In my case its an issue because I have a monitor with only a single DP port and I need to switch between my tower and laptop. I have to use HDMI for the laptop to monitor connection.
There are only a few adapters that support the 2.1 features (hdr+vrr+high resolution+high refresh rate, no lossy DSC). I even had to flash custom firmware for most of those features to work (vrr still doesnt)
They have limitations, specially when driven to the limits of the specifications.
When doing 4k@120fps 4:4:4 chroma you might have to deal with longer handshakes and sometimes even no handshake at all. Or random dropouts. Or HDR not activating properly.
It was blocked from inclusion in the AMD GPU drivers, it's nothing specific to Steam or the Steam Machine.
The HDMI Forum apparently forbids any open source implementation of HDMI 2.1. Although I don't know if they ever offered an official justification, for a group that exists to promote HDMI adoption, they're clearly morons.
It's a group that exists to make sure that the standard works for all the members, including media companies that think they can control the flow of information. They don't need to promote HDMI adoption since their members already control pretty much all the TV production.
I have a Samsung G95NC (DP2.1, 7680x2160, 240Hz) and you definitely notice the difference between 120Hz and 240Hz. Although personally I wouldn't pay a cent more for an even higher refresh rate since the difference is much less noticable than 60vs120Hz and I expect 240Hz vs 420 to make even less of a difference.
No, I just don't think such a high refresh rate accomplishes anything. Not even bragging rights. 120Hz, possibly. But 240? Are you going to introduce a telly into a slow-motion studio, on the set?
It's too easy for display manufacturers to compete on moar pixels, moar fps, moar refresh. You just try to embiggen your numbers compared to your competitor.
Meanwhile, features where you can't compete on numbers but can ruin the experience are ignored.
Conversion is a very intricate spec fulfilment over an incredibly high bandwidth signal.
I did the dive; The adapters are not sufficient.
When doing 4k@120fps 4:4:4 chroma you might have to deal with longer handshakes and sometimes even no handshake at all. Or random dropouts. Or HDR not activating properly.
The HDMI Forum apparently forbids any open source implementation of HDMI 2.1. Although I don't know if they ever offered an official justification, for a group that exists to promote HDMI adoption, they're clearly morons.
As the article says, they most likely changed their mind, probably following quite a bit of background discussions and industry influence.
WHY!?
Meanwhile, features where you can't compete on numbers but can ruin the experience are ignored.