Columnists

HDMI as networking enabler

By Leslie Chard, HDMI Licensing -- EDN, 10/24/2006

Editor's note: HDMI Licensing, LLC submitted the following commentary in response to "DLNA and HANA: two visions of consumer multimedia networking" (10/12/2006).

The consumer-electronics industry envisions a time when all the devices in the home communicate with one another over a home network. In order for home networking of consumer electronics to succeed, it must be simple to set up, carry the highest quality audio and video, and enable control with a single remote: This functionality is being delivered by HDMI today.

HDMI was created to multiplex digital video and audio on a single cable. Less well known but widely developed is the CEC (Consumer Electronic Control) protocol. Developed and deployed by Philips and now part of the HDMI standard, CEC is a set of control protocols that enables a consumer to control all their CE devices connected via HDMI using a single remote control.

For example, a consumer turns on their TV set and presses the DVD button. The TV sends an "on" command to the DVD player and automatically switches the TV to the proper input for the DVD. Then, the consumer presses "play" on that same remote and the DVD begins to play. Similarly, HDMI enables devices in a system to automatically share data about their preferred content format (1080i versus 720p, DVD-Audio versus DTS-HD, and so on), in order to ensure that the user receives the best possible quality.

These controls work for all types of devices with HDMI: TVs, DVD players, DVD recorders, Blu-Ray decks, HD-DVD players, set-top boxes, game machines, digital still cameras, video cameras, and more. In-Stat estimates more than 60 million HDMI equipped devices will ship in 2006, growing to almost 300 million in 2009.

HDMI is a successful interface standard that has shunned the networking moniker but solves the need of connecting and controlling multiple CE devices.

Leslie Chard is president of HDMI Licensing, LLC