HDMI Support

EvilLemur · April 19, 2023

Ok i understand HDMI well i get how the versions work, but im looking to build a secondary pc or buy a used dell SFF or smaller to use Steam remote play, now i would like to have some of the nicer features like HDR for future media and streaming instead of using a firestick.

Here is my issue I have a laptop i have been using it is a Asus with a ryzen 7 5700u the gpu is enough to stream and output 4k and hdr... But it has HDMI 1.4
My tv is 4k with HDR and HDMI 2.0 ports this is where things stop making sense, HDMI 1.4 does not support HDR.

Now i connect my laptop to my tv and it shows in windows 11
3840x2160 30Hz 10bit YCbCr444 HDR
or

3840x2160 60hz 8bit with dithering YCbCr444 HDR

how is this possible if HDMI 1.4 cant output HDR and or is my laptop not following HDMI Spec? but from the looks of it it is, its outputting 4k at 30hz i just dont get how its doing HDR im not sure if anyone has answered this but if thats the case could i buy an older system with say a i5 6xxx or would that not work? any help is appreciated.

BuzzingBee · April 20, 2023

Maybe your laptop is HDMI 2.0 instead, that explains 4k 60Hz HDR support

EvilLemur · April 21, 2023

21 hours ago, BuzzingBee said:

Maybe your laptop is HDMI 2.0 instead, that explains 4k 60Hz HDR support

I did a lot of digging and well found my answer. it turns out that yes you can do HDR on HDMI 1.4

Well the laptop has HDMI 1.4b it turns out the whole you need HDMI 2.0 or higher to enjoy HDR is only if you want to get 60Hz or higher but if you drop the framerate down to 30Hz and add HDR Static so HDR10 and Dolby Vision it just comes in at under the max HDMI 1.4 bandwidth limit, though with that come a lot of restrictions like cable length, or using the other HDR standards like HDR10+ and HGL.

And the whole 8bit HDR at 60Hz well that's "HDR" but not true HDR its how tv's are capable of doing a lot of Compatibility with other devices that don't have the ability to do true HDR but can do some sort of minimum, sort of something is better than nothing.

Another thing is The Standard HDMI 1.4b isn't enough to do HDR10 for a computer monitor from what I've read due to it using a different standard than what a tv uses. but I don't have a monitor to test that out. but I will test out my theory eventually when its time for a monitor upgrade.

Thank you for the reply @BuzzingBee