HDMI Specification Background

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is an industry supported, all-digital, cable connection for carrying both audio and video digital signals in a single cable – simplifying cabling for consumers.

Importantly for consumers, used to industry conflict over audio/visual standards, HDMI has the support of over 400 companies with more than 60 million devices featuring HDMI expected to ship in 2006 (conservative estimate by In-Stat).

The HDMI specification was initially released as HDMI 1.0 in 2002 and has been actively supported to the extent that Version 1.3 was released in June of 2006. Products implementing new versions of the HDMI specification will continue to be fully backward compatible with earlier HDMI products.

Brief summary of the advantages of HDMI over existing analog interfaces such as composite, S-Video and component video

• Quality: HDMI transfers uncompressed digital audio avoiding any negative impact from compression algorithms on signal quality.
• All-Digital: HDMI ensures an all-digital rendering of video without the losses associated with analog interfaces and their digital-to-analog conversions.
• Audio: HDMI supports multiple audio formats, from standard stereo to multi-channel surround-sound.
• Ease-of-use: A single HDMI cable for video and multi-channel audio reduces costs and “multiple cable confusion” associated with the requirement for multiple cables with current audio/visual systems.
• Two Way Communication: HDMI supports two-way communication between the video source and the playback device enabling new functionalities including automatic configuration and one-touch play.

HDMI Version 1.3 Changes

Deeper Color

Emerging advances in video display technologies such as the use of solid state light sources (LED and lasers) promise to improve the color gamut supported by displays (Arasor, Novalux) ) to closer that observable by the human eye. HDMI 1.3 is therefore a forward looking standard update which will enable the next generation of High Definition devices such as televisions, personal computers and DVD players to transmit and display a broader color space (30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit (RGB or YCbCr)) color depths for more natural looking color images. To support these improvements HDMI 1.3 bandwidth has increased from 165MHz to 340 MHz. The increased bit rates also allow for improved contrast.

Improved Audio

Audio technologies have also been advancing and HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new lossless digital surround audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

New Mini Connector

Small audio/visual devices are proliferating and HDMI 1.3 includes an optional smaller connector for these devices.

Auto Synchronization Support

HDMI 1.3 incorporates an automatic audio/video synching capability that allows devices to automatically and accurately synchronize.

Resources

For further detailed information on the HDMI standard visit HDMI Licensing, LLC is the licensing agent responsible for administering the licensing of the HDMI Specification, promoting the HDMI standard and providing education on the benefits of HDMI to retailers and consumers.

Video – Introduction to HDMI