The end of messy cables for home theater enthusiasts could be in sight, following an amendment to the new HDMI 2.1a standard that allows for a new way to send power through a cable.
Until now, those who used passive cables from their TVs or receivers longer than 3m/10ft often experienced signal degradation or stability issues when viewing higher bandwidth HDMI 2.1 content.
The only options for those looking to watch content that required the full 48 Gbps of an ultra-high-speed cable (think movies with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in TrueHD or 8K content) were to run an active HDMI 2.1 cable with a power supply. independent of other connected cable.
All that changes with the new HDMI 2.1a Amendment 1 specification released yesterday by the certification body HDMI Licensing.
The revision includes a feature called "Power Over Cable," which will allow source devices such as game consoles and streaming boxes to provide additional power, allowing longer HDMI cables to maintain a strong signal.
The cable and source devices will need to support cable power for this to work, and you'll also need to make sure your cable is plugged in the right way, as the feature only works one way.
For those concerned that their existing hardware may not be able to make use of this feature, the good news is that Cable Power compatible cables are configured to offer optional USB Micro-B or Type-C connectors for source devices, allowing you to use the extra energy. that will be made available.
The bad news is that the feature appears to require special chips in the source devices to work, which means it's unlikely your current equipment will be able to support it via a firmware update.
But it does mean that if you want to use one of the best AV receivers in one room to stream video to the collection of 4K and 8K TVs that's spread over 10 feet into your house, now you can.
Analysis: Another big barrier has been knocked down for 8K and 120Hz
From richer uncompressed 4K Blu-Ray movies to faster frame rates and the sonic majesty of Dolby Atmos in TrueHD, we've been highlighting the revolutionary benefits of HDMI 2.1 at TechRadar for some time.
Taking advantage of all these qualities was easy enough if you have a simple TV or PC setup, but if your hardware needs to be placed further away from your screen, especially for those using projectors, it's unlikely you've been able to fully immerse yourself. . in the world that 48Gbps cables have been opened.
With 8K video and 4K 120Hz gaming now poised to enter the mainstream and even more demands on bandwidth, the new power cord feature is very timely.
The only real downside to the news is the likelihood of needing new hardware to take advantage of the benefits HDMI 2.1a and Cable Power provide, and the news is likely to upset next-gen console owners looking to take full advantage of it. frame rate games for long periods of time. run cable configurations. But perhaps the long-rumored PS5 Pro will include this feature as standard.