All HDMI versions support Dolby Digital and DTS

JOE LEE, technology evangelist at HDMI Licensing confirmed that the HDMI specification, has, since its first 1.0 release, included support for all the compressed surround sound formats (including Dolby Digital and DTS) as well as high-quality, uncompressed surround sound (up to eight channels of PCM at 192kHz).

So it turns out that the Sapphire HDMI graphics card we reviewed here is also capable of supporting compressed surround sound audio formats on the HDMI output by configuring the PC's audio driver in this mode.

The only thing missing in the previous HDMI versions is Dolby true HD and DTS HD - eight-channel PCM -but the new 1.3 version supports that as well. So, the new chip 1.3 compatible can do them all.

You just need to feed the graphic card with a proper 5.1 audio and you will be able to get the 5.1 on the first HDMI device you meet. If you can get the audio via an SPDIF digital connection on your graphic cards, either externally or internally it should work. The HDMI cable will carry both 5.1 audio and video.

Compared to the analogue alternative, the HDMI cable replaces three component video cables and provides a higher quality via digital interface. Not to mention that the connector is small and neat.

We also learned that the cost of HDMI Audio/Video receivers is quickly coming down and you should be able to buy one for $285-$350 street price from Panasonic and JVC. µ