This is a basic question about HDMI that I should probably know the answer to, but this stuff can be hard to keep straight.

The big advantage of HDMI 1.2 over earlier versions is that it carries the SACD ("One-bit Audio") signal, right?

I realize now that I'm not sure whether that means:

a) that 1.2 is necessary to carry an undecoded SACD signal to your receiver/preamp (so that if your player decodes the signal you could use an earlier version of HDMI, just as you can with Dolby TruHD if your HD DVD player decodes the signal).

b) that 1.2 is necessary to carry even the decoded multichannel signal to your receiver/preamp (so that if you don't have HDMI 1.2 [or Denon's D-link], you'll need to use the analog connects).

c) that 1.2 is necessary to carry the undecoded signal to your receiver/preamp, because players never do the decoding--and that's why you need the analog connects if you don't have 1.2 or D-link.

This is a basic question, but hopefully I'm not the only one who could use the clarification. A single-letter answer (a, b, c) will suffice, but further elaborations (e.g. about how this works, how it's all likely to change, etc.) are welcome. Thanks!