It’s taken… a long time, but finally Yamaha has announced the release of a major firmware update for some of the Yamaha Advantage series AV receivers.. More specifically, the manufacturer has released a new firmware for the RX-A8A, RX-A6A and RX-A4A models. This is firmware version 1.65 and it brings with it two really interesting new features.
On the one hand, it unblocks in AV receivers the compatibility with 4K@120Hz and 8K@60Hz signals from compatible devices such as PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles. And, on the other hand, added support for HDR10+ video format. Unfortunately, at least for now, other important updates are left out, such as variable refresh rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). According to Yamaha, all these features are in the pipeline and will be released sooner rather than later.
4K@120Hz and HDR10+ support is coming to Yamaha Advantage AV receivers
When Yamaha released these models late last summer, they stood out for their impressive spec sheet and also for being among the first models to feature full, flawless HDMI 2.1. However, the commented specification sheet of these new Yamaha Aventage series equipment also included “a large number of asterisks”, which made it clear that some features would not be available at launch and would come as an update.
So despite being one of the first receivers to offer extensive HDMI 2.1 compatibility, full compatibility was not available from the beginning. The manufacturer promised that they would arrive through a series of firmware updates that would arrive after the launch of the product and, although they have taken longer than expected, here they are.
The new upgrade to the Yamaha Aventage brings support for video signals up to 8K@60Hz (10-bit 4:4:4) with Yamaha Display Compression (DSC) applied or 8K@30Hz (8-bit 4:4 :4) without DSC. Although the most interesting thing for users is probably the support for 4K@120Hz uncompressed 12-bit 4:4:4 or compressed 10-bit 4:4:4 imagesthus being able to take advantage of the capabilities of the new generation consoles.
The catalog of games that support 4K resolution at 120 Hz is increasing, so it is interesting to have an AV receiver that supports this feature. It is true that we can connect the console to the television and pass the sound through ARC, but surely there are many users who prefer to connect everything to the receiver.
Of course, to enjoy this feature you will need, in addition to one of the AVRs in the Yamaha Aventage range that has received the update, a compatible gaming device and a television capable of handling 4K video signals at 120Hz.
Regarding the video, Yamaha firmware version 1.65 introduces HDR10+ support on the Yamaha Advantage RX-A8A, A6A and A4A models. HDR10+ is an “active” HDR format that adds additional scene-by-scene data to the video stream to help compatible displays deliver better HDR playback results.
Not all TVs support HDR10+, but many models from Samsung, Panasonic and Philips do. Although not as commonly used in the content world as Dolby Vision, it is. we can find it on some Amazon Prime Video content or on some 4K Blu-ray discs. So it is an interesting feature, although not essential, for an AVR.
Firmware 1.65 is now available on the Yamaha website pFor RX-A8A, RX-A6A and RX-A4A models. You can download the update and install it on the AV receiver via USB, or perform the update via network connection. Once updated, you will need to go to the “HDMI Video Format” menu in the settings of your Yamaha Avantage AV Receiver and select “8K mode”.
Via | Forbes
