HDMI Founders Issue V 0.9 HDMI Compliance And Test Specification

27-Jun-03

High-Definition Multimedia Interfaceô (HDMIô) Founders Hitachi, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Silicon Image, Sony Corporation, Thomson, and Toshiba Corporation announced that the draft v 0.9 HDMI Compliance Test Specification is now available to HDMI Adopters and those who have reviewed v 0.9 of the HDMI specification. The HDMI Compliance Test Specification v 0.9 details the tests, procedures, and equipment specifications established by the HDMI Founders to assist Adopters in verifying HDMI product compliance. Mandated by the HDMI Adopter's Agreement, HDMI compliance testing also promotes compatibility between HDMI devices and is required for a product to bear the HDMI logo or claim conformance to the HDMI Specification. The HDMI Compliance Test Specification requires that manufacturers submit their first product in each HDMI product category to an HDMI Authorized Testing Center (ATC). The four HDMI categories are source (e.g. DVD, set-top box), sink (e.g. digital TV), repeater (e.g. A/V receiver), and cable. Subsequent products, such as a manufacturer's second TV or DVD player, must also be tested, but may be self-tested by the manufacturer. Silicon Image will operate an HDMI ATC in Sunnyvale, California, while Matsushita will operate an ATC in Osaka, Japan. HDMI compliance testing encompasses source, sink, and repeater testing, including physical, protocol, video, and audio tests. Cable assembly testing of mechanical and electrical characteristics, including wiring assignments, is also performed. All products submitted to an ATC are tested against the specification's requirements, after which the ATC sends a test report to both the manufacturer and HDMI Licensing, LLC. According to David Smith, Gartner Fellow at Gartner, Inc., ""Efforts such as HDMI, are working towards standards that guarantee interoperability and compatibility, which are needed before HDTV will fulfill its potential."" HDMI combines high-definition video and multichannel audio in a single, all-digital interface with a bandwidth of up to 5 Gigabits per second. Benefits include uncompressed digital quality, fewer cables, and a small, user-friendly connector suitable for a wide range of consumer electronics components. HDMI also supports bidirectional communication between devices, enabling the DTV to make intelligent decisions on how to best render images. Since its release in January of 2003, more than 30 companies have become adopters of the of the HDMI v 1.0 Specification. A copy of the v 0.9 HDMI Compliance Test Specification is now available for download at www.hdmi.org.For more information about the HDMI Specification and the HDMI Founders, visit www.hdmi.org.

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