Intel HDMI Now Handles HBR: High Bit-Rate Audio

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel HDMI Now Handles HBR: High Bit-Rate Audio

A patch has finally been written for supporting HBR (High-Bit-Rate) audio over Intel HDMI devices on Linux...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTE4MDQ

[mark45]

What is it needed for? BluRay?

[pdffs]

What is it needed for? BluRay?

Yes, DTS-MA and TrueHD are the lossless formats used on BluRay. To be fair, the article makes it sound like this patch changes more than it does - all it does is send the audio through without remapping channels. The net result is still that DTS-MA/TrueHD work properly after fixing this bug, though (if you screw with channel mapping, the receiver is unable to decode the compressed stream).

[gururise]

Finally!! I really hope Intel keeps pushing toward feature parity with it's Window's driver. There are still a few major features lacking in the Linux Intel drivers when compared to the Windows drivers:

• OpenCL Compute
• QuickSync
• OpenGL 4.x
• Optimus Style GPU switching
• Performance

[pdffs]

Finally!! I really hope Intel keeps pushing toward feature parity with it's Window's driver. There are still a few major features lacking in the Linux Intel drivers when compared to the Windows drivers:

• OpenCL Compute
• QuickSync
• OpenGL 4.x
• Optimus Style GPU switching
• Performance

Have you been watching recent progress?

[direx]

To be fair, the article makes it sound like this patch changes more than it does - all it does is send the audio through without remapping channels. The net result is still that DTS-MA/TrueHD work properly after fixing this bug, though (if you screw with channel mapping, the receiver is unable to decode the compressed stream).

This patch is part of a series of patches. With the current ALSA git tree both TrueHD and DTS-HD are working fine on my Ivy Bridge CPU. Channel mappings are also fine. So yes, I think this patch is a great step forward for Intel HTPC owners

[Shakka]

Good news but

Very good news indeed for HTPC users.
However HTPC with Intel is still half a failure for me since if I bootup my HTPC first, and then my A/V amplifier, the x server does not start at all.
Not sure it's Intel's fault though (Ubuntu 12.04)
I also have a TV with wrong EDID and it's quite painful to setup the HTPC with the accurate mode ; fortunately XBMC helps, but it forgets the settings regularly.
I do not understand why it's so painfull to make a linux HTPC work like any video device : plug the HDMI to the amplifier, choose the output definition, nothing more should be required from the user.

[direx]

However HTPC with Intel is still half a failure for me since if I bootup my HTPC first, and then my A/V amplifier, the x server does not start at all.
Not sure it's Intel's fault though (Ubuntu 12.04) I also have a TV with wrong EDID and it's quite painful to setup the HTPC with the accurate mode

Never experienced this issue. This might be because of the fact that my amp sends the TV's EDID to my HTPC, even if both the TV and the amp are turned off.

Have you tried adding custom modelines in your xorg.conf.d config files? This way I got my old NVidia card working

[Shakka]

Never experienced this issue. This might be because of the fact that my amp sends the TV's EDID to my HTPC, even if both the TV and the amp are turned off.

Yes it could be. However I don't have this problem with my PS3 : when I set the output to 1080p, it's immediately usable on my TV. And I have no issue powering on my PS3 first.
So I really wonder why my PS3 gets it right and why my Ubuntu/Intel HTPC gets it wrong.

Have you tried adding custom modelines in your xorg.conf.d config files? This way I got my old NVidia card working

I have found an approximate modeline which allows X to start in 1080p but it's not perfect, so I still have to adjust the screen shape under XBMC.