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Post by jmilton on Jan 2, 2018 21:52:35 GMT -5
I don't think we'll see any HDMI 2.1 consumer products for something like 18 months. The standard just got radified I think and getting High-Speed PHYs like this to work isn't trivial. Moreover, it's not clear that anyone even needs the increased bandwidth being offered by HDMI 2.1. Apparently the Audio Return Channel capabilities are significantly enhanced and can now do more than simple Stereo, so that may be a big issue for some even if the increased bandwidth isn't needed for quite some time. Casey But the point remains. We don’t have the new board and by the time it rolls out, it will be getting long in the tooth and people will complain it’s not 2.1! It’ll be a topic at CES for sure... |
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Post by foggy1956 on Jan 2, 2018 21:56:34 GMT -5
I don't think we'll see any HDMI 2.1 consumer products for something like 18 months. The standard just got radified I think and getting High-Speed PHYs like this to work isn't trivial. Moreover, it's not clear that anyone even needs the increased bandwidth being offered by HDMI 2.1. Apparently the Audio Return Channel capabilities are significantly enhanced and can now do more than simple Stereo, so that may be a big issue for some even if the increased bandwidth isn't needed for quite some time. Casey But the point remains. We don’t have the new board and by the time it rolls out, it will be getting long in the tooth and people will complain it’s not 2.1! Seems to me, the big fish hook, the modular xmc-1 was supposed to be upgradeable to keep it relatively SOTA and it seems to be running toward the rear of the proverbial pack. |
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 2, 2018 23:08:12 GMT -5
Very true for me also, but it makes things smoother till the board is replaced. Not for me, the mid range Samsung 4K TV (which I purchased many months ago, was spec'd with the belief that the XMC-1 updates were imminent) only has 3 x HDMI inputs, one of which is ARC enabled, which leaves 2 inputs. Of the other 2 the ATV4K (which I also purchased some months ago) is connected to one and the other is connected to the Sony 4K BD player (which I purchased recently and has separate video and audio outputs, because I found out that the XMC-1 updates were far from imminent). As a result there are no spare HDMI inputs available. Plus of course sending the video direct to the TV means that there is no on screen display from the UMC-200. Having to have the CEC turned on (to get ARC to work) means that when I turn off, say, the ATV4K it also turns off the TV. But wait there's more, the Samsung does not have direct menu selection of the inputs, they have to be selected from a pop up menu. Which weren't problems I foresaw as I believed that the XMC-1 updates were to be well and truly be in place long before it became an issue. If I had known that they weren't going to be I would have chosen another model TV. None of the above issues become any "smoother" with a smart remote. Cheers Gary Well, it is smoother for me. My Samsung has four HDMI inputs. I use one from the XMC-1, one from the Oppo 203, and one from the ATV 4k. My Directv HR44 is plugged into the XMC-1 which is output to the tv. The Harmony One is programmed for one activity called Watch TV w/5.1. My Oppo is Watch a Movie. Those are seamless. I have not yet done anything with Apple TV, so that’s more involved. I may play with that over the weekend. |
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 2, 2018 23:16:41 GMT -5
But the point remains. We don’t have the new board and by the time it rolls out, it will be getting long in the tooth and people will complain it’s not 2.1! Seems to me, the big fish hook, the modular xmc-1 was supposed to be upgradeable to keep it relatively SOTA and it seems to be running toward the rear of the proverbial pack. I may be wrong, but I don’t believe being behind is entirely Emotiva’s fault. Were they not getting the desirable Panasonic chips? As to 2.1, I’ve read that it would be years before they could take advantage of it. If that is incorrect, then there are going to be many angry customers of Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo, etc who will have to replace their one to three year old receivers and processors. |
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Post by Gary Cook on Jan 3, 2018 0:28:20 GMT -5
I have not yet done anything with Apple TV, so that’s more involved. I may play with that over the weekend. A per the previous post, I use the ARC back from the Samsung to the UMC-200 for the ATV4K, it's Dolby Digital so 5.1, which is all that I get from Netflix, Stan etc anyway, so no loss there. Hopefully your model Samsung won't need CEC enabled for ARC to work, because that's a real pain. Cheers Gary |
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cawgijoe
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 3, 2018 6:33:48 GMT -5
I have not yet done anything with Apple TV, so that’s more involved. I may play with that over the weekend. A per the previous post, I use the ARC back from the Samsung to the UMC-200 for the ATV4K, it's Dolby Digital so 5.1, which is all that I get from Netflix, Stan etc anyway, so no loss there. Hopefully your model Samsung won't need CEC enabled for ARC to work, because that's a real pain. Cheers Gary Two things going for me with The Apple TV: 1) I’m the only one using it for the moment. Others are used to using the built in Netflix app in the tv. 2) I don’t mind switching the inputs on the XMC-1 to the correct input for sound and on the TV for video. This will be fixed after the new board arrives, of course. |
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Post by geebo on Jan 3, 2018 7:43:30 GMT -5
Very true for me also, but it makes things smoother till the board is replaced. Not for me, the mid range Samsung 4K TV (which I purchased many months ago, was spec'd with the belief that the XMC-1 updates were imminent) only has 3 x HDMI inputs, one of which is ARC enabled, which leaves 2 inputs. Of the other 2 the ATV4K (which I also purchased some months ago) is connected to one and the other is connected to the Sony 4K BD player (which I purchased recently and has separate video and audio outputs, because I found out that the XMC-1 updates were far from imminent). As a result there are no spare HDMI inputs available. Plus of course sending the video direct to the TV means that there is no on screen display from the UMC-200. Having to have the CEC turned on (to get ARC to work) means that when I turn off, say, the ATV4K it also turns off the TV. But wait there's more, the Samsung does not have direct menu selection of the inputs, they have to be selected from a pop up menu. Which weren't problems I foresaw as I believed that the XMC-1 updates were to be well and truly be in place long before it became an issue. If I had known that they weren't going to be I would have chosen another model TV. None of the above issues become any "smoother" with a smart remote. Cheers Gary No direct inputs? My Samsung had direct selection of all HDMI inputs with the exception of HDMI4 to which I connected my Samsung player and enabled CEC which worked like a charm. |
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Post by foggy1956 on Jan 3, 2018 9:54:56 GMT -5
Seems to me, the big fish hook, the modular xmc-1 was supposed to be upgradeable to keep it relatively SOTA and it seems to be running toward the rear of the proverbial pack. I may be wrong, but I don’t believe being behind is entirely Emotiva’s fault. Were they not getting the desirable Panasonic chips? As to 2.1, I’ve read that it would be years before they could take advantage of it. If that is incorrect, then there are going to be many angry customers of Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo, etc who will have to replace their one to three year old receivers and processors. I am not blaming Emotiva per se As to 2.1, I was referencing what has already been available on the consumer market for a year. |
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 3, 2018 10:22:18 GMT -5
]No direct inputs? My Samsung had direct selection of all HDMI inputs with the exception of HDMI4 I have found that direct input selection on TV's is a bit of a luxury. In other words, most TV's don't have the ability. My old Sony and Mits didn't have it, nor does my Panny ZT, nor does my Samsung plasma. I have looked at this feature on many TV's throughout the years and most lack it. Magazine reviews rarely point it out (unfortunately), but you can tell by just looking at the remote control. The only TV's that seem to mostly have the ability are projectors, although I don't study those as much so that may have changed. I wish all magazine reviewers would "ding" manufacturers for not including this feature. That's the only way it's going to change. |
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Post by geebo on Jan 3, 2018 10:44:57 GMT -5
]No direct inputs? My Samsung had direct selection of all HDMI inputs with the exception of HDMI4 I have found that direct input selection on TV's is a bit of a luxury. In other words, most TV's don't have the ability. My old Sony and Mits didn't have it, nor does my Panny ZT, nor does my Samsung plasma. I have looked at this feature on many TV's throughout the years and most lack it. Magazine reviews rarely point it out (unfortunately), but you can tell by just looking at the remote control. The only TV's that seem to mostly have the ability are projectors, although I don't study those as much so that may have changed. I wish all magazine reviewers would "ding" manufacturers for not including this feature. That's the only way it's going to change. My Samsung plasma, my last Samsung LED and my current LG OLED all had direct input selection. The Samsung LED only didn't have it for HDMI 4. However, the manufacturer remotes did not have it but the Harmony remotes did. So you couldn't even tell by looking at the original remote. You can download a specific TV to the Harmony remote then view all the controls it has. Many TV's have the capability but the included remotes just don't include the functions. |
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 3, 2018 11:14:43 GMT -5
However, the manufacturer remotes did not have it but the Harmony remotes did. So you couldn't even tell by looking at the original remote. You can download a specific TV to the Harmony remote then view all the controls it has. Many TV's have the capability but the included remotes just don't include the functions. And how stupid is that? Makes zero sense. To have a TV capable of doing it but then not offer it straight up is non-sense. I consider those TV's to not have the capability, because I'm not changing my entire world just to accommodate one feature. I personally dread the day I have to start looking at other remotes. I'm one of the few who doesn't really like the way Harmony's work or function. I know I'm a rare breed, but every time I research them, I come away unimpressed. Just me. |
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Post by geebo on Jan 3, 2018 11:20:47 GMT -5
However, the manufacturer remotes did not have it but the Harmony remotes did. So you couldn't even tell by looking at the original remote. You can download a specific TV to the Harmony remote then view all the controls it has. Many TV's have the capability but the included remotes just don't include the functions. And how stupid is that? Makes zero sense. To have a TV capable of doing it but then not offer it straight up is non-sense. I consider those TV's to not have the capability, because I'm not changing my entire world just to accommodate one feature. I personally dread the day I have to start looking at other remotes. I'm one of the few who doesn't really like the way Harmony's work or function. I know I'm a rare breed, but every time I research them, I come away unimpressed. Just me. Maybe it's stupid but the capability is there. Maybe it had to do with remote real estate or something. Its the same with the XMC. You can't have all inputs on the remote but the Harmony database has them all. And I pity the poor soul that tries to take the Harmony remote away from my wife. She can select any source with a single button press on a single remote. But they aren't for everyone. |
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Post by adaboy on Jan 3, 2018 11:36:14 GMT -5
And how stupid is that? Makes zero sense. To have a TV capable of doing it but then not offer it straight up is non-sense. I consider those TV's to not have the capability, because I'm not changing my entire world just to accommodate one feature. I personally dread the day I have to start looking at other remotes. I'm one of the few who doesn't really like the way Harmony's work or function. I know I'm a rare breed, but every time I research them, I come away unimpressed. Just me. Maybe it's stupid but the capability is there. Maybe it had to do with remote real estate or something. Its the same with the XMC. You can't have all inputs on the remote but the Harmony database has them all. And I pity the poor soul that tries to take the Harmony remote away from my wife. She can select any source with a single button press on a single remote. But they aren't for everyone. My wife and I agree 100%! Harmony remotes makes life so much simpler with their huge database. Highly recommend 👍 |
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 3, 2018 11:48:12 GMT -5
And I pity the poor soul that tries to take the Harmony remote away from my wife. She can select any source with a single button press on a single remote. But they aren't for everyone. Oh I get it. And I'm not saying they don't have some great features. In most ways they may be superior to my old school Sony (which I also have set up for one button operation). But in some ways that matter to me they are inferior. Some day I'll probably have to switch, but I'm not looking forward to it. The best thing I ever did in our house (no kids, just me and my wife) is to have TWO identical remotes. That way there is no more sharing, no more hunting, and no more, "What are you doing? Why aren't you fast forwarding through the commercial?" Having two identical remotes is AWESOME. |
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Post by geebo on Jan 3, 2018 12:40:34 GMT -5
And I pity the poor soul that tries to take the Harmony remote away from my wife. She can select any source with a single button press on a single remote. But they aren't for everyone. Oh I get it. And I'm not saying they don't have some great features. In most ways they may be superior to my old school Sony (which I also have set up for one button operation). But in some ways that matter to me they are inferior. Some day I'll probably have to switch, but I'm not looking forward to it. The best thing I ever did in our house (no kids, just me and my wife) is to have TWO identical remotes. That way there is no more sharing, no more hunting, and no more, "What are you doing? Why aren't you fast forwarding through the commercial?" Having two identical remotes is AWESOME. Yes, I can use the Harmony remote or the app on either o our iPads or on our cell phones. And what's neat is that all remotes/apps will know what activity is running at any given time so all the controls are in sync at all times. |
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 3, 2018 12:53:22 GMT -5
And what's neat is that all remotes/apps will know what activity is running at any given time so all the controls are in sync at all times. Yes, very neat. That is one of Harmony's huge strong points. |
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Jan 3, 2018 13:54:09 GMT -5
As to 2.1, I was referencing what has already been available on the consumer market for a year. HDMI 2.1? On the consumer market for a year? Ummm...did I sleep through something? Mark |
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Post by foggy1956 on Jan 3, 2018 14:50:02 GMT -5
As to 2.1, I was referencing what has already been available on the consumer market for a year. HDMI 2.1? On the consumer market for a year? Ummm...did I sleep through something? Mark Nope, you missed nothing, he was referencing 2.1 not I. My point, SOTA processors have contained HDMI specs for over a year which our beloved flagship still does not possess 😎 |
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Post by foggy1956 on Jan 3, 2018 14:52:57 GMT -5
As to 2.1, I was referencing what has already been available on the consumer market for a year. HDMI 2.1? On the consumer market for a year? Ummm...did I sleep through something? Mark My point, has nothing to do with 2.1, the xmc-1 is at least a year behind SOTA. |
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Post by geebo on Jan 3, 2018 15:02:07 GMT -5
HDMI 2.1? On the consumer market for a year? Ummm...did I sleep through something? Mark My point, has nothing to do with 2.1, the xmc-1 is at least a year behind SOTA. Not too bad for a 3.5 year old processor. |
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