360 preps HDMI future?

While the whole 360 HD-DVD internal-external debate has been gathering pace in recent weeks, new pictures currently wending their way across the internet seem to show that Microsoft may be planning a HDMI connector built into the motherboard of future 360s, with this 'alleged' connector providing a serious challenge to one of the PS3's key differentiators.

The pics themselves are hardly conclusive, being of the blurry what-the-hell-is-that? variety, but further whispers have also circulated with some claimants saying they'd actually seen three versions of a 360 motherboard with the connector in place. Never has a piece of news been so deserving of the Microsoft standard response "we do not comment on rumour and speculation". So we didn't ask them.

HDMI actually stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface and, as you probably know, it's a key output for Sony's higher end PS3 giving you a hi-def uncompressed digital audio-video stream between your console and HDTVs.

However, our 360 experts are more than a little sceptical over the existence of this bit of kit for future 360 iterations. Fishier than a trawler captain's waders is probably a fair summary of their feelings.

Still, the rumour refuses to die, so what do you think? Would the 360 benefit from an in-built HDMI output, would a simple connecting lead suffice or are you really that bothered about HDMI at all? Tell us what you think in the comments field below.

HDMI is not the exciting next-gen technology everybody seems to think it is. The picture quality on a good HDTV is on a par with DVI and a little sharper/crisper than VGA.

*** BUT *** - the main reason there's a push behind it is that the movie studios want to lock everybody down with their next generation of copy protection for HD-DVD/BlueRay - as HDMI has a mechanism to authenticate an a/v output device before allowing data to be streamed.

So think carefully before parting with cash for technology that will further restrict your "fair use" rights.


KultiVator