New HDMI rules promote greater transparency
We've given HDMIgrief in the past. From loose fitting connections to an alphabet soup of specifications, it's been a far cry from the plug-and-play simplicity promised. But we have to give credit to HDMI Licensing for their newly-announced specifications, which should help clear up confusion over HDMI badge-wearing devices. Up until now, devices did not need to specify which optional features of a given HDMI version they supported. This created the messy situation where, for example, DTS-HD (a HDMI 1.3 feature) might not be supported by a device proudly wearing the HDMI 1.3 badge. But no more -- under the new rules, any devices shipping after today will have to clearly spell out any HDMI-enabled features. We're sure the features will be in 2-point type on the box, but at least they have to be there.
