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Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:35 pm
by Digital Puppy
Next-Generation HDMI Capabilities Will Add Networking, Higher Speeds and Address Emerging Auto Industry
LAS VEGAS, January 7, 2009 - HDMI Licensing, LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface™ (HDMI™) specification, today announced an overview of the capabilities and features of the next version of the HDMI specification which will be launched in the first half of 2009.
"HDMI has reached an installed base of more than 600 million devices and now touches almost every consumer device that plays HD content. We want to give the industry a preview of where the HDMI specification is headed as we continue to innovate and meet the needs of this dynamic marketplace," said Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC.
Our goal is to address 5 key industry trends in the coming spec:
* - Networking - Consolidation of HD video, HD audio and now high speed data with the addition of Ethernet in the HDMI cable.
* Audio Return Channel - Elimination of a S/PDIF cable by allowing a TV to send audio streams upstream to an A/V receiver for processing and playback over the HDMI cable
* Performance - 4kx2k and 3D are high performance features to be met by increasing the upper limit of the HDMI link
* HD in your Car - New connector specification for the auto industry as worlds' largest auto makers move to digital HD video and audio for 21st century cars with HDMI
* Smaller connector - New smaller 19-pin connector
As a testament to the success and proliferation of the HDMI standard over the past six years, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has presented the HDMI founders with the Technology & Engineering Excellence Emmy® Award on January 7, 2009, for their contribution to the development and implementation of the HDMI technology standard.
The HDMI standard continues to grow in the marketplace with now over 850 adopters worldwide. The growing adoption of the HDMI specification by both CE and PC manufacturers further strengthens its position as the worldwide standard for high-definition digital connectivity. According to market research firm In-Stat, over 394 million HDMI-enabled devices are expected to ship in 2009, and by the end of 2009 100% of digital televisions will have at least one HDMI input. For more information on the HDMI standard please visit
http://www.hdmi.org.
About HDMI Licensing, LLC
HDMI Licensing, LLC is the agent responsible for licensing the HDMI Specification, promoting the HDMI standard and providing education on the benefits of HDMI to retailers and consumers. The HDMI specification was developed by Hitachi, Panasonic Corporation, Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba as the digital interface standard for the consumer electronics and personal computer markets. The HDMI specification combines uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel audio in a single digital interface to provide crystal-clear digital quality over a single cable. HDMI Licensing, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc. For more information about the HDMI specification, please visit
www.hdmi.org.
HDMI is a trademark or registered trademark of HDMI Licensing, LLC in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the Unites States and/or other countries.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:06 pm
by gwolfman
So what revision does this make HDMI?
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:37 pm
by Skippman
I don't know if it would truely make it 2.0. I think this would be HDMI ver 1.4. Personally I keep waiting for them to get thier heads out of thier rears and make HDMI wireless enabled.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:42 pm
by Digital Puppy
Yeah, I haven't seen a numerical designation yet, but i would imagine it would be 1.4 . It will be interesting to see how manufacturers start to include more networking capabilities in their various devices as well.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:53 pm
by smack323
Digital Puppy wrote:Smaller connector - New smaller 19-pin connector.
This is what I dont like. So now you are going to need an adaptor to get "new" HDMI to work with previous versions.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:00 pm
by Digital Puppy
smack323 wrote:Digital Puppy wrote:Smaller connector - New smaller 19-pin connector.
This is what I dont like. So now you are going to need an adaptor to get "new" HDMI to work with previous versions.
Or, depending on the device, they might include both connectors. Remember when DVI hit the scene? Component connections? Devices that used them could connect in more than one way. Even now, you HDTV can connect in at least 3 ways (HDMI, Component, Composite, and many can still do DVI, S-video, 1394, and coax)
I'm skeptical of when we will see this technology anyway. How long did it take to go from version 1.1 to 1.3? A year? two? I bet we don't see this for another 2 years at least.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:05 pm
by Skippman
HDMI has been the baine of home theater for quite sometime. HDMI ver 1.3 in particular has irked many people on AVS Forum due to minimal improvements with each revision and no firmware upgradability.
For instance you have people who bought $3000 HDMI 1.1 switching recievers who now cannot take advantage of the newer HDMI 1.3B spec features like DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD via bitstream. I know I bought a new reciever when I made the leap to BluRay costing me over $1600 for something that should have been a firmware upgrade (I also needed more HDMI inputs). Changing the connector is going to honk off many AV enthusiasts, myself included.
To be honest, the next version of HDMI should have been the long talked about WiFi version, completely eliminating the need for cables. Wireless N can handle the throughput and it would make adding new components like a projector a million times easier.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:12 pm
by Digital Puppy
I def agree with you about wireless-N technology (have they finally decided on a industry standard protocol for that yet??) making more a splash in the A/V Home Theater market. The only place I see it being used outside of a few media servers is in Denon's new line of receives has built-in WiFi, but I don't even think that they are "N".
I'm not sure I would want wireless to be my primary connection for either video or audio, but it sure would be nice to have to move or stream media content. I can definitely see using it for 2nd and 3rd room extensions.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:39 pm
by Skippman
When you start talking about high end home theater setups ($20,000+) with good projecters getting the connection there is half the battle. For instance in my theater I've been debating on going to a JVC projector for some time but haven't because I cannot figure out how to get the video signal to it without cutting my ceiling appart as it's drywalled. I'd end up having to use a 40+ft HDMI cable w/ a repeater if I could even get the wire there. That would cost a couple hundred just for that. If it were wireless, the problem would be over.
As for the N standard, I don't believe it IS a standard yet. I'm sure Martian will correct me.
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:21 pm
by martini161
even if there was a wireless hdmi, it would be very expensive and i wouldnt want it. if i remember correctly HDMI has about half a gigabyte a second in terms of bandwidth. wireless n cant do that. plus, think off all the latency
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:06 pm
by smack323
well if all the sound and video were being transmitted at the same time why would the latency even matter? I am a bit of a AV noob so dont blast me
Re: Next-Generation HDMI Announced
Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:28 pm
by Skippman
In the past there's been problems with component video and the audio out on certain applications getting out of sync. Ever played Guitar Hero? Ever have to do the calibration? What that does is delay the audio just enough to keep sync with the video.
HDMI has by and large eliminated the problems thanks to handshaking. Which, ironically enough, is one of it's biggest problems. If something gets out of sync in the handshake chain everything kinda shuts down.
In this months issue of CEPro they tall about Monster, Belkin, and Gefin coming out with their own proprietary wireless HDMI connectors. Boy is the price high though as each are asking at least $1K for them. Depending on the application it may be worth the cost (for an enthusiast like myself) but it's still pretty steep.