Why won't Steam Machine support HDMI 2.1?

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/why-wont-steam-machine-support-hdmi-2-1-digging-in-on-the-display-standard-drama/

Comments

greatgibDec 5, 2025, 1:13 AM
Sad that the European union are slow lazy institutions when defending citizen rights is needed, because otherwise it would worth a good anti-trust procedure against the HDMI forum and its members in my opinion!
fellowmartianDec 5, 2025, 5:00 PM
It wouldn’t be HN without an EU bashing comment for no reason. Seems like it’s living in people’s heads rent free.
deepsunDec 4, 2025, 11:20 PM
Why don't they use DisplayPort 2.1? It's just superior. Why stick to HDMI?

No wonder why Apple took DisplayPort-Mini port for their Thunderbolt interface. Back in 2011!

sevensorDec 5, 2025, 3:27 AM
> 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).

Looks like users can do just that.

ThatPlayerDec 5, 2025, 6:09 AM
> DisplayPort 1.4 output, which supports even more bandwidth than HDMI 2.1

That's pretty wrong isn't it? HDMI 2.1 does 48 Gigabit/s. DP 1.4 is ~26 Gigabit/s. I think they meant to compared it to HDMI 2.0 @ 15 Gigabit/s?

gh02tDec 4, 2025, 11:54 PM
Presumably because most people want to plug it into a TV, and supporting both would add cost.
thfuranDec 5, 2025, 12:24 AM
I'd buy a SteamTV that's a good panel with a decent soc, DP instead of HDMI, and no webshit.
giancarlostoroDec 5, 2025, 1:44 AM
An no “Smart” bullshit, just a good device that syncs up to all your gaming devices.
giancarlostoroDec 5, 2025, 1:45 AM
Call me ignorant and feel free to correct me but I thought DisplayPort didnt support audio?
cweagansDec 5, 2025, 2:23 AM
DisplayPort 1.1 and above supports audio transmission.
TelaneoDec 5, 2025, 2:25 AM
DP supports audio just fine. It just isn't usually used for that, since it's used with monitors and not TVs.
0xC0ncordDec 4, 2025, 10:04 PM
Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41386667
gridlocdevDec 5, 2025, 12:28 AM
It’s unfortunate the HDMI forum is dragging their feet on this, but it’s kind of the nature of their business model so I’m not holding my breath waiting for things to resolve.

To use Linux at 4k at a high refresh rate with a TV or other screen that only has HDMI ports, they sell high-performance DisplayPort to HDMI adapter cords for like $30 on Amazon. My Bazzite machine works just fine on a 4K tv at 120hz, and even enables HDR now which it didn’t before with the regular HDMI cord.

If the HDMI forum thing doesn’t work out, I totally could see Valve offering a DP to HDMI cable just so folks don’t need to do extra searching to get the best performance out of their new hardware.