This is from the "Secrets Of Home Theater" website forum.
In discussion with some industry engineers, I found that there are some problems popping up with the adaptation of the new HDMI standard. Here is what was discussed:
(1) Some cable TV boxes with HDMI out are not delivering any picture to displays with HDMI inputs.
(2) The current HDMI plug appears not to be as sturdy as anticipated, and there may be a change next year in the design of the plug, and the new plug would not fit in current HDMI sockets.
(3) If you have an HDMI source such as a DVD player, and connect it to your display via HDMI, you may not be able to get 5.1 digital bitstreams to come out of the coaxial or Toslink digital output of the player at the same time as digital video and audio out of the HDMI output.
(4) HDMI is a two-way digital communication, and some displays send a handshake signal to the DVD player that permanently messes up the player's ability to output digital video through its HDMI jack.
(5) HDMI v 1.1 is already hitting the shelves, with v 1.2 on the way, and v 1.3 in the next couple of years (v 1.3 will deliver higher res 5.1 digital audio). What will be the backward compatibility of these versions?
In my own situation, using a DirecTV satellite box with HDMI out to an LCD TV with HDMI in, when I turn off the TV, the satellite box crashes. I have to unplug the satellite box and then plug it back in. I have not solved this problem, except by switching to some other input besides HDMI before turning the TV off. Then, when I turn the TV back on, I switch to the HDMI input for viewing.
I will try and get some engineers to input possible answers to these problems here in the forum.
Editor
I have a DISH HD DVR 942 which untill recently was hooked up to my Sony HDTV via a HDMI/DVI cable. (My Sony TV has a DVI input, but not an HDMI one). Most of the time it worked fine, but occasionally the picture would just go blank for no reason. I would have to plug the HDMI part back into the Dish 942 reciever 3 or 4 times before the picture would come back.
Finally, I decided to buy a high end component video cable from "Cobalt Cable"
and now not only is the SD picture better, but the HD picture is slightly better too.
I have a Sony CRT HD RPTV, so I don't know if that makes a difference in using DVI Vs Component, but I am beginning to worry about the qaulity of HDMI.
I would be interested to know what the Audioholics staff thinks about HDMI.
