TV with a HDMI connector

If your looking to buy a HD Ready television it's more than likely you've heard of 'HDMI'. Just like SCART is a standard analog connector interface for televisions, likewise HDMI is a standard connector interface for digital transmissions. HDMI is short for 'High-Definition Multimedia Interface', and has recently taken over DVI as the most popular interface incorporated into digital equipment.

HDMI input

The structure of a HDMI is made up of 19 pins. Pins one to twelve are occupied with TMDS data and clock processes, pins thirteen and onwards deal with CEC, SCL, SDA, DDC, CEC, V Power and Hot Plug detection. Whilst the average joe has no concern with this data, it's worth considering that this pin structure enables HDMI to support any TV video format in one cable. The capabilities of HDMI are always on the move, with a concerted effort by the 'powers that be' to continually improve the amount of data which a HDMI cable and input can transmit and receive. For example, version 1.0 of HDMI could transmit at 60Hz, but version 1.3 of HDMI could transmit at 340Hz. This enabled HDMI to support a resolution of up to 2560 x 1600, compared to the benchmark of 1920 x 1200 to begin with.

HDMI Versions

Below is a listing of the versions of HDMI which have been released,

1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.3a
1.3b

One of the most useful benefits of HDMI is it's compatibility with DVI. HDMI is superior to DVI because it supports both video and audio digital signals, whereas DVI can only support video. What this means is that a DVI source such as a 'video card' in a home computer can drive a HDMI television or monitor.

HDMI was developed by,

Hitachi
Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic)
Philips
Sony
Thomson
Toshiba
Silicon Image