[opendtv] HDMI attracts three challengers
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 11:24:08 -0400
Very timely article. So, should someone be lobbying NOT to have HDMI 1.4
incorporated in TVs and other boxes, because I prefer to use HDMI 1.2,
1.3, DVI, or component analog ionterfaces? All of which have lower or no
royalty fees at all?
Maybe I should become indignant about HDMI 1.4.
The reality is that we'll be seeing more and more alternatives built
into every box, we'll be paying the separate royalties, and we can
either whine about it or have fun with the added possibilities.
Bert
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HDMI attracts three challengers
Players aim to enable new class of home nets
Rick Merritt
(06/05/2009 8:00 PM EDT)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217702149
SAN JOSE, Calif. - At least three companies are fielding new wired
alternatives to the high definition multimedia interface. The
competitors hope to leapfrog the HDMI 1.4 specification by providing
more bandwidth, reach or networking capabilities.
The goal for all the players is to create a new class of high definition
home networks. They will let users play any content on a digital TV and
use the TV and a remote to control any connected device. The efforts
come at a time of increasing fragmentation in home networks.
The HDMI wannabes require new cables or connectors, some of them
proprietary. They also require getting chips designed into
next-generations TVs, Blu-Ray drives, PCs and other devices or using
external connection boxes.
The newcomers compete with a relative giant. HDMI will appear in nearly
400 million systems this year, including nearly every new digital TV,
and more than a dozen companies make chips supporting HDMI.
HDMI Licensing LLC is about to make its version 1.4 specification
available to adopters. It includes support for 100 Mbit/second Ethernet,
an audio return channel and support for higher resolution displays.
Chips based on the new spec are expected to be released soon by
companies including Silicon Image, parent of the HDMI licensing firm.
The 1.4 spec also builds in some basic capabilities to handle future
stereo 3-D content, seen by some as the next big thing after HDTV. The
new spec details how to pack and unpack stereo video content over the
HDMI lines without taking a position on what should be the 3DTV
broadcast or rendering formats, issues still being hotly debated.
A handful of former Silicon Image executives created Synerchip Inc. and
launched a spec called Diiva in late April to compete with HDMI 1.4. The
startup leveraged connections with China's TV makers to gain backing
from them and the China's government, all eager to create their own
standard and eliminate HDMI royalties. Backers include Changhong, Haier,
Konka, Panda, and TCL in China as well as other top TV makers in Asia
such as LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sharp.
The Diiva spec is a serdes-based design that dedicates 13.5 Gbits/s
bandwidth to video and has another 2 Gbits/s available for Ethernet, USB
and audio functions. It supports the two leading content protection
techniques, HDCP and DTCP-IP.
One downside to the approach is Synerchip requires a Category 6 cable to
reach 25 meters and unique connectors to maintain signal integrity.
Steve Yun, vice president of product marketing at Synerchip, gave a demo
of the technology at the Connections conference here.
Another competitor, Israeli startup Valens Semiconductor, is taking a
slightly different tack. Its so-called HDBase-T uses a powerful DSP to
handle distances of up to 100 meters over Category 5e cables with
standard Ethernet connectors. Unlike some players, its technique can
also carry up to 50W of power to drive a Blu-Ray player or monitor.
A third competitor, Icron (Burnaby, British Columbia) has existing
hardware technology to drive USB well beyond its five meter limit. It is
adding to that hardware a new chip in design to handle uncompressed
video as well.
It can drive 100 meters over Cat5 or other media including powerline and
802.11n. However it is a point-to-point link and does not support
Ethernet.
Icron plans to develop an external connection box it will license to
brand name companies to sell at estimated prices of $399 or less per
pair. Monster Cable is believed to be an early adopter. The end goal is
to bring PC content-including Internet video-to a TV with full PC
control via a TV remote.
All three companies demoed their products using FPGA implementations,
but they expect to have custom chips available to sample before the end
of the year. HDMI 1.4 will also require new chips and cables, expected
to ship at about the same time.
Interestingly Valens showed its demo using the USB extension technology
of Icron. The two companies are in talks about licensing.
Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at Parks Associates, host of the
Connections event, said he believes the requirement for new wiring will
mean all the options are limited to use as custom installations,
typically in new homes. "I am struggling to figure out their fit with a
mass market," said Scherf.
"These technologies do start at the professional level, but it's such an
easy technology to use that people won't hesitate linking their Blu-Ray
player to a digital TV over HDMI" for applications like whole-home video
recording, said Rob Tobias, director of market development for Silicon
Image.
The networking features will be key as gear proliferates around the
digital home, added Risling of Valens. "You don't necessarily want to
put all your source devices next to the TV," he said.
The moves to add networking to HDMI or similar connections come at a
time of still-great diversity in home networks.
Verizon is aggressively deploying with its Fios IPTV service home net
technology defined by the Multimedia over Coax Alliance. The company is
the single largest MoCA user and "we expect to remain very committed to
MoCA," said Joseph Ambeault, director of product development for Verizon
video services.
Some cable companies are also backing MoCA. AT&T, however, has said it
will migrate to the G.hn standard now in development for home networking
over coax, powerline or phone lines.
Some chip makers hope to field G.hn devices early next year targeting
data rates as high as a Gbit/s over coax. MoCA will release its version
2.0 spec this year and could have chips before the G.hn crowd, MoCA
proponents say.
Today service providers use coax media for home networks and only deploy
powerline or Wi-Fi in homes without coax, said Jaime Fink, vice
president of technology and strategy at 2Wire (San Jose), a residential
gateway maker. "That could flip-flop and wireless could become
mainstream because [wireless is getting much better and] coax and
powerline is troublesome in older homes," he said.
With that in mind, Qualcomm jumped into the Wi-Fi market this week with
three new chips, including a 4x4 MIMO device aimed at whole-home video
networks. It was designed by the Airgo team Qualcomm acquired in late
2006.
The range of wireless options continues to expand. They include chips
from Amimon, Celeno and Quantenna as well as a new entrant Aceurity Inc.
(Fremont, Calif.) that said it is ready to demonstrate a new media
access controller geared to handle video over 802.11n.
Meanwhile, startup SiBeam is promoting its 60 GHz technology for
multi-Gbit in-room wireless video. Wi-Fi backers also are driving to 60
GHz for technology beyond .11n that can handle multiple Gbits/s.
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