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Why won’t Steam Machine support HDMI 2.1? Digging in on the display standard drama. (arstechnica.com)
submitted 9 months ago by Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz to c/steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
139 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The TL;DR is that the organization that controls the HDMI standard won't allow any open source implementation of HDMI 2.1.

So the hardware is fully capable of it, but they'll get in trouble if them officially implement it.

Instead it's officially HDMI 2 (which maxes out at 4k @ 60Hz), but through a technique called chroma sub-sampling they've been able to raise that up to 4k @ 120Hz.

However there are some minor reductions in picture quality because of this, and the whole thing would be much easier if the HDMI forum would be more consumer friendly.

In the meantime, the Steam Machine also has display port as a completely issue free display option.

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[-] skymtf@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 9 months ago

At this point just make an "adapter" that captures the disaply port signal and outputs it from a "supported" device

[-] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 5 points 9 months ago

. And players that want to avoid the issue can use the Steam Machine’s DisplayPort 1.4 output, which supports even more bandwidth than HDMI 2.1 (and which can be converted to an HDMI signal with a simple dongle).

So, ship with a dongle.

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[-] spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 5 points 9 months ago

At this point stop using HDMI

[-] b34k@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

As a bazzite user, with it connected to my living room TV that only has HDMI ports, yeah this was obviously why Valve said 2.1 isn’t supported at the steam machine reveal.

[-] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Hey, it's what ruined Blu-Ray making a comeback! Way to go, dipshit consortiums.

[-] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 months ago

I have a HDMI splitter, like a 5 input 1 output thing. I have not used it in awhile. Does HDMI pass through the DRM or is the DRM in the splitter?

[-] Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 5 points 9 months ago

The source device (the steam machine in this case) will check with the display and see what the highest HDMI standard they both support is. It may also check if your splitter supports it, but I suspect the splitter is just a passthrough device.

[-] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 months ago

I figured. I also used the wrong term, it is a switch.

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[-] WraithGear@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

why not just use DisplyPort?

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this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2025
567 points (99.1% liked)

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