Video Card w/ full HDMI 1.3 support (1 Viewer)

[WhiteDog]

I'm upgrading my Home Theater to (future-proof) Full HD (BenQ W5000, Pioneer 1018, HTPC w/ Blu Ray player). Since toslink can not support Tru-HD and the newer standards, i need a digital solution to get my audio to the receiver. The easiest way seems to be thru the video card as since about 2 years there are cards available that can do this.

I have however not found a video card that supports HDMI 1.3(a) and also does audio. Most i've found are only HDMI 1.1 or 1.2 at best.

Does anyone know if the 'ultimate" HTPC video card already exists or is coming out soon?

 

[WhiteDog]

Seems there is a different approach as well. Found 2 (upcoming) sound cards with HDMI in / out that mix the signal together:
Asus Xonar AV1
Auzentech HDMI X-Tension Sound Card

 

[armandp]

Cool.. thanks for the info.
If i understand correctly these soundcards require you to "loop" the HDMI out from your videocard through the soundcard and it will add the audio channels. I might look out for the Auzentech as i have a free PCI-E slot. Adding HDMI 1.3(a) support for sound will make my HTPC completely "future proof"

 

[navalynt]

This might be a little late but the ATI Radeon HD 3870 keeps dropping in price right now because the 4xxx series will be out soon. This card has built in 5.1 surround and comes with the HDMI adapter so you can hookup to your TV right out of the box. I love this card, picked it up at Best Buy this week for $129.99, and bought the CoreAVC Profession codec for the AVIVO decoding. I don't have any problems at all playing MPEG4-AVC content to my 1080p TV.