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Why won’t Steam Machine support HDMI 2.1? Digging in on the display standard drama.
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2025
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I think the reason you mention is a pretty good one.. who wants to solely rely on adapters?
They can just bundle them? It still be cheaper than paying for the licensing. What is the issue here?
Except it’s not. HDMI licensing (for high volume) is a $10,000 flat fee, plus $0.04 per unit if you use HDCP. So if you were to sell 100,000 units that would be $14,000 ($10K base plus $0.04 x 100K).
Based on those numbers you would have to find a way to include a physical adapter for $0.14/unit. I don’t think you’re gonna find anything that cheap with any amount of quality.
I don't think it's the best user experience when you get a new product neither do I think they are foolproof.
I mean... if someone can't figure out which end goes where. Theres gonna struggle with a standard hdmi cable. I guess they could custom print big text on the cable ends to make it clear which end goes where. They'll certainly have the volume to make such customization.
I think it's more of the hassle side of things, added complexity (even if small) and it makes the product feel less refined/premium/sleek in my opinion (not something I care about personally, but the masses do and it adds some friction, even if little).
I may be wrong, maybe adapters have no issue with hdmi to DP, but in the past I have only heard of trouble with adapters just not working for some devices.
Dp to hdmi is very reliable. The siginals are near identical, the adapter is just a level shifter. Not much can go wrong. Issues arise when talking about either cheaply made (out of spec) or active adapters.
Maybe for Apple users.