I'm currently in this boat. Can you explain what HDMI 2.1 is and why it's worth it to wait? And when do we expect those TVs to come out?
HDMI 2.1 introduces a lot of things and is the biggest shift in the HDMI standard for quite some time. Some of the key things are variable refresh rate, ie freesync, eARC which is audio return channel/pass through with lossless audio formats now such as Dolby True HD, DTS-HD MA, and DTS:X, and bandwidth for HDR with dynamic metadata which is going to be HDR10+. A lot of stuff centers around higher bandwidth which means it'll be able support resolutions with higher fresh rates too. It was speculated we might have seen some of the first sets by the end of this year but some of the stuff wasn't being phased in on time like testing standards, but that stuff is all set and we should see the first sets in 2019 or maybe some sets show off by the end of this year. At worst, we'll see stuff at CES 2019.
Ugh. Keep wanting to jump on a B7 OLED but when I hear stuff like this I figure I should keep waiting. But then I hear reports that these won't drop until late 2019 at the absolute earliest.
Then I'm sure once those finally drop, the next big thing will be right around the corner. I should really just take the plunge...
Nah, thinking there's always something around the corner is just wrong. Well technically it's right, but it's not the next big thing. There will always be improvements, but those are always nice to have. What you need to look out for are the foundation pillars. You need to observe where the content is going because unlike tech, content support doesn't change as drastically. When you're able to identify what key pillars are and what the support is going to be from content, then you can figure out when a good time to jump in and when a not so good time to jump in. Last time it was HDMI w/ HDCP and 1080p. If you hopped on to a solid set with that, that lasted you a good 10+ years despite all the tech that came out afterward since it was the standard. Just think about what blu rays and movies have needed and you'll realize that's true. The next major standard that everything is going to be based on is 4K, HDR and HDMI 2.1 features. These are foundation pillars for moving forward. You can bet the next consoles and content are going to support VRR and HDR10, Dolby Vision and HDR10+. So I think HDMI 2.1 is going to be the last key to the transition and it's going to be in time and in line with the next consoles. Everything else will be nice to have fluff features. But like HDR is proving now, which I said plenty of times when people were buying 4K only sets, it's clear that HDR is a fundamental key pillar in the content. I guarantee VRR and HDR10+ will be a part of that same picture too and you'll need a HDMI 2.1 compliant set to have those features.
Just curious if there's been any impressions on dramatic improvements over the P605/P607 series.
Hoping to hold onto the P607 for awhile.
As far as I know, it's a marginal but solid improvement. It's not dramatic, and you'll be fine with your P607. No reason to upgrade.