LordOfChaos
Member
1.4 -> 2.0 -> 2.0a
When both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched in 2013, the systems' HDMI controllers were rated as HDMI 1.4. That was the primary HDMI standard at the time, and it determined how much data could be sent over HDMI cables at a given moment, which governs technical details like maximum frame rates at certain pixel resolutions.
Displaying a "full 4K" signal—also known as UHD resolution, measured at 3840x2160 pixels—is impossible via the HDMI 1.4 spec, at least at the desired 60 frames-per-second sweet spot. (4K via a 1.4 interface will work, but it's limited to 24 frames per second.) Any media-playing and computing device that wants to connect to a 4K screen via HDMI will need an HDMI controller rated at least 2.0 for those settings. The aforementioned NeoGAF forum member, Jeff Rigby, alleged that the controller was capable of that spec, in spite of its release before 2.0 had been finalized.
High dynamic range displays require just as much data throughput for so much color and luminosity data. The two leading HDR specs, HDR-10 and Dolby Vision, require no less than an "HDMI 2.0a" spec, which supplants the higher-bandwidth requirements of 2.0 with "additional metadata" required to enable the transmission/reception of such HDR content. There is no HDMI "1.4a" to offer the same boosts to HDR-ready 1080p displays. To ride the HDR train, your device better be rated HDMI 2.0a, or you're getting kicked off.
Rigby guessed last year that the PlayStation 4's HDMI controller is HDMI 2.0 compatible—meaning, it had been developed with higher bandwidth than the HDMI 1.4 spec required, and it just needed an official update via firmware to unlock and unleash that potential. Now, House has confirmed that it's coming, because anything rated for HDR specifications is technically also ready for 4K resolution.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/...rise-firmware-update-is-4k-around-the-corner/
It reads like a lot of guesswork, but it was funny seeing my Ars and Neogaf venn diagrams converge.
This HDR thing remains confusing and Sony really does need to come out and clarify what's going on with it.
This is just HDR though, they don't support UHD Blu Rays if that's what he also claimed, but the guesswork about the chipset was along a similar path.
Semi-props to him then if Ars isn't wrong.