The HDMI 2.1a standard is disclosed for the first 

time: Enhanced and optimized HDR

At a pre-CES communication meeting, the HDMI Licensing Administrator organization confirmed for the first time that the HDMI 2.1a upgraded version of the standard specification will be released.

As can be seen from the version number, HDMI 2.1a is a small upgrade, mainly adding new features. The core is SBTM, the full name of Source-Based Tone Mapping, which is source-based tone mapping, which can enhance and optimize HDR display.

SBTM technology allows the source device to handle part of the HDR mapping, rather than relying entirely on the display device, and is especially useful when displaying HDR, SDR video or footage simultaneously, such as picture-in-picture, independent video windows, etc.

It also allows PCs and gaming devices to automatically process optimized HDR signals, maximizing the use of the HDR capabilities of the display device without requiring the user to manually set the source device.

From the comparison chart given by the official, SBTM can obviously eliminate the overexposed part of the picture and present richer picture and brightness details. As for other new features of HDMI 2.1a, it has not yet been disclosed. Another issue is canonical naming. Recently, the HDMI LA organization confirmed that the HDMI 2.0 standard naming no longer exists, but has become a subset of HDMI 2.1, and the features of HDMI 2.1 are optional. Regardless of whether the device originally only supports HDMI 2.0 or fully supports HDMI 2.1, it needs to indicate that it supports HDMI 2.1, and only needs to note which new functions are supported, which has caused huge confusion and controversy.

Next, what will happen to HDMI 2.1a, will all devices be changed to support HDMI 2.1a?