An HDMI cable is nothing more than a
conduit between two pieces of High
Definition Hardware, albeit an LCD or
Plasma TV and/or a High-Def cable or
satellite box and/or a High-Def DVD
player. HDMI cables have evolved through
a series of iterations resulting in the latest
1.3 a/b specification.
HDMI 1.3 a/b, Quick Training
What is HDMI 1.3 a/b?
HDMI 1.3 a/b is an evolving standard that changes
to meet the needs of the market. HDMI 1.3 a/b
has capacity to spare, and can incorporate new
technology advancements and capabilities long into
the foreseeable future.
What new features do we get from HDMI
1.3 a/b?
Higher Speed 340MHz, double the Bandwidth,
Deep Color
™
, HD “Lossless” Audio
™
,
CEC
(Consumer Electronic Control) and Lip Sync
correction.
What products or applications take advantage
of HDMI 1.3 a/b capabilities?
Blu-ray, PS3, HDTV, Hi-Def camcorder and some new
PC applications.
Why is HDMI 1.3 a/b so popular?
HDMI 1.3 a/b, High-Definition Multimedia Interface
is the first and only A/V (or audio/video) industry
supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video
interface.
HDMI 1.3a, Some clarity
What specifically does HDMI 1.3 a/b add to
the 1.2 spec in terms of AV format support?
HDMI 1.3 a/b can support new formats and
capabilities in both audio and video. It increases
its single-link bandwidth from 165MHz (4.95
gigabits per second) to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps).
With this increased bandwidth capability,
HDMI 1.3 a/b supports the demands of future
high definition display devices, such as higher
resolutions, high frame rates and Deep Color
™
.
What about new audio formats?
In terms of audio, HDMI 1.3 a/b adds additional
support for new, Lossless Audio
™
compressed digital
audio formats Dolby
®
TrueHD and DTS-HD Master
Audio
™
which provide up to 8 channels of lossless
surround sound. This gives users the highest quality
audio experience – the same as in the movie theater.
What about categories?
There are two versions of HDMI 1.3 a/b, Category
1&2. Category 1 cables have been tested to perform
at speeds of 75Mhz, the equivalent of 1080i. Category
2 cables perform at 340Mhz, the highest bandwidth
currently available over an HDMI cable. They can
easily handle a 1080p signal, including increased color
depths and increased refresh rates.
How long can you go?
Using 28 AWG, a cable of 16 feet can be readily
manufactured to Category 1 specifications.
Higher quality construction of 24 AWG (with tighter
construction tolerances, etc.) allow lengths of 40
to 50 feet and Category 2 performance. In addition,
cables using fiber optic or dual Cat 5 cables instead
of copper, usually in commercial applications can be
used to extend the length to 300 feet or more, at
greatly increased expense.
HDMI 1.3 a/b, Glossary
Higher speed
: HDMI 1.3 a/b increases its single-link
bandwidth over 200% to 10.2 Gbps to support the
demands of Deep Color
™
, future higher resolution
display devices, and high frame rates. In addition, built
into the HDMI 1.3 a/b specification is the technical
foundation that will let future versions of HDMI reach
significantly higher speeds.
Higher Resolution
HDMI 1080p provides over 450% the resolution of
480p, and over 225% the resolution of 720p HDTV
for greater detail and larger display sizes.
Higher Refresh Rates
We are increasingly seeing demand for display
panels with a faster 90Hz (up to 120HZ) refresh rate.
This trend will continue, as faster refresh rates
create smoother motion and less blurring. This will have
a significant impact on the gaming market. We will see
improved motion sequences and faster response times.
Deep Color
™
HDMI 1.3 a/b supports 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit color
depths, up from 24-bit depths in previous versions of
the HDMI specification.
– HDTVs and other displays go from millions of
colors to billions of colors.
– Eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth
tonal transitions & subtle gradations between colors.
– Enables increased contrast ratio.
– Can represent as many as eight times more shades
of gray between black and white.
New Lossless Audio
™
formats
In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support
high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and
compressed formats (Dolby
®
Digital and DTS),
HDMI 1.3 a/b adds additional support for new,
lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby
®
TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
™
for
theater-like professional sound quality.
Lip Sync
Incorporates auto AV synchronization to correct an
inherent flaw in earlier versions of HDMI.
