I haven’t been too vocal about the whole HDMI 1.3/1.4/3D thing because frankly, I didnt really care much. 3D didn’t really leave me gasping for air because it left me choking on my own drool — that is, until I saw Avatar. Since seeing Avatar, my whole outlook on 3D has changed.
With that said, for many consumers looking to buy a Blue-ray player, the more tech minded individuals have done their part to warn people of the dangers of buying now obsolete equipment (HDMI 1.3) with HDMI 1.4 (and full 3D support) just around the corner. And it made sense. If you wanted 3D you’d have to sell your current Blue-ray gear and pony up — again — for HDMI 1.4 compliant hardware.
But don’t get too discouraged too quickly or hastily go and sell all of your current Blu-ray gear. The HDMI Licensing group has come forth with some extremely valuable information that should help you better judge the market. Should you keep your HDMI 1.3 hardware or buy that now cheap 1.3 gear? Regardless of if your source player is HDMI 1.3 or 1.4, you’ll still be required to have an HDMI 1.4 tv with dual-scanning capabilities. The dual scanning technology is the whole meat behind the 3D image — no dual-scanning support = no 3D for you.
Also to take into consideration is resolution. HDMI 1.3 WILL NOT offer full 1080p 3D support. The resolution will actually vary depending on the source. For instance, if you’re using a full 1080p source such as a satellite receiver, Blu-ray, etc., etc, you’ll be presented with dual 1080i streams. Drop down in quality to a cable box and your 3D image suffers as well — down to a measly 540i. Yuck.
In the end, the resulting difference in images between HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 devices (1080i vs. 1080p) will be roughly that of the difference between DVD and Blu-ray. Noticeable to some extent on certain media, but certainly not a deal breaker. Now if you’re rockin’ 540i 3D, that’s another story.
Of course, if you’re HDMI 1.3 gear isn’t BD Live compatible you can forget about any 3D support as the firmware on that “old” equipment cannot be upgraded via internet updates as there isn’t any internet connection/support on non-BD Live hardware. Oh the pains of early adoption…
So what are you going to do: pick up a heavily discounted HDMI 1.3 setup or wait for HDMI 1.4 gear to drop?
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