HDMI audio with ati cards

[jarekl]

I'm really confused when it comes to the ATI Radeon cards that are supposed to support audio on HDMI. There does not seem to be any card with HDMI connectors, only DVI and something called HDTV-connector that looks like a mini-din. Well, there's also a DVI-to-HDMI dongle but that is supposed to work is beyond me.

Can anybody straighten this out for me?

Thanks

/j

[marcheu]

There are not many HDMI graphics cards for now, because this standard is still very new.

In my opinion the current way to achieve HDTV involves a TV with DVI input. DVI is a standard right now and is here to stay for a couple of years still, much like D-Sub is still available thanks to DVI adapters. Using any HDMI dongle/adapter will not buy you anything over standard DVI.

[bridgman]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/515241/product_review_visiontek_hd2600_xt.html?page=3

I think there are a few other cards with on-board HDMI but not many yet. I'm getting conflicting answers re: whether you can get audio from a DVI connector plus DVI-to-HDMI adapter; most are saying "no".

[jarekl]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/515241/product_review_visiontek_hd2600_xt.html?page=3

I think there are a few other cards with on-board HDMI but not many yet. I'm getting conflicting answers re: whether you can get audio from a DVI connector plus DVI-to-HDMI adapter; most are saying "no".

Thanks for the link. It is the first that I see having the right connections.

/j

[jarekl]

Found an interesting article about the dvi-to-hdmi and audio question:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/440/8/

The most interesting part is perhaps here:

"So with the Series 2000 you'll receive a DVI-to HDMI adapter (a board partner option though) which, and make no mistake here, will carry sound over HDMI. That's unlike current DVI-HDMI adapters and cables which do not carry sound."

Comments anybody. Otherwise, considering that I can not find a single supplier of the Visiontek card in Sweden, I'm tempted (for the first time) to go with something like 2600Pro.


/j

[Michael]

Using an R600 with its DVI connector and the DVI-to-HDMI adapter to an HDMI display and using the latest ALSA should yield sound support.

[jarekl]

So, I bought a Gecube GC-HD2600XTG4-D3 HD2600XT 256M PCI-E last this friday and do I feel stupid today (monday). This stuff does not work with Linux beyond the simplest dual head configurations (such as one desktop with two equal resolution monitors). Even with a single monitor and the newest (fglrx 8.45) driver there are issues with 2D such as Gnome going nuts and firefox locking up. Had to work from a buggy KDE4.0 and console over the weekend. This card is also slower in 2D than my over 3 year old 6200TC although it consumes about 25W more power.

So, I (you) are trying to feed a 1080p flatpanel side by side with a regular 1280x1024 monitor, look somewhere else.