14 DAY TRIAL // Looks like Denon is preparing to launch its first ever HDMI 1.3 receiver. While that won't happen for another 3 months or so, Denon has already announced its new line of A/V receivers that will support HDMI 1.3 but because of the manufacturing process, chances are we won't see them until the summer of 2007. In addition to 1080p pass-through, most of the models will come with Dolby Digital Plus decoding, whereas the high-end models will also come with onboard Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. So, if you plan to buy a HDMI 1.3 ready receiver, you'll have to wait a little.
At first I thought that HDMI 1.3 receivers won't come out until the end of 2007, but it seems that Denon is hurrying to be the first one that shows off such devices. Moreover, all future Denons will support 36-bit color-depth and 1080p pass-through. That may sound a little too good to be true but Denon seems pretty happy with the solutions they've come up with. Rumors suggest that Maranz is also on its way to produce HDMI 1.3 ready receivers, so I can understand the need for speed in this case.
Several voices close to Denon suggested that some models will offer video processing from Silicon Optix (HQV) while others will be equipped with Faroudja or Analog Devices video processors. So it's video and audio processing at the highest level. The only problem here comes when you realize that you also have to buy a decent HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player and a 1080p capable LCD or plasma. But if you've got the money for the Denons, you'll fix that problem somehow.