Page 12 - HDMI and HDCP
HD 2000 HDMI & HDCP compatibility
We already mentioned this, but the entire HD 2000 series of cards offer HDMI connectivity with the help of a DVI adapter and again, all cards have support for HDCP. Unlike current HDMI implementations on PCIe graphics cards, the HD 2400, 2600 and 2900 integrate (secondary) audio functionality into the GPU. Instead of passing a PCM or Dolby Digital signal from onboard audio or a sound card, RV610 and RV630-based graphics cards can directly output audio removing the need of a separate sound card over your HDMI connector. So you do not have to load sound to your graphics card which leads it to HDMI. Now, the card will receive its audio from e.g. your integrated audio solution and lead it straight towards the HDMI connector where it'll output that sound in 16-bit PCM Stereo sound or AC3 5.1 compressed multi-channel audiostreams as Dolby Digital and DTS. A pretty sexy feature, especially for those who use their PC as a HTPC and are connecting HDMI towards a HDMI receiver.
By the way do not be mistaken .. for your add-in board (your X-Fi or whatever) the system S/PDIF output is not tied up by routing it to the graphics cards. It's completely a secondary process so you have full functionality over your primary soundcard.
So with the Series 2000 you'll receive a DVI-to HDMI adapter which, and make no mistake here, will carry sound over HDMI. That's unlike current DVI-HDMI adapters and cables which do not carry sound. Fantastic if you are watching a Blu-ray movie, simply connect HDMI to wards your HDTV for PCM sound, or connect it through a TrueHD/Dolby HD receiver and get that sound lovin' going on through that receiver of yours. All with one simple cable.
Here we can see that DVI to HDMI dongle that is supported with the HD 2000 series Radeon graphics cards. It'll be included with all Series 2000 graphics cards.
A really clever solution to be honest, it saved manufacturers building a separate SKU specifically with HDMI connector. Plug it in and let the fun begin.
