HDMI 1.3 spec is finally released!

[bobgpsr]

Yes the spec is available (HDMI_Spec_1.3_GM1.pdf 1,969KB) -- if you swear that you need it to evaluate getting a license at your work.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 22, 2006 — The seven HDMI Founder companies (Hitachi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Silicon Image, Inc., Sony Corp., Thomson, Inc. and Toshiba Corp.) today released a major enhancement of the High-Definition Multimedia Interface™ (HDMI™) specification, the de facto standard digital interface for high definition consumer electronics. HDMI 1.3 will enable the next generation of HDTVs, PCs and DVD players to transmit and display content in billions of colors with unprecedented vividness and accuracy.

The HDMI 1.3 specification more than doubles HDMI’s bandwidth and adds support for Deep Color technology, a broader color space, new digital audio formats, automatic audio/video synching capability (“lip sync”), and an optional smaller connector for use with personal photo and video devices. The update reflects the determination of the HDMI founders to ensure HDMI continues evolving ahead of future consumer demands.

The update arrives at a time of strong momentum for the HDMI standard. HDMI Licensing, LLC today announced that more than 400 makers of consumer electronics and PC products worldwide have adopted HDMI. Market researcher In-Stat expects 60 million devices featuring HDMI to ship in 2006.

“PLAYSTATION®3 will be the most advanced computer platform for enjoying a wide range of entertainment content, including the latest games and HD movies, in the home,” said Ken Kutaragi, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. “By introducing the next-generation HDMI 1.3 technology, with its high speed and deep color capabilities, PS3 will push the boundaries of audiovisual quality to the next level of more natural and smoother expression on the latest large flat panel displays.”

"HDMI is an established cornerstone for the whole High Definition TV industry and Philips is extremely pleased to see such significant improvements for picture and sound quality with this new version,” said Johan van de Ven, CTO and Senior Vice President of Philips Consumer Electronics. “We look forward to continuing to work with other HDMI Founder companies to extend the scope of HDMI across new devices and applications, while remaining entirely committed to ensuring full backward compatibility with existing products."

With the adoption of Deep Color and the xvYCC color space, HDMI 1.3 removes the previous interface-related restrictions on color selection. The interface will no longer be a constraining pipe that forces all content to fit within a limited set of colors, unlike all previous video interfaces.

New HDMI 1.3 capabilities include:

Higher speed: HDMI 1.3 increases its single-link bandwidth from 165MHz (4.95 gigabits per second) to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps) to support the demands of future high definition display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Color and high frame rates. In addition, built into the HDMI 1.3 specification is the technical foundation that will let future versions of HDMI reach significantly higher speeds.
Deep color: HDMI 1.3 supports 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit (RGB or YCbCr) color depths, up from the 24-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification.
Lets HDTVs and other displays go from millions of colors to billions of colors
Eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors
Enables increased contrast ratio
Can represent many times more shades of gray between black and white. At 30-bit pixel depth, four times more shades of gray would be the minimum, and the typical improvement would be eight times or more
Broader color space: HDMI 1.3 removes virtually all limits on color selection.
Next-generation “xvYCC” color space supports 1.8 times as many colors as existing HDTV signals
Lets HDTVs display colors more accurately
Enables displays with more natural and vivid colors
New mini connector: With small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras demanding seamless connectivity to HDTVs, HDMI 1.3 offers a new, smaller form factor connector option.
Lip Sync: Because consumer electronics devices are using increasingly complex digital signal processing to enhance the clarity and detail of the content, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI 1.3 incorporates an automatic audio/video synching capability that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with accuracy.
New lossless audio formats: In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby® Digital and DTS), HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new, lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™.
Products implementing the new HDMI specification will continue to be backward compatible with earlier HDMI products.

“The dramatic increase in maximum speed achieved in HDMI 1.3 will enable HDMI to stay far ahead of the bandwidth demands of future high definition source and display devices,” said Leslie Chard, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. “As the de facto standard digital interface for the high definition and consumer electronics markets, HDMI is implementing the most innovative technologies today to fulfill the demands of tomorrow’s consumers.”

The latest HDMI specification can be downloaded at no cost by visiting www.hdmi.org.

About HDMI
HDMI is the first and only consumer electronics industry-supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface. By delivering crystal-clear, all-digital audio and video via a single cable, HDMI dramatically simplifies cabling and helps provide consumers with the highest-quality home theater experience. HDMI provides an interface between any audio/video source, such as a set-top box, DVD player, or A/V receiver and an audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV), over a single cable.

Bob

[Sonnie]

I'm a little confused... backward compatibility with a new smaller form factor connector option.

So am I right to assume the new smaller connector will simply be an option and the current HDMI connector will still deliver the 1.3 goods?

Does backward compatibility mean the Toshiba HD-DVD players can be upgraded to make use of the 1.3 goods? That is if Toshiba offers it... which I would think they would if it's possible. Surely this didn't just make all current HDMI devices outdated.

[Steve Williamson]

and an optional smaller connector for use with personal photo and video devices

I think this means that not only will the standard size plug still be available, but a new plug for smalller devices will be provided, like the USB 2 plug for 2.5" Mobile HDD's.

I hope now that the XBox 360 will come out with a HDMI cable, which would overcome the restriction from component output.

All old ( ) HDMI devices should be able to talk to new HDMI devices but the colours and definition will remain at the old standard unless all talk through the new HDMI 1.3.

Love the (not so small) plug for the PS3 in the article though

[mickeypups]

Has anyone else read this at audio revolution?

http://www.avrev.com/news/0706/06.hdmi13.shtml

A new connector for HDMI 1.3…you’ve got to be kidding me!

Where is the collective intelligence in the electronics industry?

[JimP]

Considering that we started with DVI, then the various HDMIs, I wonder if this is just some method to have us on a continuous upgrade path. That is, "Sir, you need a new "X" to go with the "blank" you just bought.

[Sonnie]

We've got a thread started on this already so I'm gonna merge these posts into that other thread... which is now this thread.

[bobgpsr]

mickeypups wrote:

A new connector for HDMI 1.3…you’ve got to be kidding me!

The new connector is actually just a choice/option for small devices like camcorders. Similar idea to the mini-USB connector for digital cameras. It does not replace the standard HDMI connector.

Bob

[mickeypups]

OH – ok, now I’m not so annoyed. I just finally bought a universal player with HDMI (thanks Sonnie) and was rather dismayed to read that the 1.3 spec was going to include a reworked connector.

[Josuah]

The advantage to forcing consumer upgrades is that if the DRM content control bills ever get passed successfully, the industry knows consumers have that restriction built into all of their electronics. "You can't play this because you're technology is too old" sounds less evil than "you can't play this because it doesn't implement the newest copy protection mechanism".

[Sonnie]

Hey Michael... I thought the same as you when I first read this because I had just bought the Toshiba player.

[Praetorian]

I have never (and still am not) very impressed with the whole HDMI concept. I liked DVI, but the so-called "benefits" of merging audio and video into one cable elude me. Don't get me wrong, those are impressive specs vis-a-vis bandwidth and resolution, but the marketing approach is the simplification of cabling... I think not.

Why? Well first off, please raise your hand if your video display's input is in the same box as your sound processing? Yes, some receivers/pre-amps have HDMI inputs, but there is STILL another cable going directly to your TV (or projector for that matter). So where's the simplification? One cable is better than three (assuming performance is equal) but we had that with DVI. Besides, how is this simplified? Instead of having 6 inputs in the back of your TV, you have them in the back of your receiver/decoder. Truly, the only simplification is in the remote, and we have had universal remotes longer than HDTVs...

I am NOT a conspiracy theorist, but all this strikes me more as an industry control measure to instill at least some form of HD copy protection, rather than making our lives "simpler".

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Dougie085]

Seems like they are releaseing new HDMI versions way to close together. Wasnt it just not to long ago that 1.2 was released? Or maybe I'm thinking of somthing else......wouldnt be the first time