TV/display screen, projector and home theater audio are the main elements for building a home audio-visual environment. As consumers increasingly pursue better audio and video experiences, display technologies are constantly improving, such as higher screen resolutions.
In today’s LCD TV, HD STB, Blu-ray DVD, HDMI has become the “factual” HD video transmission interface standard.
According to Rob Tobias, president of HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc., nearly 900 million HDMI-enabled devices will be sold in 2018, and nearly 8 billion HDMI products are available worldwide. The world’s 1,700 largest consumer electronics, PC and mobile device manufacturers have added HDMI connectivity to their products. More than 1 billion HDMI devices are expected to be sold in 2020.
At present, in addition to HDMI can achieve high-profile 4K ultra-high-definition video and audio signal transmission, there are many other transmission standards on the market, including DisplayPort, HDBaseT, superMHL, Thunderbolt 3, and WirelessHD. This constitutes the HDMI standard. Certain dangers, especially DisplayPort.
Previously, DisplayPort was mainly used in professional monitors and professional projectors. In March 2016, VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) officially announced the new version of the audio and video transmission standard DisplayPort 1.4, which moved the HDMI cake, and also Forcing HDMI to rush to introduce the HDMI2.1 standard.
DisplayPort 1.4 supports 60Hz 8K resolution HDR video and 120Hz 4K HDR video, and is also compatible with USB TYPE-C interface. Moreover, DisplayPort interface is free of authentication and license-free, and HDMI annual membership fee is 15,000 US dollars. This undoubtedly hangs HDMI2.0, if it is not the current use of DP interface equipment is not much, HDMI is estimated to be no play.
However, HDMI is under pressure and officially released and launched the HDMI 2.1 standard a year later. HDMI 2.1 bandwidth 48Gbps, a 166% increase over HDMI2.0, can fully support 4K/120Hz, 8K/60Hz, 10K resolution and refresh rate lossless video, and support dynamic HDR, no doubt than DisplayPort1.4 Stronger.
In the short term, DisplayPort 1.4 will not have much impact on the HDMI home market, but VESA board member Alan Kobayashi believes that DisplayPort 1.4 will capture the automotive entertainment system market. And more and more monitors, computer display adapters and professional projectors are equipped with DisplayPort interfaces.
As a latecomer, DisplayPort hopes to open the situation with the USB TYPE-C interface and wire. The introduction of DP 1.4 makes it compatible with the USB TYPE-C interface. With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform supporting DisplayPort Alt Mode, there will be more mobile phones, VR/AR and other products on the market that can support the popularity of 4K60 video.
However, HDMI did not sit still, it even offered a killing trick. In September of the same year, the HDMI Licensing Association released an HDMI replacement mode developed specifically for the USB TYPE-C specification, which can be directly transmitted to the HDMI screen. And ironically: Unlike other interface standards that require an adapter, the HDMI Alt Mode is just a single cable.
The future development of audio and video transmission standards will be compatible with each other, so that the mutual transmission between home theater, mobile audio and video, professional video and other fields can be integrated. The USB TYPE C interface of mobile devices such as smart phones becomes the future of the two. An important battlefield for wrestling.
HDBaseT solves distance and cost challenges
At the HDMI 2.1 Developer Conference, participating companies are most concerned about when the HDMI Association will launch the HDBaseT standard. An engineer at Foxconn asked the HDMI Association staff about the news during the break.
He Jingsheng told the “International Cables and Connections” reporter that with the HDBaseT standard, HDMI can solve long-distance transmission and cost issues.
In today’s LCD TV, HD STB, Blu-ray DVD, HDMI has become the “factual” HD video transmission interface standard. But it also has inherent inadequacies. For example, HDMI can only transmit uncompressed audio and video signals, and the transmission distance is limited to 5 meters, and the wire price is high. DisplayPort also faces the problem of high wire prices. Traditional copper is too heavy, and the price of thousands of dollars is difficult for the mass market to accept, so how to reduce costs becomes the key to future development.
TYPE C will be the winner
It is not easy to challenge the ruler HDMI, but DisplayPort is not cool, TYPE C will become the winner of the battle.
At the HDMI2.1 Developer Conference in Shenzhen, He Jingsheng, the regional sales manager of the bus protocol testing business of Teledyne LeCroy (LeCroy), told the reporter of “International Cable and Connection”: “The current industry is optimistic about these two standards, especially DisplayPort. After the introduction of the standard 1.4, the test programs of both interfaces are covered.
But he believes that the two contend, the USB TYPE C interface will eventually benefit. In recent years, the USB TYPE-C has emerged. In portable computers and smart mobile platforms, the USB TYPE-C interface has gradually become the standard for smartphones, tablets and laptops. To this end, DisplayPort, MHL and other interface standards have moved closer to it, adding USB TYPE C Alt Mode (alternative mode) ranks.
HDbaseT supports a transmission rate of up to 20Gbps, which can better support future 3D and 2K×4K video formats. The transmission uses ordinary CAT5e/6 network cable, and the connector also uses ordinary RJ45 connector, and the transmission distance reaches 100. Meter, can solve the problem of long distance transmission and wire price.
He Jingsheng revealed that the industry is very concerned about this issue, and the HDMI Association is also stepping up the development of relevant regulations. As a member of the HDMI Association, LeCroy already has related HDBaseT.
And many companies have already launched related products. For example, SILORA has already launched an HDMI® 2.0 HDBaseT expander that uses a single Cat5e cable and supports HDR. This product offers the first HDR-enhanced video expansion solution for zero-latency transmissions up to 100 meters.