XMC-1 and HDMI 1.4

[louco73]

I'm normally lurking around here, but I feel strongly about this so I'm going to have a few words.

I'm on the pre-order list for the UMC-1 and I will be getting that to simplify my current setup with my LMC-1, i.e. move to HDMI. However, I do want the extra features of the XMC-1 including the balanced connections and most importantly the supposed better sound.

Six of us in Singapore are combining all our orders together to save on shipping, so there will be a flurry of activity in Singapore for the UMC-1 once that arrives. I know a few of the guys also want the XMC-1 too.

Anyway, what does HDMI 1.4 give me right now? Absolutely nothing! For the future there is support for higher resolutions, some networking, and 3D support for 1080p instead of 1080i or 720p. The other features look minor.

There is VERY limited content for 4K and I doubt that there will be much content for some time given we are just getting people to adopt 1080p. What's more, who can make out the difference on a standard size screen at normal seating distance?!

I saw a BenQ 3D projector at a show yesterday. Sure it's cool, but the picture quality was so so and you have to wear the glasses. It's certainly not something I'm going to replace my JVC HD1 with. Then there are the standards to sort out and the content availability.

The networking is a bit of an unknown to me. I guess it would be a nice feature to have one network port on the processor with all other devices sharing the connection via HDMI. However, it's not critical.

Therefore HDMI 1.4 is useless to me right now, but may be of use at some unknown time in the future. I would say 2 years for 3D to settle down, some stable applications of the networking and maybe 5 years before there is 4K content to show on my amazing 200" screen (in my yet to be built dream home) .

In my experience 3 years is a long time in AVR/processor land with new technology coming along all the time, so it's not like I expect the XMC-1 to be in my rack for longer than 3 years. That's why we have the 40% discount vouchers, right?

Therefore, please keep the XMC-1 to it's core features, don't introduce new standards that are unproven. I want to use it now, with the types of content and hardware that I will have for at least another 2-3 years.

There were rumours of an all singing and dancing processor to come out after the XMC-1. Put anything you like in that one please .

[tubby]

Voted no, with the following conditions.

1.They can meet the stated June release time frame. If they are going to push it out farther then they might as well push it out and add 1.4

2. Assuming they meet #1 they need to start development of the XMC-2 right away and get on a regular release cycle like the big boys or they will always be behind the times. They can release the XMC-1 in June but if 1.4 and 3D catches on, by the end of the year sales will be dwindling and XMC-2 better be out by next summer or sooner if they want to stay in the processor game.

[klinemj]

I voted no...I figure by the time I would truly need what 1.4 offers today that the version of HDMI that will be prevalent will be far higher (2.x, 3.x, who knows?).

So, why bother getting the current new generation when it will be outdated by the time I need it?

[NorthStar]

Mar 13, 2010 21:54:40 GMT -5 suffolk112000 said:

Voted NO...!
Get the XMC-1 out...
3D may never catch on anyway.

Oh Yes, 3D did catch on big time already (Avatar 3D at IMAX),
and will just blossom from here to extraordinary proportions.
* Just look at what's happening right now all across the country and globe. Plasma and LCD displays with 3D are already out in over 9,000 Best buy, just in the USA alone! BD players with HDMI 1.4 and 3D capability are also already in stores, same for A/V receivers. And all the rest of the gang is working right now as I speak to you to quickly release all their newer products as fast as possible with HDMI v1.4 with the return channel and full 3D capability (1080P for each eye).
Never in the history of Audio and Video, a technology so advanced has taken shape so fast and with incredible WOW! factor effect. And I'm not the one saying this either, just Google it.
I'm also a fervent member at High Definition Digest Forums, and I'm having all the industries' news insiders from the most well known people in the business.

[suffolk112000]

Mar 14, 2010 3:50:33 GMT -5 NorthStar said:

Mar 13, 2010 21:54:40 GMT -5 suffolk112000 said:

Voted NO...!
Get the XMC-1 out...
3D may never catch on anyway.

Oh Yes, 3D did catch on big time already (Avatar 3D at IMAX),
and will just blossom from here to extraordinary proportions.
* Just look at what's happening right now all across the country and globe. Plasma and LCD displays with 3D are already out in over 9,000 Best buy, just in the USA alone! BD players with HDMI 1.4 and 3D capability are also already in stores, same for A/V receivers. And all the rest of the gang is working right now as I speak to you to quickly release all their newer products as fast as possible with HDMI v1.4 with the return channel and full 3D capability (1080P for each eye).
Never in the history of Audio and Video, a technology so advanced has taken shape so fast and with incredible WOW! factor effect. And I'm not the one saying this either, just Google it.
I'm also a fervent member at High Definition Digest Forums, and I'm having all the industries' news insiders from the most well known people in the business.

So you think Avatar… one movie has changed the whole video landscape?
Besides, Avatar is a movie. We are talking about everyday programming like the news and other regular broadcasts.
So where is all the source material for 3-D television if this adaptation is right around the corner?

I thought HD-DVD would win out in the recent format war, but without a robust supply of source material, HD-DVD couldn’t make prime time and Blu Ray won out.

People are finally getting settled into the world of HD programming. How long did that process take to catch on? Even today, many channels still do not broadcast in HD.
Do you think people with two and three year old HD televisions are just going to go out and buy a new TV that is now 3-D compatible? Ask the average person and they expect their TV to last 10 years or more. Most people don't upgrade like the typical AV enthusiasts you see on the various on line forums.
I don’t think it will happen very quickly… if at all.
Of course what I have stated above does not even take into account the financial mess this country is currently in. Most people in this country have been affected financially in some way or another. So that is sure to drag the growth of 3-D TV.
Anything can happen I guess, but I bet 3-D programming that is on the level that we now see with HD programming is several years away at best.

[suffolk112000]

Here is an interesting link about 3-D...
www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/24/3D.home.television/

Here are some excepts from the article:

There are concerns that 3-D broadcasts, which require twice the data, will gobble up an unworkable amount of television bandwidth. And some worry that 3-D glasses and graphics won't make a smooth transition to American living rooms.
"From what I've seen from most of the manufacturers, it's just not there yet," he said of 3-D TV technology. "I think right now, the technology -- whether you're talking about the refresh rate or the strobing or the glasses -- there are too many things right now that get in the way of enjoyment of the film for it to kick off." Shane Sturgeon, publisher of HDTV Magazine.

Shane Sturgeon, publisher of HDTV Magazine, said some of the glasses give him a headache and will block some people from buying the new technology.

Quite frankly, I agree with Mr. Sturgeon. My vision is not the greatest. I have one dominate eye which really has an affect on my viewing of 3-D movies. To be honest, I know quite a few people who really do not care for 3-D movies and such.

[butcher]

would you really want emotiva to try their hand at a brand new technology with their track record with processors? Sure it might have the spec for HDMI 1.4 but it will have about a 20% chance of working.

[ratso]

we are ENTHUSIASTS, much different then the majority of people out there. do you really really think that you are going to convince the majority of people to buy a new tv, blu-ray player and AVR to watch avatar at home? do you really think that the majority of people are going to watch 3D programming on anything other than a novelty driven occasion? don't get me wrong i like 3D. i'm just thinking that this is the same as every new can't live without it codec created. i can fit every movie encoded in trueHD in a shoebox. but noone could live without a processor with that right? how many dolby 9 channel movies are coming out right now? any? it's another feature to sell to enthusiasts like us. and like a lot of these features, i wouldn't be suprised if 90% of people with HDMI 1.4 receivers didn't need/use the 1.4 feature a year from now. 5 years from now? maybe. which gives emotiva plenty of time, doesn't it?

[suffolk112000]

Mar 14, 2010 12:29:48 GMT -5 ratso said:

we are ENTHUSIASTS, much different then the majority of people out there. do you really really think that you are going to convince the majority of people to buy a new tv, blu-ray player and AVR to watch avatar at home? do you really think that the majority of people are going to watch 3D programming on anything other than a novelty driven occasion? don't get me wrong i like 3D. i'm just thinking that this is the same as every new can't live without it codec created. i can fit every movie encoded in trueHD in a shoebox. but noone could live without a processor with that right? how many dolby 9 channel movies are coming out right now? any? it's another feature to sell to enthusiasts like us. and like a lot of these features, i wouldn't be suprised if 90% of people with HDMI 1.4 receivers didn't need/use the 1.4 feature a year from now. 5 years from now? maybe. which gives emotiva plenty of time, doesn't it?

Agreed...

[Deleted]

Hey folks, the momentum is starting to change in favor of the No crowd

[rocky500]

I just went and saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D.
I was kind of disappointed in the 3D effect.
It was like cardboard cutouts of objects placed at different depths.
Objects themselves did not seem to have any depth.
Did anyone else notice this?
I hope this is just me as I did not think much about 3D. Nice to watch as a novelty once in a while.

[sergeantynot]

I'm sure native 3D source material will be (ahem) widely available as is BD content in 7.1 surround sound.

[flamingeye]

I love 3D but like most things that I do I wait at least 5 years before I seriously start investing and changing my hole system over to it , If Emotiva sees that it`s a viable thing right now and it would be in there best interest to delay the XMC to do this then I`m behind Emotiva I will support there decision ether way, it would be nice to have a pre/pro with 1.4 now but I do not think it`s absolutely necessary right now ether but then again having to convince the wife 1-3 years from now I have to upgrade already again is ....well lets just say I`m not looking foreword to it decisions decisions .... good luck Emotiva on your decision

[darkvisions]

No 3D for me either. Glasses give me a headache. With the track record of HDMI I always cringe when they are going to put out a new standard.

I am happy with my 2D Hi-Def and will remain so. I will buy Avatar on Blu-Ray but not in 3D.

[LCSeminole]

3D just doesn't make me bat an eye. Just another bells & whistles feature that I don't care to have. Like "Darkvisions", the 3D movie experience and glasses gives me a headache.

[2muchht]

Everyone here is focusing on 3D, but remember that is only one part of the HDMI 1.4 package:

> "3D Ready": OK, it seems as though some of us could take it or leave it. Don't update my processor all that often, so if I'm buying my presonal feeling is to get it even if I don't need it now. You never know what you may wnat down the road.
> "Audio Return Channel": Simplifies things when you have your ATSC (off-air) tuner in the TV or Widgets or other 'net based/streaming content from the TV where you want the audio going back to the processor. Yes, I know it is simple enough to run another optical or coax line back to the processor, but this makes it easier and future proofs you if they ever delivery audio beyond PCM from these sources.\
> HDMI Ethernet Channel: Routing your broadband in a star network approach amongst all compatible devices. THIS I can do without. Easy enough to throw in a switch when needed.
> Enhanced CEC: This is something that it would be nice to see all products include.

Let's not throw HDMI 1.4 under the bus jsut on the basis of your feeling towards 3D. Face it, gang, HDMI ain't gonna go away.

[pczach]

I voted "no" to HDMI 1.4. Like many here have already said, it does nearly nothing for me right now. I have no intention of running out and replacing my 4 month old 58" Samsung plasma to get the latest, greatest advance in home video that will be next to impossible to find content for for the forseeable future. Get me the XMC-1 by summer with HDMI 1.3, and I'll be a happy camper.

[Deleted]

Mar 15, 2010 15:33:35 GMT -5 2muchht said:

Let's not throw HDMI 1.4 under the bus

Nobody is suggesting we throw it under the bus. All we're saying is don't delay the XMC-1 to include HDMI 1.4.

[pczach]

Mar 15, 2010 16:03:14 GMT -5 @chuckienut said:

Mar 15, 2010 15:33:35 GMT -5 2muchht said:

Let's not throw HDMI 1.4 under the bus

Nobody is suggesting we throw it under the bus. All we're saying is don't delay the XMC-1 to include HDMI 1.4.

Chuckie's right.

P.S.

As an added bonus, Emo should include a free set of 3D glasses with every purchase of equipment that doesn't have HDMI 1.4. I could wear my glasses and stare at the wonderful Emo blue lights and pretend I see them in 3D, just like all the movies that won't be released in 3D.

[Tony G]

Mar 15, 2010 15:57:30 GMT -5 pczach said:

I voted "no" to HDMI 1.4. Like many here have already said, it does nearly nothing for me right now. I have no intention of running out and replacing my 4 month old 58" Samsung plasma to get the latest, greatest advance in home video that will be next to impossible to find content for for the forseeable future. Get me the XMC-1 by summer with HDMI 1.3, and I'll be a happy camper.

AGREED! Lets get the line moving!