Aug/090
The Truth About Monster Cable
Hey guys: I just got back from meeting with Noel Lee from Monster Cable, along with a posse of affiliated ladies and gentlemen, and their heavy equipment. I was there to talk to them about the fact that they sell—and have convinced a lot of retailers to sell—very expensive cable ($120 for 2 meters, last I checked). At the same time, there are cheaper non-Monster cables available on the Internet. My simple question Why? resulted in an organized, technical 2-hour response. I won’t give you the blow-by-blow, but I have information that might make this debate interesting, and a bit more three-dimensional.
Let’s start with my allegation about Monster, which isn’t mine alone, because Lee helpfully pointed out the gist of it in the opening of his presentation:
I say, since everything is digital, and since HDMI is a spec, the cheap cable will get the data from point A to point B as well as any other cable. Additionally I say that if there are subtle (i.e. videophile-grade) differences in cables, the average consumer isn’t going to spot them on the TV.
Am I wrong? Monster says yes, but in Lee’s elaborate answer I felt both his POV and mine were justified.
Here are Monster’s truths:
Bandwidth is King.
The requirements of 1080p and beyond is what separates from the high-end cable from the knock-offs. This is the same as Ethernet cable, in the sense that a cable certified for HDMI 1.3a “Highspeed” will guarantee greater throughput. The newest spec, 1.3a means just over 10Gbps of bandwidth. Standard 480p requires less than 1Gbps, the current 8-bit 1080p requires 4.46 Gbps, but the next gen 1080p formats will require nearly 15Gbps, more than the highest certified HDMI cable can support. (See chart if you can, if not I’ll try to get a better one up later.)
Not all cables are the same.
During Lee’s slideshow, he demonstrated via X-Ray slides that pricier cables (OK, Monster’s) have a smaller chance of wear and tear damage at the point where the cable meets the connector. t’s a concept that’s easy for any musician to understand—remember all of those shorting-out patch cords?
Even if it has an HDMI-style connector, it may not be certified HDMI.
You have to look for the HDMI logo, says Steve Venuti of HDMI Licensing. There are tons of knock-offs, especially the bundled or online cables, since you can’t look at the packaging when you buy. Really high-end cables will certify other things, such as HDMI 1.3a and even “Highspeed.”
Just because digital information is made up of ones and zeros it can still degrade, especially over distances.
I get this now, because it’s not about the digital info just getting there, like packet data. It’s video, so it’s about the digital info getting there at the right time to make sense. It’s also audio, and over distances, there’s a greater chance that audio and video will get out of sync. The following pictures show a test that they run that measures data throughput. In the interest of brevity, I’ll just say that the more those lines crowd the center, the greater the risk of having crappy video.
Differences in cable are easily spotted by untrained eyes.
A PS3 feeding 1080p signal to a Samsung 1080p LCD TV starts to jitter and throw digital noise lines across the screen if the cable can’t hack the bandwidth. We tested the two cables above on a PS3 showing a Blu-ray of Chicken Little and it was totally noticeable, there were lines and jitters, none of this videophile matter-of-opinion stuff that I had anticipated. It was totally obvious, and something that Monster says people often blame on their TV, not their cable.
Future proofing and heavy-duty cable are crucial for in-wall installation.
This probably made the most sense of all. Given the fact that in-wall cable is longer than others, you’d need something that can handle the bandwidth. (In fact, when it gets to 50 feet, you don’t have many choices in the cable world for that reason—Monster says it’s soon headed for 100 feet of HDMI.) Couple that with staples, kinks and other weirdness that might happen with in-wall installation, and the fact that when you upgrade your TV, you don’t want to have to re-do your drywall, and Monster has a good point.
Lest you think I be drinkin’ Lee’s Kool-Aid, here are my caveats to Monster’s truths:
• If you are going from any source to a 720p or 1080i TV set, you should really be in the clear using a full-on crappy ass cable.
• As long as you’re not doing installing the wiring in your wall, start with the crappy cable. If it sucks and you only paid $20 for it, go back and spend more on something certified.
• In the demo, Monster even proved that good components can offset crappy cables: that PS3 and that Samsung 1080p were able to work around much of the problems, all the more reason why, in a non-custom non-in-wall installation, you should try out the lower grade stuff first.
So listen, you’ve heard it from me: there are differences in cable, but there are also differences in technical requirements. We don’t all need $120 cables for our components. As to the question of why Monster won’t offer a lower-priced product in recognition of these differences in technical requirements, Lee told me to “stay tuned.”
Aug/090
Difference between 1080i and 1080p
While high definition has become a reality for many consumers, the technical jargon associated with this exiting new technology is causing much confusion. Just as we were beginning to understand the differences between Blu-ray and HD DVD along comes a new high-definition format, 1080p.
But why do we need another high-definition format anyway? Many of us have bought our HD Ready screens and were ready to sit back and enjoy this new viewing experience, but now we are all wondering if we bought the right kit in the first place.
Many of the more recent HD Ready flat screens feature a resolution of 1,366×768 pixels. This will display the commonly used 720p and 1080i formats, although 1080i/1080p signals will be downscaled to fit. To display 1080i/1080p signals in their entirety, you’ll need a screen with a resolution of 1,920×1,080 pixels, coined ‘Full HD’ by the marketing men.
However, just because a screen has 1,920×1,080-pixels it does not necessarily mean that it will accept 1080p input – so check before you buy.
Remember, 720p, 1080i, 1080p are formats in which ‘Sources’ of high definition content are presented for viewing on a particular output device such as your LCD/Plasma screen. The source could originate from your TV cable provider for example, or your xbox 360. To restate the point, 1080i/1080p needs a screen resolution of 1,920×1,080-pixels to display in its entirity, but you don’t have to have a screen with this resolution to display a 1080i/1080p signal – lower resolution screens downscale the signal to fit.
Taking a step back, 720p and 1080i were initially set out as the two key standards for High Definition content, with Sky HD, HD DVD and the Xbox 360 supporting these formats. Any TV that supports 720p and 1080i is classed as HD Ready. Let’s take a step back for a moment and take a quick look at the development of TV technology to see how we arrived at these standards.
In a CRT display (the TV you grew up with), a stream of electrons is generated by a gun, and is scanned across the face of the tube in scan lines, left to right and top to bottom. The face is coated in phosphors, which glow when hit by the electron stream. A method of scanning was required that would reduce the transmitted TV picture’s bandwidth and work in accordance with the electricity supply frequency (50Hz in the UK and Europe and 60Hz in the US). The result was interlaced scanning.
A method of reducing bandwidth was required because early sets were not able to draw the whole picture on screen before the top of the picture began to fade, resulting in a picture of uneven brightness and intensity. To overcome this, the screen was split in half with only half the lines (each alternate line) being refreshed each cycle. Hence, the signal is interlaced to deliver a full screen refresh every second cycle. So if the interlace signal refreshes half the lines on a screen 50 times per second this results in a full screen (or frame) refresh rate of 25 times per second. The problem with interlacing is the distortion when an image moves quickly between the odd and even lines as only one set of lines is ever being refreshed.
As TV screen technologies have progressed another system called Progressive Scan has also been developed. With progressive scanning the frames are not split into two fields of odd and even lines. Instead, all of the image scan lines are drawn in one go from top to bottom. This method is sometimes referred to as ’sequential scanning’ or ‘non-interlaced’. The fact that frames are shown as a whole makes it similar in principle to the way film is shown at the cinema.
At this point it is worth considering what we mean by resolution in relation to TVs;
Resolution: HD-Ready TVs need to be able to display pictures at the resolution set by the new standard. Resolution can be described either in terms of “lines of resolution,” or pixels. The resolution you see on your TV depends on two factors, namely the resolution of your display and the resolution of the video signal you receive. Because video images are always rectangular in shape, there is both horizontal resolution and vertical resolution to consider.
Vertical resolution: This is the number of horizontal lines that can be resolved in an image from top to bottom. The old familiar CRT TV displays 576 lines, while Digital HD television operates at a resolution of either 720 or 1080 lines. This is the most important resolution as it is most noticeable to the human eye.
Horizontal resolution: This is the number of vertical lines that can be resolved from one side of an image to the other. Horizontal resolution varies depending on the source. The number of horizontal pixels is not quite so critical as vertical resolution as it is not as obvious to the human eye during normal viewing.
An analogue TV signal in Europe, where the PAL standard is used, has 625 horizontal lines of which 576 lines are displayed and the image (or frame) is refreshed 25 times a second. This is the standard we have been used to for years.
A High Definition Digital TV signal delivers significantly more picture detail and audio quality than a standard signal, producing pictures that are significantly better, sharper and clearer;
720p: 1,280×720 pixel resolution. High-definition picture that is displayed progressively. Each line is displayed on the screen simultaneously, therefore it is smoother than an interlaced picture.
1080i: 1,920×1,080 pixel resolution. High-definition picture that is displayed interlaced. Each odd line of the picture is displayed, followed by each even line, and the resulting image is not as smooth as a progressive feed. 1080i is therefore a more detailed picture suited to documentaries and wildlife footage, but less suitable for action-oriented material such as sports and movies.
1080p: 1,920×1,080 pixel resolution. High-definition picture that is displayed progressively. Each line is displayed on the screen simultaneously, therefore it is smoother than an interlaced picture. This is the ultimate high-definition standard — the most detailed picture, displayed progressively.
There are two main formats for HDTV, namely 720p (i.e. a 720 line picture progressively scanned 50 times a second) and 1080i (1080 lines interlaced at 50 cycles per second). The picture resolution of a high definition digital TV is about 4 times greater than a typical 576 line TV picture.
not having a screen which is able to display 1080p may not be important to you. However, there are exceptions, and if you are a serious game player you will probably already know one of them, or to be precise two of them. The xbox360(with a little tweak) and the playstation 3 produce output at 1080p. Also, the new High Definition DVD format, blu-ray has also been designed for 1080p ouput. Is the difference worth the extra investment? Maybe, something you will have to judge for yourselves …
Aug/090
RealNetworks loses critical ruling in RealDVD case
A federal court has found enough evidence to decide that RealDVD, the software that enables users to copy DVDs and store digital duplicates on a hard drive, violates U.S. copyright law.
U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction that will prevent RealNetworks from selling the $30 software until a jury can decide the issue. That will undoubtedly keep RealDVD and Facet, Real’s prototype DVD player, off store shelves for an indefinite period. Facet also makes digital copies and stores them to a built in hard drive.
The decision represents a major victory for the film studios, which had accused Real of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and breach of contract in a lawsuit filed last fall. Had the decision gone against the film studios and its trade group, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), it would have been an affirmation that consumers have the right to copy their DVDs for personal use. Right now, when a DVD owner loses or breaks a disc, they conceivably must purchase another copy. RealDVD and Facet eliminate the need for discs once copies are made.
But the MPAA argued that Facet and RealDVD are pirate tools that enabled users to copy and redistribute movies and could cost the industry billions. The MPAA has maintained that under the DMCA, consumers do not have the right to copy films–ever.
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision,” MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said in a statement. “This is a victory for the creators and producers of motion pictures and television shows and for the rule of law in our digital economy. Judge Patel’s ruling affirms what we have known all along: Real took a license to build a DVD-player and instead made an illegal DVD-copier.”
“We are disappointed that a preliminary injunction has been placed on the sale of RealDVD,” Real said in a statement. The company that makes entertainment software said it would have more to say after it had reviewed Patel’s decision.
The big question for Real is whether it has the stomach to continue the fight. The legal fees have already set Real back more than $6 million.
“RealDVD makes a permanent copy of copyrighted DVD content,” Patel wrote in her decision, “and by doing so breaches its (Content Scramble System) License Agreement with the (DVD Copy Control Association, the group that oversees the protection of DVDs for the major Hollywood studios) and circumvents a technological measure that effectively controls access to or copying of the Studios’ copyrighted content on DVDs.”
In her decision, Patel made a play on words using Vegas–Real’s code name for RealDVD–to illustrate how the software could lead to the mass pirating of movies.
“Had Real’s products been manufactured differently, i.e., if what happened in Vegas really did stay in Vegas,” Patel continued, “this might have been a different case. But, it is what it is. Once the distributive nature of the copying process takes hold, like the spread of gossip after a weekend in Vegas, what’s done cannot be undone.”
Patel’s decision is unlikely to surprise anyone who followed the case. During last year’s hearings on a temporary injunction and last spring’s proceedings on the preliminary injunction, Patel appeared highly skeptical of Real’s arguments.
In her questions to both sides’ attorneys, Patel seemed concerned about the potential for people to use RealDVD and Facet, to copy rented discs without compensating the creators, a practice known as “rent, rip, and return.”
One glaring hole in Real’s argument was its assertions that RealDVD didn’t circumvent ARccOS and RipGuard because they really aren’t anticopying software; and that Real had licensed CSS, the technology designed to prevent unauthorized copying of DVDs, so it was essentially authorized to do what it wanted with it.
The MPAA crushed these arguments in proceedings. The studios showed that both ARccOS and RipGuard are anticopying technologies used by some of the major film studios as a layer of piracy protection in addition to CSS. The studios’ lawyers produced documents that revealed ARccOS and RipGuard were effective enough copy protections to stymie Real’s engineers, as well as a group of “Ukranian hackers,” from cracking them.
One other important detail: ARccOS and RipGuard are not included in the CSS license. By circumventing the technology, Real had risked violating the DMCA, which prohibits the cracking of antipiracy technologies. And that’s exactly what happened.
“Real was aware of ARccOS and RipGuard during the development of the RealDVD products,” Patel wrote in her 58-page decision. “Real software engineers identified ARccOS and RipGuard as both copy protection systems and barriers to their development of a DVD copying device from the outset of the RealDVD project.”
While the courtroom showdown was first billed as a fight over RealDVD, it soon became clear that what was really at stake for Real was Facet.
Real CEO Rob Glaser demonstrated the device in court last spring and showed how an owner could move between films–it holds more than 70–in a way similar to how someone scrolls through an iTunes playlist. I wrote that the device could have helped spur flagging DVD sales and given DVD collectors, such as myself, a way to revitalize their movie collections.
Hollywood, however, is working on its own programs to give consumers access to digital copies after buying a CD. But the studios typically want additional money for the digital copy.
So, now we wait to hear whether Real will carry on the fight. However it turns out, the company has earned kudos from anticopyright proponents for waging the campaign. The question is whether carrying the flag for the free-content crowd is enough of a payoff.
Aug/090
Logitech Harmony 900: Best remote ever?
When we reviewed Logitech’s Harmony One universal remote last year, we gave it an enthusiastic Editors’ Choice award and really lamented only the fact that there was no RF option for users who had components hidden in cabinets or in closets. Well, more than a year later, Logitech has given us what we asked for–and even a little more–in its Harmony 900.
Aug/091
New HDMI cable with an indicator & locking connectors
As the use of HDMI Cable is increasing rapidly all over the world, its demand also increased. For those who are not familiar with the HDMI Cable, DVI Cable these cable supports high definition multimedia devices like TV, console games and PC to get high digital audio and visual performance.
There are wide ranges of HDMI cables available in the market that bring clear picture quality, sound for your home theatre, and minimise the use of more cables. In the traditional design of HDMI cables, people are facing more difficulties over their connectors that they are frequently disconnected from the panel of multimedia devices due to its lighter weight. HDMI Cable offers both audio and video interface in a single thinner cable. Also, one another issue that the people are facing over the HDMI cable is an indication of signal transmission. These two things were challenging for HDMI cable manufacturers. In the rapidly growing market of HDMI cable, there was great news for the people who wanted to be a solution of these problems after the introduction of a HDMI cable with locking connectors and an indicator.
It’s an interesting to get HDMI cable including with locking connectors for the people who are frequently pulling the connectors out and indicator. A new HDMI cable has now come with the following outstanding features, Gold plated connectors to protect it from oxidization, Non-toxic substances, locking system to keep connection in place, an indicator light on the surface of connector to confirm optimal connection, injected with Nitrogen Gas to get maximum signal strength. A built in LED light indicator ensures the HDMI users that the signals are properly transmitted to one end to other end. A locking technology used in a magnetic connector ensures you to the problems of disconnection and improves connection strength by 2 to 5 times. As a prevention of HDMI cable from radio frequency interference and electromagnetic, it has been shielded with five layers. All these features are perfect for the people who want advance performance for their high definition televisions and DVDs, satellite systems and gaming devices. An ultra high speed HDMI cable of 28 gauges, six feet long and gold plated is most popular cable.
All of above unique features are designed by the Torrent and made from the eco-friendly materials to prevent it from a harmful material likes PVC, phthalate, lead, and halogen without compromising the quality, performance, and price.
Aug/090
‘budget’ HDMI cable from ‘Chord Company’
‘Pretty’ is not a word we often use when describing HDMI cables, but in the case of the new £50 SuperShield from The Chord Company, it seems rather apt.
Swathed in a rather fetching turquoise jacket, the SuperShield is HDMI 1.3b certified and comes in 1m (£49.95), 3m (£69.95) and 5m (£89.95) lengths.
It uses 26awg oxygen-free copper for high conductivity, and low-density, gas-filled polyethylene insulation to give it improved dielectric properties.
Each of the pairs of conductors is protected by a dual-foil shield, and the cable itself is additionally shielded by a foil and high-density braid. The gold-plated connectors are soldered with lead-free solder.
Aug/090
How Vizio will stand out among the sea of Web TVs
As Internet-connected TVs become more popular, set makers are looking for ways to stand out from each other. Vizio, which made its name by undercutting much larger names in electronics on LCD sets, is no longer just looking to attract buyers at Costco. It’s now trying to compete directly on the number of bells and whistles with the likes of Samsung, Panasonic, and Sony.
Announced in late June, Vizio’s Via HDTV has some things going for it that its competitors’ sets do not: integrated 802.11(n) Wi-Fi–which means no separate dongle for connecting to the Web–2GB of flash memory, and a well thought-out remote control.
The remote design is almost a no-brainer in retrospect, and makes you wonder why it hasn’t been done before. It looks like a standard model, but with this one, Vizio took into account what the user would be doing with it: interacting with Web applications like Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo Sports, and Flickr. The TV maker put a slideout QWERTY keyboard on the back of the Bluetooth remote, so users can type as they would on some smartphones, instead of keying in letters one at a time. And, it doesn’t seem to add much to the price of the Via HDTV: the 42-inch version will begin at $999 when it starts selling in stores in November.
Vizio is also looking to differentiate itself with developers who will create more applications for the TV. Yahoo developed its TV widget engine last year, which brings a range of preselected applications like Twitter, eBay, Flickr, Yahoo Sports, Showtime, and many others right onto the TV screen. Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, and Vizio each offer it. But Vizio says it wants to appeal to application developers, so it integrated Adobe Flash directly into its Via HDTV.
That way, developers like Netflix, for instance, can decide if they want to make a Flash-based app or a Yahoo widget to deliver its streaming video service to a TV, according to Matt McRae, Vizio’s vice president of advanced platforms. So far, Netflix and Rhapsody have created Flash-based versions of their services for Vizio. Rhapsody’s app is exclusive to the Via HDTV. McRae said allowing Flash-based apps on its TV would allow for better animation or anything with vector-based graphics
But while Vizio is keen on bringing Web-based activities like Facebook, Twitter, and others (there will be more next year, the company says) to the TV, one thing we definitely won’t see on a Vizio TV is a browser.
The experience of surfing the Web on a TV screen “looks awful,” said McRae. And while Vizio believes consumers want to do some Web activities on TV, they don’t want to duplicate how they’d use a computer. “It’s just a different experience.”
Aug/090
HDMI Versions explained
HDMI devices are manufactured to adhere to various versions of the specification, in which each version is given a number, such as 1.0, 1.2, or 1.3a. Each subsequent version of the specification uses the same kind of cable but increases the bandwidth and/or capabilities of what can be transmitted over the cable. A product listed as having an HDMI version does not necessarily mean that it will have all of the features that are listed for that version, since some HDMI features are optional, such as Deep Color and xvYCC (which is branded by Sony as “x.v.Color“).
Version 1.0 to 1.2
HDMI 1.0 was released December 9, 2002 and is a single-cable digital audio/video connector interface with a maximum TMDS bandwidth of 4.9 Gbit/s. It supports up to 3.96 Gbit/s of video bandwidth (1080p/60 Hz or UXGA) and 8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio. HDMI 1.1 was released on May 20, 2004 and added support for DVD Audio. HDMI 1.2 was released August 8, 2005 and added support for One Bit Audio, used on Super Audio CDs, at up to 8 channels. It also added the availability of HDMI Type A connectors for PC sources, the ability for PC sources to only support the sRGB color space while retaining the option to support the YCbCr color space, and required HDMI 1.2 and later displays to support low-voltage sources. HDMI 1.2a was released on December 14, 2005 and fully specifies Consumer Electronic Control (CEC) features, command sets, and CEC compliance tests.
Version 1.3
HDMI 1.3 was released June 22, 2006 and increased the single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbit/s). It optionally supports Deep Color, with 30-bit, 36-bit, and 48-bit xvYCC, sRGB, or YCbCr, compared to 24-bit sRGB or YCbCr in previous HDMI versions. It also optionally supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers. It incorporates automatic audio syncing (audio video sync) capability. It defined cable Categories 1 and 2, with Category 1 cable being tested up to 74.25 MHz and Category 2 being tested up to 340 MHz. It also added the new Type C miniconnector for portable devices. HDMI 1.3a was released on November 10, 2006 and had Cable and Sink modifications for Type C, source termination recommendations, and removed undershoot and maximum rise/fall time limits. It also changed CEC capacitance limits, clarified sRGB video quantization range, and CEC commands for timer control were brought back in an altered form, with audio control commands added. HDMI 1.3b was released on March 26, 2007 and added HDMI compliance testing revisions. HDMI 1.3b has no effect on HDMI features, functions, or performance, since the testing is for products based on the HDMI 1.3a specification. HDMI 1.3b1 was released on November 9, 2007 and added HDMI compliance testing revisions, which added testing requirements for the HDMI Type C miniconnector. HDMI 1.3b1 has no effect on HDMI features, functions, or performance, since the testing is for products based on the HDMI 1.3a specification. HDMI 1.3c was released on August 25, 2008 and added HDMI compliance testing revisions, which changed testing requirements for active HDMI cables. HDMI 1.3c has no effect on HDMI features, functions, or performance, since the testing is for products based on the HDMI 1.3a specification.
Version 1.4
HDMI 1.4 was released on May 28, 2009, and Silicon Image expects their first HDMI 1.4 products to sample in the second half of 2009. HDMI 1.4 increases the maximum resolution to 4K × 2K (3840×2160p at 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz and 4096×2160p at 24Hz, which is a resolution used with digital theaters); an HDMI Ethernet Channel, which allows for a 100 Mb/s Ethernet connection between the two HDMI connected devices; and introduces an Audio Return Channel, 3D Over HDMI, a new Micro HDMI Connector, expanded support for color spaces, and an Automotive Connection System.
Version Comparison
Note that a given product may choose to implement a subset of the given HDMI version. Certain features such as Deep Color and xvYCC support are optional.
| HDMI version | 1.0–1.2a | 1.3+ | 1.4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum signal bandwidth (MHz) | 165 | 340 | 340[119] |
| Maximum TMDS bandwidth (Gbit/s) | 4.95 | 10.2 | 10.2 |
| Maximum video bandwidth (Gbit/s) | 3.96 | 8.16 | 8.16 |
| Maximum audio bandwidth (Mbit/s) | 36.86 | 36.86 | 36.86 |
| Maximum color depth (bit/px) | 24 | 48[A] | 48 |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 24-bit/px[B] | 1920×1200p60 | 2560×1600p75 | 4096×2160p24 |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 30-bit/px[C] | 2560×1600p60 | 4096×2160p24 | |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 36-bit/px[D] | 1920×1200p75 | 4096×2160p24 | |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 48-bit/px[E] | 1920×1200p60 | 1920×1200p60 |
| HDMI version | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 1.2a |
1.3 | 1.3a 1.3b 1.3b1 1.3c |
1.4[120] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sRGB | ||||||
| YCbCr | ||||||
| 8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio capability | ||||||
| Blu-ray Disc video and audio at full resolution[F] | ||||||
| Consumer Electronic Control (CEC)[G] | ||||||
| DVD Audio support | ||||||
| Super Audio CD (DSD) support[H] | ||||||
| Deep Color | ||||||
| xvYCC | ||||||
| Auto lip-sync | ||||||
| Dolby TrueHD bitstream capable | ||||||
| DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream capable | ||||||
| Updated list of CEC commands | ||||||
| Ethernet Channel | ||||||
| Audio Return Channel | ||||||
| 3D Over HDMI | ||||||
| 4K x 2K Resolution Support |
- A 36-bit support is mandatory for Deep Color compatible CE devices, with 48-bit support being optional.
- B Maximum resolution is based on CVT-RB, which is a VESA standard for non-CRT-based displays. Using CVT-RB 1920×1200 would have a video bandwidth of 3.69 Gbit/s, and 2560×1600 would have a video bandwidth of 8.12 Gbit/s.
- C Using CVT-RB would have a video bandwidth of 8.12 Gbit/s.
- D Using CVT-RB would have a video bandwidth of 7.91 Gbit/s.
- E Using CVT-RB would have a video bandwidth of 7.39 Gbit/s.
- F Even for a compressed audio codec that a given HDMI version cannot transport, the source device may be able to decode the audio codec and transmit the audio as uncompressed LPCM.
- G CEC has been in the HDMI specification since version 1.0, but only began to be used in CE products with HDMI version 1.3a.
- H Playback of SACD may be possible for older HDMI versions if the source device (such as the Oppo 970) converts to LPCM.
- I Large number of additions and clarifications for CEC commands. One addition is CEC command, allowing for volume control of an AV receiver.
Aug/090
First regular European HDTV broadcasts
Although HDTV broadcasts had been demonstrated in Europe since the early 1990s, the first regular broadcasts started on January 1, 2004 when Euro1080 launched the HD1 channel with the traditional Vienna New Year’s Concert. Test transmissions had been active since the IBC exhibition in September 2003, but the New Year’s Day broadcast marked the official start of the HD1 channel, and the start of HDTV in Europe.
Euro1080, a division of the Belgian TV services company Alfacam, broadcast HDTV channels to break the pan-European stalemate of “no HD broadcasts mean no HD TVs bought means no HD broadcasts…” and kick-start HDTV interest in Europe.
The HD1 channel was initially free-to-air and mainly comprised sporting, dramatic, musical and other cultural events broadcast with a multi-lingual soundtrack on a rolling schedule of 4 or 5 hours per day.
These first European HDTV broadcasts used the 1080i format with MPEG-2 compression on a DVB-S signal from SES Astra’s 1H satellite at Europe’s main DTH Astra 19.2°E position. Euro1080 transmissions later changed to MPEG-4/AVC compression on a DVB-S2 signal in line with subsequent broadcast channels in Europe.