2.1b was just regurgitating all of the standard 2.1 features. One of many reasons why I can't stand marketing...

Yeah, current 40 Gbps HDMI 2.1 implementations like you'll find on Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon, etc. will get you 8K60, 4K120, VRR, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, etc. *Some* niche implementations like in the McIntosh AVPs and potentially the Storm and Trinnov boxes (still researching), lack VRR support, which is unfortunate. Definitely stay far away from anything that's HDMI 2.0 only, as that does not support any high-frame-rate modes.

 

[kahun]

Greetings,

I have been using an AV receiver to power speakers for a PC for years now. However, I recently made the mistake of buying a video card with only 1 HDMI port. The receiver only has HDMI 1.4 so I need to pass video directly to my TV, but I have issues with ARC.

Since I would be in the market to look for a new receiver, I may as well look for something with HDMI 2.1b to be sure I won't be replacing it well into the future. Are there any receivers with this spec yet? Even looking on Yamaha's site, it doesn't go into details of what spec the HDMI ports are on their products. applebees

Thanks!

Hi! For HDMI 2.1b-capable AV receivers, options are currently limited, but some newer models from Denon, Yamaha, and Marantz offer HDMI 2.1 support. Check each brand’s product specs for exact HDMI version details, as it can vary by model.

 

[-Jim-]

Greetings,

I have been using an AV receiver to power speakers for a PC for years now. However, I recently made the mistake of buying a video card with only 1 HDMI port. The receiver only has HDMI 1.4 so I need to pass video directly to my TV, but I have issues with ARC.

Since I would be in the market to look for a new receiver, I may as well look for something with HDMI 2.1b to be sure I won't be replacing it well into the future. Are there any receivers with this spec yet? Even looking on Yamaha's site, it doesn't go into details of what spec the HDMI ports are on their products.

Thanks!

Does your existing receiver have more than one HDMI out? If so use one for the PC monitor and another for the TV.

Just trying to be helpful.

 

[Tao1]

Does your existing receiver have more than one HDMI out? If so use one for the PC monitor and another for the TV.

Just trying to be helpful.

It only has one, but that isn't the problem. If I want to use my TV (which is also the gaming monitor) at 4k 120Hz RGB 4:4:4 Full, I need HDMI 2.1, so I can't go through the receiver. I used to have one HDMI connection to the monitor and one HDMI connection to the receiver mainly for audio.

Now that I have only 1 HDMI out port, I was using ARC, but I didn't realize that it didn't transmit the full audio signal that HDMI normally does, and had a degraded experience in Dolby Digital +.

I did get a Pioneer VSX-935 since. The audio is much better, but I am having issues with eARC. When I alt-tab out of a game, the audio cuts out. It doesn't do this with the computer plugged in directly to the receiver). Seems to be the case that my LG C2 has a bad HDMI controller.

It is becoming quite the adventure!

 

[Tao1]

Hi! For HDMI 2.1b-capable AV receivers, options are currently limited, but some newer models from Denon, Yamaha, and Marantz offer HDMI 2.1 support. Check each brand’s product specs for exact HDMI version details, as it can vary by model.

Thanks! I was looking at the Yamaha V6A, but it seems it will only do 24 Gbs which is half the HDMI 2.1 spec. I will take a closer look at Denon and Marantz, but I have to troubleshoot a few issues as I mentioned in the above post first. If the Pioneer works, I will keep it, but I think it has an issue with slight signal changes which causes it to cut out momentarily (audio switching from PCM to Atmos, etc)

 

[Trebdp83]

It only has one, but that isn't the problem. If I want to use my TV (which is also the gaming monitor) at 4k 120Hz RGB 4:4:4 Full, I need HDMI 2.1, so I can't go through the receiver. I used to have one HDMI connection to the monitor and one HDMI connection to the receiver mainly for audio.

Now that I have only 1 HDMI out port, I was using ARC, but I didn't realize that it didn't transmit the full audio signal that HDMI normally does, and had a degraded experience in Dolby Digital +.

I did get a Pioneer VSX-935 since. The audio is much better, but I am having issues with eARC. When I alt-tab out of a game, the audio cuts out. It doesn't do this with the computer plugged in directly to the receiver). Seems to be the case that my LG C2 has a bad HDMI controller.

It is becoming quite the adventure!

Check the Advanced Sound settings in the TV and see if eARC support is turned ON and Digital Sound Output is set to Passthrough, not Auto.

 

[Tao1]

Check the Advanced Sound settings in the TV and see if eARC support is turned ON and Digital Sound Output is set to Passthrough, not Auto.

Yeah both are enabled. Oddly enough if I set Passthrough to PCM, the sound no longer cuts out. I think it is an issue with the HDMI controller because when I set it back to passthrough the video signals from both HDMI devices cut out (but the TVs home screen and menus worked fine). The only troubleshooting that worked to restore video signals was a factory reset of the TV. I just hope that the Pioneer doesn't also have issues from being 'built cheaper' than most other receivers.

 

[Trebdp83]

I should have been a bit more specific and accurate. The "Select HDMI Audio Input Format" setting should be set to Bitstream, not PCM. Scroll down the list of the Sound settings from there and the "Digital Audio Output" setting should be set to Pass Through, not Auto. Below it, "eARC Support" should be switched ON or the signal will be limited to the ARC spec.

 

[Tao1]

I should have been a bit more specific and accurate. The "Select HDMI Audio Input Format" setting should be set to Bitstream, not PCM. Scroll down the list of the Sound settings from there and the "Digital Audio Output" setting should be set to Pass Through, not Auto. Below it, "eARC Support" should be switched ON or the signal will be limited to the ARC spec.

Thanks, but yeah it is set to those, and still has the issue. Only setting the output to PCM gets rid of it, but of course that gets rid of the Dolby Atmos signal as well. Curiously setting the input the PCM, and the output to passthrough has the audio cut out when alt-tabbing from a game. Same with setting the output in Windows sound settings to PCM.