HDMI: A Love-Hate Retrospective

Take a look at the 10-year history and evolution of HDMI, from version 1.0 to the cables we all know and love today.

CI Staff

You probably know that HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface. This digital interface transmits audio and video data in a single cable, and today it is supported by most cable boxes, video game systems, HDTVs, DVDs and Blu-ray players.

But the history of HDMI is a lot more complicated.

Version 1.0 was born 10 years ago, with a maximum bandwidth of 4.95 gigabits per second. It supported 3.96 Gb of video information and eight channels of audio. 1.1 added DVD audio and 1.2 added one bit audio, sRGB color support and full CEC features.

The original distance limitation for HDMI was only about 15 feet. One of the factors that controlled this limitation was the use of proprietary cabling, for what was considered an acceptable HDMI interface.

Related: How to Speak HDMI, HDBaseT and Cat 5 to Clients

Yes, that’s right. In order for any device to truly be HDMI compliant it needed to use acceptable HDMI connectors and cables. Unfortunately, at the time, manufacturers of these acceptable HDMI cables and interfaces were less than stellar.

Belden is a wire manufacturer of HDMI cables. In the early days of HDMI, Belden wanted to improve upon that original distance limitation of 15 feet. The company created a cable superior to the standard cabling being used in the market — it was more robust with a larger gauge. Unfortunately, for these new HDMI cables to be acceptable (approved), they needed to have the same bandwidth limiting connectors of every other HDMI cable in the marketplace.

Even with those connectors, Belden was able to create significant distance gains over the standard industry cables, and to this day they are one of the longest single run cable manufacturers for HDMI, with current runs as long as 100′, successfully, without signal loss or the use of HDMI extenders.

Today, we have HDMI version 2.0, also referred to as Ultra High Definition (UHD). It supports 4K at 60 fps, as well as enhanced color and information development.

This article appeared on CI’s sister site, CorporateTechDecisions.com.

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