I think for the most part they're recycling old designs, doing little but upgrading firmware and putting the designs in a new box. I think this is how virtually all of the receiver manufacturers are doing it. The obsession with "HDMI switching" on low end receivers is because you can make minimal changes to the design, grafting on an off-the-shelf HDMI switch.
Who's fault is this? Combination of the manufacturers and whatever the HDMI trade group is called. If it doesn't do HDMI properly, it shouldn't be allowed to carry an HDMI logo. At the very least, something with an HDMI out should output all video to that port, digitizing analog streams if necessary, and any HDMI inputs should be used as sources, if only for bare PCM audio.
The difference between a low end, medium end, and high end receiver should be based upon wattage, number of speakers, quality, and high end codecs supported, not whether the people sticking HDMI labels on it are actually telling the truth.
Sony's just released a 15.5-inch addition to its VAIO S Series that not only adds a crucial bit of extra display acreage, but also bumps things up to a full 1080p.
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I think for the most part they're recycling old designs, doing little but upgrading firmware and putting the designs in a new box. I think this is how virtually all of the receiver manufacturers are doing it. The obsession with "HDMI switching" on low end receivers is because you can make minimal changes to the design, grafting on an off-the-shelf HDMI switch.
Who's fault is this? Combination of the manufacturers and whatever the HDMI trade group is called. If it doesn't do HDMI properly, it shouldn't be allowed to carry an HDMI logo. At the very least, something with an HDMI out should output all video to that port, digitizing analog streams if necessary, and any HDMI inputs should be used as sources, if only for bare PCM audio.
The difference between a low end, medium end, and high end receiver should be based upon wattage, number of speakers, quality, and high end codecs supported, not whether the people sticking HDMI labels on it are actually telling the truth.