not everyone wants PC gear.... ps I appreciate where this argument has gone from plug in PC still cards and motherboards and such.... but this is something most companies are doing already id suggest.
I cannot agree more with everything what you said in your entire post. Nicely portrayed lifecycle of devices. I also kept several of my devices, with upgrades, for 6-8 years. That's how it should be with good quality devices - a degree of modularity that brings longevity until a major AV shift in standards and tech. One of those shifts is happening now, with HDMI 2.1 and changing nature of home entertainment configurations, where TV is not a central 'holy grail' any more for many consumers, including myself.
The issue here is giving consumers more choice in terms of novel interfaces on new AVRs, an innovation, or evolution if you will, still waiting to happen in the mainstream. As we transition from TV-based entertainment, governed by HDMI-only boards on AVRs, to shared market with PC-based entertainment, new ports on back panel are needed to address this rapidly growing consumer segment. This segment wants to keep/purchase AVRs that are well integrated with their home gear; AVRs that offer more than HDMI ports. It's that simple. PC monitor sales has globally increased to ~140 million units last year, whereas for TVs it was ~200 million for a few years now. More than 300 million desktop and laptop PCs were sold last year too. It's a huge market and numbers alone speak miles about the shift that is happening.
I just want to stress out again, for the sake of clarity, that
gamers are decisively a minority of PC users. PC users also enjoy good quality audio-video experience, like anyone else, and often do not have a TV as dominant component in their home set-up, but have one or two monitors. That's all. Change is needed not for gamers, but for entire PC world, in which gamers would also benefit from it.
One or two in/out DisplayPort or USB4 with video tunneling are needed on some new AVR models, so that PC devices could also benefit from pass-through and have AVR as media hub, without being forced to route video connections around AVR. I am not saying that entire AVR line-up needs to adopt such ports, but at least one or two models. That's not a big ask, as companies usually have 4-6 devices in new line-ups. It's about modernisation and giving consumers more choice for connections. Who would be against more choice? Vast majority of PC-based devices have several different ports, are highly modular and users can mix and match connections. AVRs are still more conservative, with HDMI-only approach, and this needs to change in this decade.
The only AV processor I am aware of that offers something new in connectivity, in addition to HDMI-only ports, is MadVR Envy Extreme, which offers one DisplayPort; finally! It won Cedia 2020 award, but it is prohibitively expensive (~$12,000) and it's not an AVR, but it needs amplifier. Essentially, it's a PC with bespoke audio-video solutions that no other AVR currently matches. The reason I am mentioning it is because high-end market often introduces innovations trickling into the mainstream later on, as it was the case with Trinnov. They were the first one to introduce advanced object-based solutions together with Auro 3D, etc. A few years later almost every mainstream AVR had Atmos, DTS:X and, little by little, DTX:X Pro is going to become more available too. They were, and still are, pioneers and leaders settings trends and future directions. Notice that both devices have mini-ITX PC motherboards, for speed and more diverse connectivity. AVR companies already face challenges with demands for better connectivity, so some of them may introduce a small daughterboard or enrich current HDMI board with DisplayPort. We are a few years away from this solution, but it looks innevitable.
There is one thing that confuses me. I cannot understand why would people object to such connectivity innovation, if more happy consumers are definitely going to benefit it. No one will lose with better designed boards. If AVR companies want to penetrate new markets, they cannot remain blind to this simple issue. Give us more different ports, please.