• HDMI allows the availability of a new mini connector for devices such as camcorders
• The availability of HDMI 1.3 depends on your specific equipment.
• All HDMI cables should be made using the largest gauge (AWG) wire with individually shielded pairs possible with top quality workmanship. This protects your signal from Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI).
• Increases single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbit/s)
• Optionally supports 30-bit, 36-bit, and 48-bit xvYCC with Deep Color or over one billion colors, up from 24-bit sRGB or YCbCr in previous versions.
• Incorporates automatic audio syncing (Audio video sync) capability.
• Optionally supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers.[8] TrueHD and DTS-HD are lossless audio codec formats used on Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs. If the disc player can decode these streams into uncompressed audio, then HDMI 1.3 is not necessary, as all versions of HDMI can transport uncompressed audio.

HISTORY:

HDMI 1.0

• Single-cable digital audio/video connection with a maximum bitrate of 4.9 Gbit/s. Supports up to 165Mpixels/s video (1080p60 Hz or UXGA) and 8-channel/192 kHz/24-bit audio.

HDMI 1.1

• Added support for DVD audio

HDMI 1.2

• Added support for One Bit Audio, used on Super Audio CDs, up to 8 channels. Ability for PC sources to use native RGB color-space while retaining the option to support the YCbCr CE color space.

HDMI 1.3

• Increases single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbit/s)
• Optionally supports 30-bit, 36-bit, and 48-bit xvYCC with Deep Color or over one billion colors, up from 24-bit sRGB or YCbCr in previous versions.
• Incorporates automatic audio syncing (lip sync) capability.
• Supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers.

What does HDMI 1.3 do that previous versions didn’t do?

HDMI 1.3a adds six benefits to the HDMI palette. The most obvious and easiest to understand is higher data transfer speed. The HDMI 1.3a standard increases single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps), which will support demands of future HD display devices incorporating higher resolutions, Deep Color and high frame rates. Keep in mind that previous versions of HDMI are fully capable of 1080p performance. Even more, the FCC has presented no imminent plans for a “higher” high-definition system than 1080p. Because 1080p has just begun to enter the market this increased bandwidth can be considered more a hedge against future applications than something the industry and consumers can benefit from in the near future.

HDMI 1.3a also supports a format known as Deep Color. You may see this referred to as Extended-gamut YCC (xvYCC). Deep Color is a new color space used in video electronics. It can support 1.8 times as many colors as RGB. RGB, as you may know, creates colors through a mixture of Red, Green, and Blue primary colors. Deep Color defines colors by means of an algorithm that can specify any color in nature.

This improvement in color performance is significant only in specifications. Current HDTV broadcasts (and the current HDMI standard) uses 8-bit color depth. The new HDMI 1.3a standard with Deep Color capability expands the number of colors viewable on an HDTV from millions to billions, while eliminating color banding and subtle gradations between colors through the use of 10-bit, 12-bit, and 16-bit color depths. It is vitally important to understand that every movie ever transferred to DVD or any other digital format has been done using 8-bit color depth. While the new Deep Color format could provide an improvement in picture quality, there currently is no content (no movies, TV shows or archived material) available that can be easily trans-coded into the new system. With the existing issues of Digital Rights Management (DRM) and High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) just beginning to be worked out it is highly unlikely that Hollywood and the entertainment industry will rush to provide software that is a clone of the original movie quality. The first place Deep Color is likely to be used is in advanced gaming systems, but even that milestone seems beyond the immediate future.

HDMI 1.3a incorporates automatic audio syncing (lip sync) capability. This is a system that will automatically adjust for the difference in electronic latency between the processing circuits of the sound and image. This discrepancy sometimes manifests itself as a slight delay in the sound compared to the image.

HDMI 1.3a supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers. TrueHD and DTS-HD are lossless audio codec formats used on HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. If the disc player can decode these streams into uncompressed audio, then HDMI 1.3 is not necessary, as all versions of HDMI can transport uncompressed audio.

HDMI 1.3a provides for a new mini connector for devices such as camcorders.

Which products use HDMI 1.3?

The Sony PlayStation 3 is the first product available on consumer market that claims an HDMI 1.3a connection. Epson has released the EMP-TW1000 as the first display supporting 30-bit deep color, one of the benefits of HDMI 1.3a. There are no other products currently on the market that offer HDMI 1.3a interface capability. Several new products will likely be shown at the 2007 CES show, but it is likely to be several years before the expanded capabilities of HDMI 1.3a trickle into mainstream products.