Does a lower spec HDMI pass through a higher spec signal?
Discussion
As per the title, if I had (say) a source outputting HDR over an HDMI 2.1a port but going into a receiver supporting (say) 2.0 only, would the HDR elements be passed through to the TV if it supported 2.1a with the receiver just decoding the audio elements?
Reason I'm asking is that I'm putting together a tertiary TV system, have picked up last year's LG OLED65 "C" model for a song and I have some old Focal Sib XL speakers and a Paradigm Seismic 110 sub going spare that I can arrange in a 3.1 setup. I just need a receiver that's "good enough" for that job, doesn't need to be super high end, however all the lower-end receivers that Richer Sounds used to knock out seem to be missing in action now.
The main constraint I have is that the shelf where the receiver will go is only 150mm tall so to allow for airflow the receiver will need to be compact. Something like the Yamaha RX-S602 would have been seemingly ideal, Richer Sounds were knocking them out for £250 back in the day but ended up being priced at £500 and the unit is now discontinued. This seems to be a common element for lower end receivers, have either been retired or are now priced much higher. I am wondering if this is result of the container shipping costs and/or electronics shortage and the manufacturers are now focusing on their higher margin units?
The Marantz NR1510 is now £629 but lacks most modern features, just £50 more gets you the Marantz NR1711 which is much better value and featured and is probably the one I would go for if buying new. However this is quite a lot more money than I thought I would spend and I wouldn't even be using 4 of its 7 channels.
I was thinking therefore that I could pick up an older model Marantz NR series second hand and save some cash. However I'd like to take advantage of the TV display capabilities (4K, HDR etc.) so therefore wouldn't want the receiver to downgrade the image from the sources (a Fire TV stick and a dedicated Kodi box). Hence the passthrough question.
I guess an alternative might be to connect the sources directly to the TV and then connect the TV to the receiver via SPDIF - would that work? I am guessing if I go for an older receiver it wouldn't support eARC.
TL;DR can I connect an older receiver for sound processing without degrading image quality, or do I need to spend the extra £ on a new receiver which supports the latest standards?
Reason I'm asking is that I'm putting together a tertiary TV system, have picked up last year's LG OLED65 "C" model for a song and I have some old Focal Sib XL speakers and a Paradigm Seismic 110 sub going spare that I can arrange in a 3.1 setup. I just need a receiver that's "good enough" for that job, doesn't need to be super high end, however all the lower-end receivers that Richer Sounds used to knock out seem to be missing in action now.
The main constraint I have is that the shelf where the receiver will go is only 150mm tall so to allow for airflow the receiver will need to be compact. Something like the Yamaha RX-S602 would have been seemingly ideal, Richer Sounds were knocking them out for £250 back in the day but ended up being priced at £500 and the unit is now discontinued. This seems to be a common element for lower end receivers, have either been retired or are now priced much higher. I am wondering if this is result of the container shipping costs and/or electronics shortage and the manufacturers are now focusing on their higher margin units?
The Marantz NR1510 is now £629 but lacks most modern features, just £50 more gets you the Marantz NR1711 which is much better value and featured and is probably the one I would go for if buying new. However this is quite a lot more money than I thought I would spend and I wouldn't even be using 4 of its 7 channels.
I was thinking therefore that I could pick up an older model Marantz NR series second hand and save some cash. However I'd like to take advantage of the TV display capabilities (4K, HDR etc.) so therefore wouldn't want the receiver to downgrade the image from the sources (a Fire TV stick and a dedicated Kodi box). Hence the passthrough question.
I guess an alternative might be to connect the sources directly to the TV and then connect the TV to the receiver via SPDIF - would that work? I am guessing if I go for an older receiver it wouldn't support eARC.
TL;DR can I connect an older receiver for sound processing without degrading image quality, or do I need to spend the extra £ on a new receiver which supports the latest standards?
There are several versions of HDMI standard that will pass a UHD 4K resolution signal, but adding HDR changes the game.
Technically HDMI 1.3 will pass 30fps 3840x2160p and even 60fps if the colour signal is compressed to 4:2:0
You need HDMI 2.0 though if you want to pass 3840x2160p with HDR on top.
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Technically HDMI 1.3 will pass 30fps 3840x2160p and even 60fps if the colour signal is compressed to 4:2:0
You need HDMI 2.0 though if you want to pass 3840x2160p with HDR on top.
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I'm making an assumption that it's just a gaming device(s) that you have as a 2.1 source, so I'd suggest to connect that directly to the TV. Then use the TV's optical output (if it has one) to give you 3.1 sound: It's not like you'll lose any surround/Atmos sound since you won't have the speakers anyway. For anything else connecting it via the AVR to make switching easier would then be fine.
I don't know if you would be able to use the ARC/HDMI to send sound to the AVR while viewing on another input as this could be an option too perhaps.
I can't remember the specifics, but the '.1' part of 2.1 is only high frame rate which TV/Film sources won't use for now (if ever?) and some other gaming only features. No need to get sucked into upgrading/spending more on an AVR with features that you either don't use or can bypass as above. I actually never pass video through my AVR as I use an external video processor, so I only need an AVR that does Atmos/DTS-X...anything else is irrelevant.
FWIW I use a little Marantz NR1605 in my conservatory 4.1 set up and it's been great for the last 8(?) years and works perfectly just with the TV remote so I don't have to confuse the family with two remotes (Panasonic TV).
I don't know if you would be able to use the ARC/HDMI to send sound to the AVR while viewing on another input as this could be an option too perhaps.
I can't remember the specifics, but the '.1' part of 2.1 is only high frame rate which TV/Film sources won't use for now (if ever?) and some other gaming only features. No need to get sucked into upgrading/spending more on an AVR with features that you either don't use or can bypass as above. I actually never pass video through my AVR as I use an external video processor, so I only need an AVR that does Atmos/DTS-X...anything else is irrelevant.
FWIW I use a little Marantz NR1605 in my conservatory 4.1 set up and it's been great for the last 8(?) years and works perfectly just with the TV remote so I don't have to confuse the family with two remotes (Panasonic TV).
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Friday 6th May 09:09
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