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Yes. Currently there are TVs with
DVI-HDTV inputs available from a variety of manufacturers. Those
devices will be compatible with future HDMI-equipped products.
All versions of HDMI are
backwards compatible with all of the previous versions of HDMI.
Backwards compatible means that the newest version will also
work with any previous versions, ensuring that older electronic
components will also be able to be connected.
HDMI is the first and the only
consumer electronics interface that is supported by the
industry, uncompressed, and is all digital, video and audio. By
delivering all-digital audio and video that is crystal clear by
means of a single cable, HDMI greatly simplifies cabling, and
helps give consumers the home theater experience with the
highest quality. HDMI provides an interface between a
audio/video source, such as a DVD player, set-top box, or A/V
receiver, and the audio and/or video monitor, like digital
television (DTV), over one single cable.
HDMI Licensing, LLC, is a
completely owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc., and they are
the agent responsible for licensing all HDMI specifications,
providing education to consumers and retailers on the benefits
of HDMI technology and specifications, and promoting the HDMI
standard. The specification for HDMI was developed by Panasonic,
Hitachi, Philips, Silicon Image, Toshiba, Sony, and Thomson as
the standard for digital interface for the consumer electronics
market. The specification for HDMI combines multi-channel audio
and high-definition video, that is not compressed, into one
digital interface to provide crystal-clear digital quality over
one single cable.
Each version of the HDMI standard
has been developed with forward-advancing capabilities in sight
and the standards for HDMI are continuously evolving. Each
successive version of the HDMI specification has to be backwards
compatible with all earlier versions of that specification. This
has not always been the case with some of the manufacturers
products that were Digital Video Interface (DVI) enabled. HDMI
early specifications were based on the specifications for the
DVI interface, and HDMI is also compatible with any compliant
DVI product that is equipped with High Definition Copy Protocol
for content protection by using a simple adapter.
There have been 6 versions of
HDMI specifications released to date. The first or original
version was called HDMI 1.0 and was released in December of
2002. Version 101 of the HDMI specifications came out in May of
2004. In August of 2005 HDMI 1.2 specifications were publicly
released. Four months later, in December of 2005, specification
version 1.2a became available. Then in June of 2006, the
specifications for version 1.3 were released. And the latest
version of HDMI specifications is version 1.3a, which became
available on January 8, 2007.
HDMI version 1.0 was the first
standard for the technology. This version is now obsolete, and
even HDMI Licensing does not recognize this version of HDMI
format specifications. Version 1.1 completely replaced version
1.0. Version 1.2 and 1.2a both changed the specifications
slightly. These minor changes were mainly concerning the pin
alignment and connector and receptacle construction. Version 1.3
was a huge upgrade in the specifications from the format that
had existed. Version 1.3a upgrades more specifications for the
HDMI format.
Some retailers and manufacturers
have expressed some concerns that the consumers may become
confused over the version numbering system for HDMI, and make
the false assumption that any product listed as carrying the
latest numbered version of HDMI interface, for example HDMI
version 1.3a, will provide automatically any and all of the
features supported in that version of HDMI format
specifications. This may not always be true, depending on the
other components. To receive all the benefits of the HDMI
version specifications, all components must be up to that
version of specification. For example, to get all the benefits
of version 1.3, all components, which are the source, the
cables, and the display, must meet the version 1.3
specifications. If the display is only HDMI 1.2a version
enabled, then even if all other components are HDMI version 1.3
enabled, some of the upgraded specifications of HDMI 1.3 will
not be available, because the display is only enabled for the
1.2 version, and not the 1.3 version.
Any consumer electronics product
on the market that is HDMI enabled, no matter what version the
specifications are, will be backwards compatible with any other
consumer electronics product that is enabled with an earlier
version of the specifications for HDMI. |
