Why won’t Steam Machine support HDMI 2.1? Digging in on the display standard drama.

Bother 😒

Passive DP-to-HDMI adapters only work if the device on the Displayport end supports Dual-Mode, i.e. using the Displayport to send an HDMI signal. They often do, but it would require the same driver support for HDMI 2.1. So this would require an active adapter.

Unfortunately my TV is not one of your homies.

Sorry, brainfarted, I meant cable not port.

They do. But a lot of displays don't support DP so HDMI is there for them. If you have a capable TV, then there is no issue.

I so wish they only gave a complementary display cable and not an HDMI.

I know some HDMI switches will, some won't and others will strip the DRM and let the picture go through. I had to try several ones to get a conference room TV to work with a HDMI auto switch. Funny it was the cheaper model on Amazon lol

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

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.

I think you're confusing TPM (Trusted Platform Module) with TEE (Trusted Execution Environment).

If not, I'd love some links to read about that TPM with DRM from 20 years ago. However... I don't know, why would there be backlash about something that has then been implemented anyway, just in TEE instead?

The TPM included DRM as its objective 20 years ago. They backtracked at that moment because of serious backslash. Now, it's present and a dependency. Then, it will be needed for banking. Afterwards, for social media and social credit like in China.

If you think they are going to stop where we are..

I love that you're talking about these issues, but the TPM has *nothing* to do with any of this. It's also not a hard requirement for Windows 11 (even though that's basically all the media was talking about).

I don’t know why they’d think I’d capture 600MB/s of uncompressed video though.

Pirating live streams of sport event, which is a huge business.

Oh, they are working on that too. Win 11 depends on TPM modules, and it's not by mistake. Once they have the full software and hardware pipeline, they can control the media we see (for profit, but also for authoritarism because the jump is so small).

I don't know why they'd think I'd capture 600MB/s of uncompressed video though.

Since the torrent sites are crammed with full quality 4k Bluray remuxes and WebDLs direct from Amazon, there's clearly easier and better ways of doing this than putting encryption in a cable.

HDCP (the DRM HDMI uses) is interface-agnostic though? It works over DisplayPort, heck it even works over DVI. I think that makes your argument about DRM fall apart, though TV OEMs did indeed promote the adoption of HDMI.

Tv oems are the ones that set up the hdmi club. They want the content encrypted with drm, from transit, to your pc, to your cable, to your screen. Look up the analog hole. This battle has been going on for 20 years. Share this with interested people.

Because TV OEMs are the ones in the HDMI consortium.

That's what I'm saying, it would be more complicated than a dongle, the PS5 has some sorta system that handles this, it would essientally be a device that supports it, that just decodes and encodes the video feed, as dumb as this sounds it'd the only soluations to use on most TVs

Doesn't the system driver need to support the standard?

At this point stop using HDMI

>. 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.

Blame the HDMI consortium. Bastards.

That said, I'm not sure why it'd be a deal-breaker. In 2026 this will be a low-end PC. It's using a 2 year old laptop GPU that Valve has dumped more power into.

I see.

Component RCA like god intended

Displayport

DisplayPort?

DVI, of course

The question was for a dumb TV and not just any TV.

Do let me know if you find something more suited.

If you don't need 120Hz, you don't need HDMI 2.1. You can get 4k @ 60Hz with the HDMI 2.0 that the Steam Machine has, so you can use just any TV.

That one is 27". I think that's way too small for the living room. I also consider 120hz to be overkill for some couch gaming and movies.

A 27" monitor will not be anywhere near a replacement for 60" TV, I'm afraid.

Biggest I found is the Acer Nitro XV275KP3 Gaming Monitor.

You kinda pay gaming hardware prices, but given the support for up to 120Hz and HDR10, I was OK with that. It's mostly used for gaming, anyway.

It used to be that beamers were a way to sidestep the "smart" bullshit, but they started adding that, too. Even the business ones.

Do you know of any big dumb TVs or monitors that I could buy in Europe? I only know of Sceptre TVs which are mostly meant for businesses and storefronts but they are extremely hard to get in Europe.

Hard to find monitors larger than a certain size that aren't exorbitantly expensive, and I do like a large screen when it comes to Couch Gaming and watching TV (well, streaming video, I ain't gonna pay for a TV license just to watch the one terrestrial TV show I actually care about)

Unfortunately, many large monitors are becoming "smart" now.

While I agree, I think you might not find a monitor that sitze. tvs and monitors have different use cases:

Monitor:

• High dpi

• Low distance to viewer

• Must support high resolution, high frame rate for games

• Must be compact enough for a desk

TV:

• low dpi

• greater distance to viewer

• 120hz and 1080 resolution enough for most movies and shows

• price and size more important than technical aspects.

Buy monitors instead. Also saves you the headache of dealing with "smart TV" bullshit.

Fuck HDCP.

I tried to stick with DP only, but the tvs with it are getting rarer and much more expensive.

And what do you use?

If you want 120Hz, only active adapters will work, which cost around 40$. If you don't, the included HDMI 2.0 will be enough

oh… to be honest i don’t have a tv, i thought they would just have a plethora of connections to match what ever hardware you use like pc’s i don’t see why not when display port is open sourced

The humble $5 DP in to HDMI out adapter cable:

Cause device targets couch gaming with TV.

TVs don't have DP, they have HDMI.

The good news is RFC 3339 doesn't have this problem and is an unambiguous subset of ISO 8601.

Proprietary formats should be illegal. Consumers are idiots, marketing will convince them to support proprietary, and regulatory capture will compromise any attempt to stop disparity

They really just need to demand that open formats are implemented in parallel with any proprietary ones, with no artificial feature/performance disparity allowed.

That kills any incentive to keep the proprietary ones locked down because eventually the open formats will be available throughout the ecosystem and users will have devices with support in the entire pipeline. Then users will simply no longer want to deal with the locked down formats for long and nobody will want to sell them.

It pisses me off that you gotta pay so much money to look at the official ISO 8601.

While the steam machine might not be able to run super demanding titles at 4k 120hz+, there's no reason it couldn't do that for lower demand titles like indie games or older games. The physical hardware is HDMI 2.1 capable and can use those higher resolutions/fps if the device is running windows, so this is entirely the HDMI Forum limiting the capabilities of the device because it's an open source device.

The HDMI version is what determines how much bandwidth you have available.

HDMI 2.0 has a max of 18GB/s bandwidth, which is why the Steam Machine has to do chroma subsampling to go above 4k@60Hz. HDMI 2.1 ups that bandwidth to 48GB/s, allowing higher resolution/refresh rate.

The physical hardware is HDMI 2.1 capable and can do that if the device is running windows, so this is entirely the HDMI Forum limiting the capabilities of the device because it's an open source device.

Right, but they have to use chroma subsampling on hdmi2.0 because HDMI won't allow an open source driver for HDMI 2.1

¡Yo tambien!

I'm an idiot and i apologize.

Is it 2.1? Does it transmit cec commands? No? Strange...

It's almost like we are commenting under a post that is saying exactly that.

Til

The adapters have circuity inside, they exist. It's small enough to still just look like a cable because they fit the chip in a plug end.

DP has an option to transmit HDMI signals instead, this is what passive adapters use and will still have the same HDMI 2.0 issue. A DP source can be passively adapted to HDMI, but a HDMI source cannot be passively adapted to DP.

You can also get active HDMI adapters which actively convert the signal, and can work with HDMI 2.1. Intel actually has an active converter chip built into their ARC GPUs, and is how they get around this issue.

What a bummer. I guess TIL that i, in fact, *don't* use one literally every single day.

The communication protocols are just different enough that an adapter won't work.

CEC is not standard even though it should be a standard for hdmi.

You can look up most of the issues with the standard, but TL;DR: DRM, expensive licensing fees, suboptimal performance compared to DisplayPort, and not able to be implemented in FOSS or even OSS systems (because of the shitty DRM which can be circumvented by an AliExpress splitter lmao)

Why?

I mean the many incarnations of usbc are slowly making headway. For better and worse.

Those specs sound like HDMI 2 anyway. HDMI 2.1 can do 4K @ 144Hz with HDR. Or apparently even 10K @ 120Hz.

I just realized I have such cable in my desk (brand new), DP to HDMI 4k 60fps

My spouse need something for the other way around for his desk setup

But the big thing with HDMI 2.1 is the cec protocol which doesn't translate over an adapter unfortunately. But it is a very tiny thing most people won't care about.

Would be cool if they put one in the box. Would save many sad christmas days as you wait for Amazon to come round with an adapter.

You also need a powered adapter for HDMI 2.1 in this case. The passive adapters work, because the DP output on the computer usually supports switching to HDMI output. But for that to work, the driver must support it, so it has the same problem as the HDMI port (which supports 2.1 on a hardware level, but not with AMDs open source drivers)

The powered adapters are for the other way around. DP has support for HDMI out without additional components, but ofc the HDMI forum makes converting HDMI to DP like pulling teeth.

Adapting DisplayPort to HDMI with minimal quality loss is child's play. It's the other way around that's misery.

Any cheap adapter cable that supports DisplayPort In to HDMI Out should be perfectly fine.

i want to say you can buy an adapter to get dp 1.4 out of steam machine and into hdmi 2.1 on a tv and should be fine. just has to be a powered adapter i believe

That's what the Steam Frame is for.

Better Than Life™

Honestly arc is a great idea that never seems to work for me. I'll always be RIGHT there, but my Blu-ray player turns on randomly when I'm doing something else, or something like that. So I end up turning it off.

Yep it's pretty much better in all regards.



The only downside is no ARC support, but I suppose support for that is pretty hit or miss anyway.

Yes. DP is the right choice for civilized people.

Both cartels are leeching off often-publicly funded research.

Fun fact, all of the audio codes are proprietary too. You won't find a HDMI surround sound splitter on Aliexpress. Say no to HDMI, say no to E-ARC.

You know it reminds me of the academic publishing mafia of Elsevier and the like

What display are you using as well? That sounds quite unusual.

Yeah fuck the video codec mafia and all these proprietary shits like HDMI

I used to find it took forever to start showing a picture compared to HDMI on my PC. Getting a new GPU so maybe that will improve things.

If you can find anything to connect it to.

Ooh true

Ukrainians had a reputation for being the best source for cracks for the DRM on farming and construction equipment that prevented third-party repairs and modifications.

(There's a reason farmers are one of the biggest groups pushing for Right to Repair.)

I'm explicitly not going to link to it as I can't personally vet how safe it is or its origins but:

No. Check the various issues related to the subject matter. And hobbyist threads on sites like resetera.

I care about HDR (on Linux) way less than I do VRR in general.

Is that the "sketchy" firmware you're referring to?

Yeah. If you just want HDR, Cable Matters is the way to go.

If you buy one and flash it with a sketchy firmware, you can get VRR. But my understanding is the HDR is a smaller range. How much that matters when the vast majority of games aren't taking advantage of HDR is up to you.

Personally? I love how much HDR pops. I more or less need VRR to not have to care about frame tearing and the like. And when I am running games on an underpowered glorified AMD NUC (or, in my case, ACTUALLY an AMD NUC)... my framerates are neither high nor stable.

I have one of these, but I don't believe they work with HDMI 2.1 VRR (or at least I've never been able to get it to work).

With a LG B9, I have both G-Sync and HDMI 2.1 VRR support, but no FreeSync. I can get most of the HDMI 2.1 feature set working with a DP->HDMI 2.1 adapter, except for any form of VRR. That's with a RX 9070, but similar situation on a 6800 XT previously.

Cable Matters sells plenty of different DP->HDMI 2.1 adapters that work with VRR. The main issue here is that you won't get CEC if you use those.

a super sketchy Chinese (the best source for sketchy tech)

Russian is also good

on these atomic distros where even something like syncthing involves shenanigans to keep active week to week? Ain't happening.

I don't see why you couldn't kexec into a new kernel. kexec will load a kernel into memory from an already running kernel, and jump into it. It'll suck for the user as they'll have to semi-reboot everytime they want HDMI 2.1, but it's easy and doesn't install anything.

There's also live patching, but I think that'll be a bit of work.

Of course the kernel needs to be compiled with those options enabled, but most distros do.

Edit: And they probably won't work with kernel lockdown/secure boot.

Not that easy.

To get HDMI 2.1 support for the Gabe Cube itself essentially requires kernel level patches. Which on a "normal" Linux device is possible (but ill advised) but on these atomic distros where even something like syncthing involves shenanigans to keep active week to week? Ain't happening. Because HDMI is not just mapping data to pins and using the right codecs. There are a LOT of handshakes involved along the way (which is also the basis for HDCP which essentially all commercial streaming services utilize to some degree).

There ARE methods (that I have personally used) to take a DP->HDMI dongle and flash a super sketchy Chinese (the best source for sketchy tech) firmware to effectively cheat the handshakes. It isn't true HDMI 2.1 but it provides VRR and "good enough for 2025" HDR at 4k/120Hz. But... I would wager money that is violating at least one law or another.

So expect a lot of those "This ini change fixes all of Windows 11. Just give money to my patreon for it" level fixes. And... idiots will believe it since you can use a dongle to already get like HDMI 2.05 or whatever with no extra effort. And there will likely be a LOT of super sketchy dongles on AliExpress that come pre-flashed that get people up to 2.09 (which is genuinely good enough for most people). But it is gonna be a cluster.

And that is why all of us with AMD NUCs already knew what a clusterfuck this was going to be.

------

There are also ways to fake the handshake in software. I personally did not try that but from what I have seen on message boards? It is VERY temporary (potentially having to redo every single time you change inputs on your TV/receiver) and it is unclear if the folk who think it works actually tested anything or just said "My script printed out 'Handshake Successful', it works with this game that doesn't even output HDR!"

If would need to be patched in on Linux kernel level, which is annoying to say the least.

Anything important enough to be secured you probably dont want to involve a magnet for.

That usb-c connector with side screw locks looks like a future I want to live in.

It's futuristic, but it's open and not corporate. It's miniaturized and sleek, yet still mechanically rugged.

Exactly that.

Its mostly common on commercial devices still, but it is defined.

https://www.usb.org/document-library/usb-type-cr-locking-connector-specification

As an example:

https://www.startech.com/en-us/cables/usb31ccslkv1m

Though again, a lot of this could be mitigated with a loop, strain relief, and inserting from above into a port rather than letting gravity pull it down. But it would be nice to see side screw locks be more common with usb-c.

Oh, screw lock as in like some PC tower cables? Yes, that would be really nice, I wouldn't mind that for a phone.

Could it be done with a tiny magnet?

To mention, this is also a problem with HDMI (but not DP).

But just have the usb-c insert top down instead of bottom up, include room for a small loop and cable retention to ensure slack doesnt put pressure on the port. This easily allows for fixed connections with usb-c.

There are also side-screw locking connectors for usb-c. With HDMI, a top-screw option was made for more fixed install scenarios. That design is ugly af and uses a massive amount more room than the usb-c screw lock approach.

A good USB c cable and port can hold quite a bit of weight, I've easily picked my phone up by it as long as you don't make any jerking movements. That's a lot more weight than a few feet of even a very heavily shielded cable.

Then the weight of the end of the cable is going to be trying to pull the connector out of the TV.

Just duck tape the usb cable to the back of the TV

Solvable by moving the locking mechanism out of the port and making one that you can retrofit to any cable

The connectors on the back of the TV can be oriented horizontally (like parallel to the screen, not perpendicular), which at least changes the pull force to a torque force, which isn't ideal but easier to hold on to.

Something that they have continued in earnest with the Switch 2.

Regarding the Nintendo Switch, it's because of their engineered malicious USB-C protocol design that makes the console "Not behave like a good USB citizen should". It's less of an issue with the peripherals as a whole.

In the sense that we have dongles/docks, sure. In the sense of monitors with native USB-c input? These are still fairly rare as the accepted pattern is that your dock has an HDMI/DP port and you connect via that (which actually is a very good pattern for laptops).

As for TVs? I am not seeing ANYTHING with usb c in for display. In large part because the vast majority of devices are going to rely on HDMI. As I said above.

------

I'll also add that many (most?) of those docks don't solve this problem. The good ones are configured such that they can pass the handshake information through. I... genuinely don't know if you can do HDCP over USBC->HDMI as I have never had reason to test it. Regardless, it would require both devices at the end of that chain to be able to resolve the handshakes to enable the right HDMI protocol which gets us back to the exact same problem we started with.

And the less good docks can't even pass those along. Hence why there is a semi-ongoing search for a good Switch dock among users and so forth.

USB-C adapters for absolutely everything are thankfully quite common now thanks to the laptop/dock industry.

there are actually plenty of reasons to NOT want any kind of bi-directional data transfer between your device and the TV

I've got bad news for you about HDMI then…

Ballparking but it will likely take closer to a decade than not for that to actually happen... and I am still not optimistic. And there are actually plenty of reasons to NOT want any kind of bi-directional data transfer between your device and the TV that gets updated to push more and more ads to you every single week.

The reason HDMI is so successful is that the plug itself has not (meaningfully?) changed in closer to 20 years than not. You want to dig out that PS3 and play some Armored Core 4 on the brand new 8k TV you just bought? You can. With no need for extra converters (and that TV will gladly upscale and motion smooth everything...).

Which has added benefits because "enthusiasts" tend to have an AV receiver in between.

The only way USB C becomes a primary for televisions (since display port and usb c are arguably already the joint primary for computer monitors) is if EVERY other device migrates. Otherwise? Your new TV doesn't work with the PS5 that Jimmy is still using to watch NFL every week.

USB-C probably cannot replace either, because the unmating force is too light. A typical HDMI or DisplayPort cable is much thicker, longer and hence heavier than a typical USB-C cable (even those specced to carry high bandwidth, like a thunderbolt cable) because they need better shielding to carry high bandwidth signals long distances - it's not unusual to need to route HDMI several metres (but USB-C cables that long are unusual because of the different purposes)

For TVs and such it's useful to have the inputs connect vertically, so that they don't stick out the back of the device and cause problems pushing it against a wall. Then the weight of the end of the cable is going to be trying to pull the connector out of the TV. DisplayPort connectors can have a latch to deal with this.

Of course, there a ways around this: a new connector, for example. But it does mean that you can't just leverage the existing pool of USB-C connectors and cables to make this ubiquitous.

With TVs starting to get USB-C inputs, which are displayport under the hood, hopefully HDMI fucks off.

DisplayPort rocks

fuck HDMI

all my homies hate HDMI

Is this why DisplayPort looks better for me on Linux???

HDMI needs to die.

I hated HMDI when it came out, and I continue to hate it.

AMD already spent a significant amount of effort implementing HDMI2.1 in their open driver in such a way that it would be compliment. The suits from HDMI consortium still said No.

https://www.phoronix.com/news/HDMI-2.1-OSS-Rejected

AMD Linux engineers have spent months working with their legal team and evaluating all HDMI features to determine if/how they can be exposed in their open-source driver. AMD had code working internally and then the past few months were waiting on approval from the HDMI Forum... Sadly, the HDMI Forum has turned down AMD's request for open-source driver support.

AMD Linux engineer Alex Deucher commented on the ticket:

"The HDMI Forum has rejected our proposal unfortunately. At this time an open source HDMI 2.1 implementation is not possible without running afoul of the HDMI Forum requirements."

Capitalism is so cool dude I love having inferior transit of 1s and 0s because some group of leeches in California own the shape that those 1s and 0s pass through

I'm honestly surprised TV OEMs haven't bothered to at least try throwing in DisplayPort, especially during the period of time it far exceeded the highest possible quality on HDMI.

HDMI is just the last hardware standard created from the ashes of the format wars that has no practical place anymore. It only exists to collect hostage licensing fees.

governments should start cracking down on codecs. tf are dipshits allowed to hold standards hostage?

I really wish I could find a TV within my desired specs that had DisplayPort. We will buy a Steam Machine to use it in place of our docked Steam Deck in the living room, so being able to use DP would be amazing.

Countdown until some community member patches 2.1 support in

Fuck HDMI! All my homies use DisplayPort.

The main feature of Hdmi has always been DRM.

Ship a high quality DP adapter with each onr 😂

Pfft. People using monitors or tvs. I just plug into it and play it in my head.

I would normally prefer no hdmi at all, but it's an entry point device so it doesn't really make sense to do that.

We need to normalize this kind of headline:

"The HDMI Forum, whatever the fuck that means, refuses to support open source software development."

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

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.

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

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?

why not just use DisplyPort?

I'm not fully up-to-date with bleeding edge display technologies but is there any reason that a passive DP to HDMI adapter couldn't easily solve this issue? And would it cause Valve any strife to include one in the box?

Wow, no HDMI 2.1 is a deal breaker for me. This is fucking sad.

Chroma subsampling is because they don't have the bandwidth for 4k120@RGB, not because HDMI won't allow it. The two things aren't related.

Because the machine can't render at higher than that probably