HDMI: New certifications make old HDMI app almost obsolete

NinjaZ@infosec.pub to Technology@lemmy.ml – 42 points – HDMI: New certifications make old HDMI app almost obsolete
notebookcheck.net

The new certifications for HDMI cables are now slowly coming onto the market. Known as Gen 2, these certifications will provide verification for the authenticity of a given cable and gradually replace the first generation certifications.

This formally began in May 2023, but the HDMI Licensing Administrator (HDMI LA) has allowed the old labels to continue to be used until stocks of the corresponding cables have all been sold. In its February newsletter, cable manufacturer Club3D drew attention to this change and stated that it is currently changing its label fulfillment provider, so packs with both the old and the new certifications will soon appear in stores.

The new certification has the advantage that it can be checked more easily. According to the HDMI LA, a simple scan of the QR code on the pack is enough to verify its authenticity. The old verification, on the other hand, required the proprietary HDMI app.

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I'm shocked to see that this useless single use app has been downloaded 100k+ times on the play store. I never in my life had thought "uhm is this HDMI cable legit? Let's download a specific proprietary app to verify the barcode"

But at the same time i would never bought those overpriced "ultra certified cable". If it works then it follows the specs, if it doesn't work, i return it to the seller. Paying 10x or more for having an "ultra certification" sticker on the box seems audiophile bullshit

The problem is that you cannot be sure if it follows spec. You as a normal user can only verify that it works on the current gear you have. What if the output signal strength is on the higher side of the spec on the current gear and you buy a new (for example) graphics card which has a lower output strength (but still in spec). And the cable no longer works?

HDMI and DP are especially frustrating. Had enough problems with cables that 'worked at home' but no longer on a different setup in the past.

most people probably don't even get the chance to scan it, because they order it online 😆

Is every QR code individually serialized? What's the mechanism to verify authenticity?

I know Der8auer uses individually printed one time use codes that can be used to verify thermal grizzly paste authenticity

A simple QR code w/hologram ain't gonna do shit alone. Fuck I didn't even know HDMI had their own app and I've been building computers for 20+ years at this point

Sounds like it's time to give the HDMI standard out to the public domain.

DisplayPort?

Sadly they're not doing as well..

Considering most GPU ship with 3DP and only 1 HDMI I'd say you're wrong

Gigabyte is the exception, 3 HDMI and 1 DP

I hate that, all my other devices use HDMI.

None of my DP ports have been used.

Except for the one I plugged a DP to HDMI adaptor in because my GPU only has one bloody HDMI.

I haven't used HDMI since about 2017 (1060 6gb) and IIRC I even used DP on my 660 TI PE

Are ya exclusively using TV's?

Displayport sucks.

The connector is so brittle and long, it breaks too easily compared to HDMI.

And it is not like DP has features that HDMI doesn't.

The whole point of HDMI is HDCP which is necessarily very much proprietary. HDMI is a product of the film & TV industries to protect their “intellectual property”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

The HDMI founders were Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson, and Toshiba. Digital Content Protection, LLC provides HDCP (which was developed by Intel) for HDMI. HDMI has the support of motion picture producers Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and Disney, along with system operators DirecTV, EchoStar (Dish Network) and CableLabs.

HDMI isn't necessary for HDCP though. HDCP also works over DisplayPort and even DVI.

Edit: The HDMI article on Wikipedia that you linked even says:

The HDMI founders began development on HDMI 1.0 on April 16, 2002, with the goal of creating an AV connector that was backward-compatible with DVI. At the time, DVI-HDCP (DVI with HDCP) and DVI-HDTV (DVI-HDCP using the CEA-861-B video standard) were being used on HDTVs. HDMI 1.0 was designed to improve on DVI-HDTV by using a smaller connector and adding audio capability and enhanced Y′CBCR capability and consumer electronics control functions.

I bought a fancy fiber optic certified cable to fix my TV issues since it's like a 30m run from the computer. It didn't change a single thing, turns out my 3 OG HDMI cables stringed together with two adapters and a conversion to and from mini-HDMI was fine, my TV just sucks because it's a smart TV and needs to be rebooted for HDMI inputs to work properly after a couple days.

The signal integrity requirements are vastly overblown.

Now try doing that while pushing 4k120hzHDR content. Which, I know isn’t for everyone, but it sure as hell needs that signal integrity.

However, the HDMI app will not be able to scan the new labels. Instead, according to the HDMI LA, a message will appear indicating that a QR reader app must be used.

I bet it will be a proprietary QR app that will data-mine the hell out of you.