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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Is HDMI 2.1 important for console gaming?

Bofferbrauer2 on 29 December 2018

2.0 should be fine, but 2.1 would definitively be better

I wish TVs and consoles would come with a DisplayPort instead of HDMI. Until HDMI 2.1 DP was way more performant and could already do 8K@60Hz HDR in 2014



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JRPGfan on 29 December 2018
Peh said:

Not knowing the specs of the PS5, it's still very likely that Sony will support VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) on their next gen console.

^ this.

To be safe go for 2.1, imo.
If its possible to hold off abit, do that until we know about PS5/XB2, and then get a tv then.



elazz on 29 December 2018
Kerotan said:
elazz said:
Hmm, this one is tricky since at 4K HDR10 at 60fps HDMI 2.0 is enough as we see with PS4. However when support for eARC will probably be there on PS5 (for Dolby Atmos passthrough for example.) It's an HDMI 2.1 standard but a lot of TV's already support it without having 2.0 for example the Sony AF9.

I guess it's best to wait for CES in 2 weeks and see what Sony will release on their next gen TV's.

So the Sony AF9 doesn't support 2.0 let alone 2.1? I know it has eArk but assumed it had 2.1.

 

Another thing I read was that LG have a monopoly on the production of OLED displays making it likely the price of non LG sets won't drop in price much over the next few years. 

 

So Xbox X has 2.1 but not full 2.1 support. 8 presume the ps5 and next xbox will have full support. 

The Sony AF9 has 4 full bandwith HDMI 2.0 ports. They also have certain 2.1 features but is not officially stated to be HDMI 2.1

People are wondering if in fact the eArc port is at least 2.1 but I don't think so. at CES Sony will show the new TV's and give information about any possible updates so stay tuned. Same for the other manufacturers. OLED will come down in price when Samsung's MicroLED panels is being sold to other brands as a working product. 



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Kerotan on 29 December 2018

Actually Samsung just started production of OLED displays so price should drop with competition.

So it looks like the first wave of 2.1 TV's will be late 2019 and the first wave of 12 bit HDR displays will be late 2020. AFAIK 12 bit HDR is true HDR and much improved over what we currently get. I'm open to correction on that. I just hope this TV's with full 12 bit HDR and legit 2.1 don't cost a fortune. Are these features that would greatly add to the price? Maybe at launch for profit but if the markup is huge the prices will drop fast after the early adopters have splashed their cash.



Barozi on 29 December 2018

I'd say it's not worth the wait.
There is always something better coming out so if you keep pushing it back, you will never buy anything.
I bought my first HD television in 2011 (50" with 3D), another one for the bed room in 2013 (47") and finally my 4k TV in 2018 (70").
All of them are still in use and who knows, maybe I buy another one in 5 years.



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Pemalite on 29 December 2018

Yeah. Would be even worrying about it.
Always something better coming out.

To answer your question though... Is HDMI 2.1 important for gaming? Yes. But not yet, unless you really find one of the specific features a must-have right now.



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SvennoJ on 29 December 2018
Kerotan said:
Actually Samsung just started production of OLED displays so price should drop with competition.

So it looks like the first wave of 2.1 TV's will be late 2019 and the first wave of 12 bit HDR displays will be late 2020. AFAIK 12 bit HDR is true HDR and much improved over what we currently get. I'm open to correction on that. I just hope this TV's with full 12 bit HDR and legit 2.1 don't cost a fortune. Are these features that would greatly add to the price? Maybe at launch for profit but if the markup is huge the prices will drop fast after the early adopters have splashed their cash.

It's not just the bit depth that matters, current tvs also don't have the peak brightness (GTS goes up to 10k nits, current tvs top out around 1500) and they are still struggling to meet DCI P3 color space, which is a subset of rec.2020, the promised standard. Of course no clue what video games are going to support next gen.



Kerotan on 29 December 2018
Barozi said:
I'd say it's not worth the wait.
There is always something better coming out so if you keep pushing it back, you will never buy anything.
I bought my first HD television in 2011 (50" with 3D), another one for the bed room in 2013 (47") and finally my 4k TV in 2018 (70").
All of them are still in use and who knows, maybe I buy another one in 5 years.

You're not wrong but I noticed HDMI updates don't come out too often so if you want to it fairly future proof for 10 years in this regard it would be worth waiting. Yeah they'll do a 2.2 or 3.0 in 6 years or whatever but at least you'll only be 1 update behind instead of 2 for your last 3 or 4 years with the TV. 

 

HDMI 1.4 2009

HDMI 2.0 2013

HDMI 2.1 2019

 

HDR 8 is standard now but the jump to HDR 10 is big and it will likely be far more common next gen. Hard to know if it's worth waiting full a full HDR TV set which is 12 bits and not expected in production until late 2020. I'll only get one in 2021 if it's at an affordable price. But considering HDR 10 will only be getting common by then HDR 12 would really future proof you for a long time. Maybe even until PS6.

The other stuff like free sync the ps5 will support but will devs implement it? 



Kerotan on 29 December 2018
Pemalite said:
Yeah. Would be even worrying about it.
Always something better coming out.

To answer your question though... Is HDMI 2.1 important for gaming? Yes. But not yet, unless you really find one of the specific features a must-have right now.

Well I won't be buying until after ps5 so most likely around March 2021 for between €1000-€1500. So I've got about 27 months from now to hope as many features as possible are featured in a set of that range.

 

When I say important for gaming I really mean next gen so PS5. 



VAMatt on 29 December 2018
Kerotan said:
Actually Samsung just started production of OLED displays so price should drop with competition.

So it looks like the first wave of 2.1 TV's will be late 2019 and the first wave of 12 bit HDR displays will be late 2020. AFAIK 12 bit HDR is true HDR and much improved over what we currently get. I'm open to correction on that. I just hope this TV's with full 12 bit HDR and legit 2.1 don't cost a fortune. Are these features that would greatly add to the price? Maybe at launch for profit but if the markup is huge the prices will drop fast after the early adopters have splashed their cash.

Nearly all TVs launch in the first half of a given calendar year, FYI.