It is not very often that competitors come together to agree on anything, so when they do it should be considered quite an event. Some interesting developments are happening in the CE industry. The biggest names in Consumer Electronics,including Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial(the Panasonic Brand) Phillips,Sony,Thomson,(Rca) Toshiba, Silicon Image have established Hi Definition Multimedia Interface as the defacto standard for High definition and the consumer electronics market. HDMI combines uncompressed HiDef video and multi-channel audio in single digital interface, providing crystal clear digital quality over a single cable. HDMI can be thought of of a connection or interface between digital audio video sources such as DVD players,A/ V receivers,set-top boxes and compatible Digital audio/ video monitors such as digital television. The analogy is like that of similiar interface of which we should be familiar such as the RS232C connections which are common between computers and modems, computers and printers, and between two computers. or the RJ45 which connects the computer to the telephone line. HDMI has found support from the major motion picture producers that include Fox,Universal,Warner Bros. and Disney. The system operators DirectTV and EchoStar(Dish Network) CableLabs and Samsung are also throwing support behind HDMI. Digital Content Protection LLC (a subsidiary of Intel ) is providing High bandwidth Digital Content Protection or HDCP for HDMI, which means that your Hi Def signal can be protected when transmitted over High bandwidth such as provided by the ISP's What this eventually may mean is that cinemas as we know may be on the way to becoming less necessary as you can now enjoy the Hi-Defintion experience from the comfort of your home,as HDMI opens the floodgate of digital content from major motion picture producers. The scenario of downloading the latest movies,direct from the studios, and viewing them on your own Hi-Def monitors, in your own home is not far-fetched. Because HDMI is not compressed, we can now receive deeper color, higher speeds, crystal clear audio and video signal via a single cable. HDMI supports the the existing standard, enhanced or HI-def video formats (720p, 1080i, and 1080p) and is also backward compatible meaning support is also available for Digital Visual Interface (DVI) which is used on computers and graphics cards. This allows a DVI source to drive a monitor with an HDMI cable and vice versa. With the right equipment, you are able to view movies in Hi Defintion on your PC, provided the cables and converter are present. Hdmi Licensing LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image Inc,is responsible for licensing the Specification, educating and promoting the benefits of HDMI to consumers and retailers. There are some exciting new capabilities under development for HDMI as efforts are geared to supporting new compressed digital audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and HTS-HD Higher speeds and deeper colors as support for 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit color depths promises to render over one billion colors in unprecedented detail. Smaller devices, such as HD camcorders and still cameras that demand seamless HDTV connectivity can also benefit as only one connection is now required. HDMI has made significant inroads into The Personal Computer world as PC related companies are also founders and early Adopters HDMI can be found in products from ATI, Hitachi, Intel, Nvidia, Sony and Toshiba. Most major HDTV manufacturers have incorpaorated HDMI inputs into the latest products and also media PCs, DVD players, DVD recorders, cable and satellite A/V receivers. Expect to see HDMI in game consoles and camcorders in 2006. It has been noted , by Hdmi Licensing LLC that 300 milliuon makers of consumer electronics and PC products worldwide have adopted HDMI as more than 17 million devices featuring HDMI were shipped in 2005 and 59 million more are expected in 2006. China accounts for 30 % of the world's household, and 45 mainland Chinese Companies have already adopted HDMI and the number is growing rapidly. China's first HDMI testing facilty was announced in Shenzen,whcih accelerates HDMI in the Chinese market. The Cable and Satellite Broadcast Association of Asia (CASBAAA) has recommended that HDMI be included in every receiver that processes uncompressed Hi-Def signals. In Europe, the European Information and Communications Technology Industry Association (EICTA) mandates that all HDTV's with the HD ready logo must include HDMI inputs. With all present and future developments, together with the emerging onslaught of High Definition broadcast signals it should be apparent that HDMI is soon to be an essential . that will be definitely need to fully enjoy the digital home theatre experience. |
