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About HDMI
What is HDMI?
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is the first and only industry-supported,
uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface. HDMI provides an interface
between any audio/video source, such as a set-top box, DVD player, or A/V
receiver and an audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television
(DTV), over a single cable.
HDMI
supports standard, enhanced, or high-definition video, plus multi-channel
digital audio on a single cable. It transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and
supports 8-channel digital audio, with bandwidth to spare to accommodate
future enhancements and requirements.
Who supports HDMI?
The HDMI Founders include leading consumer electronics manufacturers Hitachi
, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Philips, Sony, Thomson (RCA),
Toshiba, and Silicon Image. Digital Content Protection, LLC (a subsidiary
of Intel) is providing High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) for
HDMI. In addition, HDMI has the support of major motion picture producers
Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and Disney, and system operators DirecTV, EchoStar
(Dish Network) as well as CableLabs.
What companies are making HDMI-enabled products?
Please refer to the list of HDMI Adopters and Test Equipment Makers.
How do consumers benefit from HDMI?
The new HDMI digital interconnect provides:
- Superior, uncompressed digital video and audio quality
- A simple, single cable and user-friendly connector that replaces the maze of cabling behind the entertainment center
- Integrated remote control
- A
popular interface enabling the transmission of high-definition content. HDMI
opens the floodgate of digital content from major motion picture producers
What is the life expectancy of HDMI?
HDTV uses less than 1/2 of HDMI's available 5 Gbps bandwidth. With capacity
to spare, HDMI can incorporate new technology advancements and capabilities
long into the foreseeable future.
What are the advantages of HDMI over existing analog interfaces such as composite, S-Video and component video?
Quality: HDMI transfers uncompressed digital audio and video for the highest, crispest image quality.
All-Digital:
HDMI ensures an all-digital rendering of video without the losses associated
with analog interfaces and their unnecessary digital-to-analog conversions.
Low-cost:
HDMI provides the quality and functionality of a digital interface while
also supporting uncompressed video formats in a simple, cost-effective manner.
Audio: HDMI supports multiple audio formats, from standard stereo to multi-channel surround-sound.
Ease-of-use:
HDMI combines video and multi-channel audio into a single cable, eliminating
the cost, complexity, and confusion of multiple cables currently used in
A/V systems.
Intelligence: HDMI supports two-way communication between the video source (such as a DVD player) and the DTV, enabling new functionality.
Is HDMI backward-compatible with DVI (Digital Visual Interface)?
Yes, HDMI is fully backward-compatible with DVI using the CEA-861 profile
for DTVs. HDMI DTVs will display video received from existing DVI-equipped
products, and DVI-equipped TVs will display video from HDMI sources.
Will current HD TVs and set-top boxes using DVI-HDTV be compatible with HDMI devices?
Yes. Currently there are TVs with DVI-HDTV inputs available from a wide
variety of manufacturers. These devices will be compatible with future HDMI-equipped
products.
What types of video does HDMI support?
HDMI
has the capacity to support existing high-definition video formats (720p,
1080i, and even 1080p). It also has the flexibility to support enhanced definition
formats such as 480p, as well as standard definition formats such as NTSC
or PAL.
Does HDMI support Dolby 5.1 audio and high-resolution audio formats?
Yes. From the start, HDMI was defined to carry 8-channels, of 192kHz, 24-bit
uncompressed audio, which exceeds all current consumer media formats. In
addition, HDMI can carry any flavor of compressed audio format such as Dolby
or DTS. (Such compressed formats are the only multi-channel or high-resolution
audio formats that can be carried across the older S/PDIF or AES/EBU interfaces.)
The fact that the vast majority of HDMI products shipped are two-channel
TVs that don’t support more than two-channel audio doesn’t make this any
less the case. Most existing HDMI sources can output any compressed stream,
and the newer sources can output uncompressed 6-channel, 96kHz audio from
a DVD-Audio disk. There are several A/V receivers on the market that can
accept and process the 6- or 8-channel audio from HDMI and more are expected
to be available shortly.
Will HDMI support SACD?
The HDMI Founders designed the HDMI specification to be dynamic. HDMI has
plenty of extra bandwidth to accommodate future audio and video requirements,
and the Founders are committed to evaluating and updating the specification
to help accommodate new audio and video formats that may be introduced in
the foreseeable future. As an example, since the introduction of the initial
HDMI 1.0 specification, the HDMI 1.1 specification supporting DVD-Audio has
already been introduced. The HDMI Founders do not comment on future revisions
of the spec, however there is no technical reason why HDMI could not support
SACD.
How can a consumer identify which HDMI products support DVD Audio?
In
most cases, any HDMI-equipped DVD player capable of supporting DVD-Audio
will be capable of sending the DVD-Audio over the HDMI link. Consumers interested
in confirming whether a particular consumer electronics product supports
DVD-Audio over HDMI are urged to review users’ manuals and product reviews
and check with manufacturers directly.
Does HDMI accommodate long cable lengths?
Yes. HDMI technology has been designed to use standard copper cable
construction at long lengths. In order to allow cable manufacturers to improve
their products through the use of new technologies, HDMI specifies the required
performance of a cable but does not specify a maximum cable length. Cable
manufacturers are expected to sell reasonably priced copper cables at lengths
of up to 15 meters. As semiconductor technology improves, even longer stretches
can be reached with fiber optic cables, and with active cable technologies
such as amplifiers or repeaters.
Does HDMI provide a secure interface?
While no security system is one hundred percent secure, HDMI, when used
in combination with HDCP, provides an audio/video interface that meets the
security requirements of content providers and systems operators.
What is HDCP?
HDCP is a content protection
technology available for use in connection with HDMI that was developed by
Intel Corporation (with input from Silicon Image). HDCP is not licensed
by HDMI Licensing, LLC, but by Digital Content Protection, LLC (a subsidiary
of Intel). The rates for HDCP are an annual fee of fifteen thousand dollars
(US$15,000) plus a per unit fee of: US$0.005 per "device key" purchased (to
enable encryption/decryption). Licensing information is available at www.digital-cp.com
Becoming An Adopter
What's the difference between the Adopter Agreement and the Test Equipment Maker Agreement, and which one should I sign?
The Adopter Agreement is offered for those parties that desire to make and
sell HDMI-based products such as DVD players, Set-top boxes, TVs, semiconductors,
cables and connectors, etc. The Test Equipment Maker Agreement is offered
for those parties that desire to make and sell test equipment such as oscilloscopes,
wave form generators and other measurement tools designed to assist manufacturers
in using the Compliance Test Specification to test their HDMI products for
compliance with the HDMI Specification.
What are the fees for HDMI?
Annual Fee
HDMI Adopters must pay an annual fee of fifteen thousand dollars (US$15,000).
The annual fee is due upon the execution of the Adopter Agreement, and must
be paid on the anniversary of this date each year thereafter. Note that
HDMI does provide an alternative annual fee payment for small-volume manufacturers
(10,000 units or less). Please see Attachment B of the Adopter Agreement
for details.
Royalty
HDMI is available for a reasonable royalty rate as follows:
- For each end-user Licensed Product, fifteen cents (US$0.15) per unit sold.
- If
the Adopter reasonably uses the HDMI logo on the product and promotional
materials, then the rate drops to five cents (US$0.05) per unit sold.
- If
the Adopter implements HDCP content protection as set forth in the HDMI Specification,
then the royalty rate is further reduced by one cent (US $.01) per unit sold,
for a lowest rate of four cents (.04) per unit. Adopters must license HDCP
separately from Digital Content Protection, LLC, an Intel subsidiary. Please
see www.digital-cp.com for details.
Products Subject to Royalty
The HDMI royalty is only payable on Licensed Products that will be sold
on a stand-alone basis (i.e. that are not incorporated into another Licensed
Product that is subject to an HDMI royalty). For example, if a cable or
IC is sold to an Adopter who then includes it in a television subject to
a royalty, then the cable or IC maker would not pay a royalty, and the Adopter
television manufacturer would pay the royalty on the final product. If the
cable is sold directly to consumers, then it would be subject to a royalty.
Please see Attachment B of the Adopter Agreement for royalty and annual fee details.
HDMI Specification
When was the HDMI specification released?
The HDMI 1.0 specification was released in December 2002.
The HDMI 1.1 specification was released in May 2004.
How can I get the HDMI 1.1 Specification?
Please visit the Manufacturer area of this site to download the HDMI Specification
Can I review the HDMI Specification before deciding to pay for a license?
Please visit the Manufacturer area of this site to download the HDMI Specification
How do I obtain a license to the HDMI Specification?
HDMI is licensed under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The Adopter
Agreement or Test Equipment Maker Agreement detailing the licensing terms
is available in Becoming An Adopter in the Manufacturer area of this site.
Please follow the instructions for downloading and submitting the appropriate
agreement along with your payment in order to obtain a license to the Specification.
Testing and Compliance Test Specification
What Testing Is Required?
Prior
to mass producing or distributing any Licensed Product or component that
claims compliance with the HDMI Specification (or allowing someone else to
do such activities), each Adopter must test a representative sample for HDMI
compliance. First, the Adopter must self test as specified in the then-current
HDMI Compliance Test Specification. The HDMI Compliance Test Specification
provides a suite of testing procedures, and establishes certain minimum requirements
specifying how each HDMI Adopter should test Licensed Products for conformance
to the HDMI Specification. Such compliance testing is limited to evaluation
of a product's compliance with the HDMI Specification and is not designed
to test the overall performance of any Licensed Product.
Second, each Adopter must submit the first product of each Licensed
Product type (i.e. source, sink, repeater, or cable) to an HDMI Authorized
Testing Center (ATC) for testing. Once an Adopter product of each type has
passed testing, it is not required to submit to the ATC subsequent products
of that type. For example, once an Adopter's television has passed ATC testing,
it is not required to submit another television or other display for ATC
testing. However, to help ensure HDMI interoperability, we encourage Adopters
to use the ATCs.
What is the Compliance Test Specification?
The Compliance Test Specification (CTS) was developed by the HDMI Founders
to assist manufacturers in ensuring the compliance of their products with
the HDMI Specification. It consists of numerous tests designed to check for
compatibility of various HDMI-related aspects of a product, including audio,
video, EDID, electrical signaling, protocols, etc. The HDMI Compliance Test
Specification represents the minimum compliance testing required for HDMI
products, and it is up to each manufacturer to fully test product functionality
and interoperability.
How can I get the Compliance Test Specification?
The 1.1 version of the Compliance Test Specification is available to all
parties that have licensed the HDMI 1.1 Specification.
What is an HDMI Authorized Testing Center and how do I contact one?
The HDMI Founders have established Authorized Testing Centers (ATC) where
licensed manufacturers can submit their products for compliance testing.
Currently, ATCs are located at Matsushita Electric Industrial in Osaka, Japan,
Philips Semiconductors in France, and Silicon Image in Sunnyvale, CA, USA.
The ATC's can be contacted as follows
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd
Format Verification Laboratory
1-15, Matsuo-cho. Kadoma city, Osaka,
571-8504, Japan
Fax: +81-6-6909-5027
Attn: Asaichi Akagi
Email: fvl-info@ml.jp.panasonic.com
Philips Semiconductors
HDMI ATC Manager
2, rue de la Girafe
B.P. 5120
14079 Caen Cedex 5
France
Email: hdmi-atc@philips.com
Silicon Image, Inc.
HDMI Authorized Testing Center
Location: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Attn: ATC Director
Email: hdmi-atc@siliconimage.com |
