Into the Future of HDMI

By C. I. Source

In Part 1 we discussed “In the Beginning”: specs, roadblocks, software, hardware, cables, standards, and more.  Now, let’s look Into the Future of HDMI.

Here is what we will need to do to continue to work:

Now that you are completely flummoxed and plotting your escape from the world of “CI” to a job flipping burgers, how do you salvage your career and start planning for the future? You will do this by looking forward -- great scott! For years we wired the world with coax in various forms, from one to six cables per bundle. It worked pretty much every time. Then along came HDMI. We had to switch over to Category X cables to get some distance. At first, it took Cat/X 2 cables, but now we are down to one -- or are we? Yes, there are cables that will support the UHD standard of 4K/60, 4:2:0, some even up to 100’. Ethereal Evolv cables are an example and we do have a new “true” 18 Gbps cable in the new Velox series, now shipping.

Most installers still want to install a bulk cable that they can terminate as needed. For this I recommend that they use two RG/6 cables and two Cat/6 Cables. Why two each? Right now SDI 3G (single coax) allows a dealer to push 1080P up to 300+ feet and soon they will be able to support the current UHD standard down that same cable with SDI 12G. However, that will not be enough in just a few years! By adding one more coax on the job site the dealers will be able to use the Dual 12G SDI products that will be introduced to the market soon. The same applies to the Cat/6 cables. HDBaseT may require that we double up on cables and transceivers to carry the needed bandwidth in the future.

I mentioned our new 18 Gbps Velox Cable. This product has been designed and built to go well beyond the existing HDMI 1.4 High Speed Max Cable Spec of 10.2 Gbps* which is the most recent spec available.  VELOX UHD cables are now available in lengths of one up to 12 meters and can handle anything the HDMI 2.0 spec can throw at it! VELOX UHD cables are the first-to-market cable line to combine evolutionary design and engineering techniques to support the new generation of HD, Ultra-HD and 4K video applications.

The elephant in the room HDCP 2.2:

HDCP is all content providers are concerned about -- and is the most important part of HDMI. It is what protects their intellectual property from theft by copying. HDCP has been with us since the very beginning of HDMI, in fact HDCP is the real reason for HDMI. Over the years, HDCP has gotten more sophisticated and harder, but not impossible, to hack. However, with the introduction of HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, content is fairly secure. It is important to note, despite common thinking, having HDMI 2.0 in your product does NOT guarantee that you will also have HDCP 2.2.

OK, then when will HDCP 2.2 impact your installations? Simple! Anything that switches, processes, distributes, displays or extracts must be HDCP 2.2 if the source is HDCP 2.2. Cables and extenders as a rule are not subject to this rule.

HDMI 2.0 Cables: Who makes them and how much are they?

There is no such animal! HDMI LLC does not have a spec or a test to support any cable technology beyond the current 1.4 High Speed Cable specification.

Does HDMI 2.0 require new cables?

No, HDMI 2.0 will work with existing HDMI cables. Higher bandwidth features, such as 4K@50/60 (2160p) video formats, will require existing high speed HDMI cables (Category 2 cables).

Here is what HDMI states about cables:

http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_2_0/hdmi_2_0_faq.aspx#144

So are there any products that exceed this spec?

Yes, yes there are, and as usual we have them.

Our new VELOX UHD cables are the only cable as far as I know that will meet and exceed the 18 Gbps requirement without Eq. 

Hopefully this information helped clarify UHD and HDMI 2.0, so that along with Metra Home 

Theater Group’s technical support and products, you feel more confident with your gear choices and installs.

*Remember that just because it is “high speed cable,” it does not mean it reaches the 10.2 Gbps capability.

So, what do you think? Be sure to send me your questions and any feedback you may have. I’d love to hear from you!

History of HDMI: In the Beginning

By C. I. Source

Although HDMI 2.0 has been out for a while, this technology still has a dark shroud of mystery surrounding it.  Dealers and manufactures are afraid of HDMI while customer demand is looming. We’ll examine some of the issues we’ve had to deal with as we get underway with this new frontier in Part 1. Be sure to watch for Part 2, Into the Future of HDMI in our next installment.

The question is:   “As an industry, how do we salve the fears and provide the client with what they need to move forward with the new HDMI interface?”

To fully understand the new technology, let’s review. Let’s look at how we evolved, where we are presently, and where we are headed in the future:    

I

n the beginning, there was DVI created by silicon image which was intended to be a computer video interface that provided a true Digital High Speed Video connection over a relatively short distance. DVI performed as intended -- but not without problems creating a roadblock to future implementation.  Some of the issues were the lack of a single Plug/Wire standard; the inability for the signal path to travel more than 15’ consistently; no audio standard; and a very large terminal.

Not long after DVI was introduced, the movie and TV industries started looking for ways to secure their new “HD” content.  They felt motivated by and ultimately compelled to limit market availability due to what they assumed were their intellectual property rights. They would not release “HD” content to without a strict level of “Intellectual Property” protection.  To fix this shortcoming, Silicon Image (creator of DVI) took the functioning structure of DVI and the HDCP protection scheme developed by Intel and put it all together into a smallish terminal that carried the High Speed Video, Multi-Channel Audio, Intelligence and Security together as one.

The original HDMI Spec 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 (2002-2006) allowed for 5 Gbps of data transfer, this supported 1080P, 8 Bit color, Multi-channel Audio and EDID/HDCP.  In 2006 the HDMI 1.3 spec was released, this covered several new features and an expanded bandwidth of 10.2 Gbps.  This revision had the first actual cable performance change (from 5 to 10 Gbps) since the introduction of HDMI and is where we still are almost 10 years later! The HDMI 1.4 spec introduced in 2009 added features to the electronics but did not have any cable changes except for the “not yet used” Ethernet support.

This brings us to HDMI 2.0 and the new 18 Gbps standard. When HDMI 2.0 was introduced with much Fanfare in September of 2013 (wow time flies!) there was a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation. This new version of HDMI made a giant leap in bandwidth and now calls for 18 Gbps bandwidth capability.

Whoa….wait a minute, did not HDMI LLC say that they would not need to institute a new cable spec to support this? Yes, HDMI stated, numerous times, that the current 1.4 “high end” cable spec will do everything that is needed for this new format.

And that brings us to the reason for this article: How is this going to work? More importantly, how do we plan for the future?

Here (in HDMI LLC’s opinion) is how it is supposed to work:

Equalization! HDMI assumes that if you have a “true” High Speed cable that is in fact capable of 10.2 Gbps and if you can throw 25 db of EQ onto the signal at the display side you will be able to recover enough data to get a “true” UHD 4K picture.

There are of course some serious issues involved with this plan. A vast number of cables are not really 10.2 capable, even though they are rated high speed. That means a fail. The display side equalization, while over-all adaptive, does not appear to be frequency specific adaptive. This means that if your cable does not have a very linear signal loss between 10 Gbps and 18 Gbps (with a max loss of 25 db) you will have a statistically high opportunity of failure. This theory also does not work well with longer distances and extenders, of any sort.

Here (IMO) is how it is working:

How is it that there are systems with long cables and extenders working with UHD right now? Well, they really aren’t doing HDMI 2.0.

HDMI 2.0, more importantly UHD, only needs about 9 Gbps to carry all of the current formats. I call this HDMI 2.0 Lite.

Aren’t UHD and HDMI 2.0 the same thing? No, no they are not. Thinking of the HDMI 2.0 spec as the USA, for example, UHD is about the size of Rhode Island! So while all UHD formats fit into the HDMI 2.0 Spec, and as a general rule the HDMI 1.4 spec, there is no way that all of the HDMI 2.0 features fit inside the boundaries of UHD.

Here is how current UHD 4K/60 works inside of the HDMI 1.4 spec:

Current UHD started showing up in products such as the Sony 4K server in the summer of 2013. This version was only 4K/30 meaning the picture was refreshed 30 frames per second (FPS.) While this looked great on static or slow moving pans, when there was an action scene the video became very jittery. This did not go over well with the consumer. The push was on to get the video refresh rate up to 60 FPS. The only way to accomplish this with the cables and digital roadways that are available is to cut corners on the “chroma sub-sampling rate.” This Chroma sub-sampling rate is represented as three numbers, 4:4:4, 4:2:2 and 4:2:0. This is very important to both the overall quality of the picture and the bandwidth needed to carry the signal. 4:2:0, available in UHD, cuts down on the necessary bandwidth by doing a lot of data averaging. This is done so they can cram a lot of data, in theory, into a small pipe.  In 4:4:4 each and every pixel can display any color independent of any other pixel. In the 4:2:0 pixels are arranged in groups of 4 which all show the same color. This is how they cut down on bandwidth, instead of needing enough bandwidth to provide every pixel its own color information, they now only need enough to cover a quarter of that need.

Thank You to AVS Forum for this Graphic

That’s enough for this issue, don’t you agree? Stay tuned for Part 2: The Future of HDMI in our next issue.

Be sure to send me your questions and any feedback you may have. I’d love to hear from you!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!

FROM METRA HOME THEATER GROUP

Introducing C.I. Scource

In an effort to better engage and inform our customers, Metra Home Theater Group would like to introduce our mascot - C.I. Source ! C.I. Source (appropriately named after the Custom Integrator audience he will serve), is an adorable, approachable, tech-savvy, and slightly frazzled-looking, home theater enthusiast created to provide brand recognition for Metra Home Theater and serve as a tool to educate and provide solutions to our customer base.

To ensure customers fully appreciate our new mascot, we gave C.I. Source a rich history:

C. I. always had a passion for technology dating back to the days of turntables and loudspeakers. While selling Hi-Fi in his college days, C.I. decided to turn his passion into his life’s work. After an illustrious career in the car audio business, he expanded into other areas including home automation. C.I. was right in the middle of the mix when digital came along and changed the home entertainment industry forevermore. Instead of boxes going out the door, customers wanted video and audio in every room, with custom functions ranging from automatic draperies to home monitoring.  This meant new electronics – distribution amplifiers, projectors, switchers –- and it all had to be designed to work seamlessly in the home. C. I. was thrilled to take on this challenge, which would be the first of many as he was faced with wider bandwidths, fascinating new delivery systems and extreme home theater advances. C.I. – who is married to his high school sweetheart, Sandy Tereo aka S.Tereo (now hyphenated Stereo-Source.) They have one son, Di’Gital. C. I. is passionate about making home theater and home automation accessible to all.

Metra Home Theater Group strives to be a problem solving resource for CIs by sharing a wide range of content and actively communicating with our Custom Integrator audience.  By creating C.I. Source, we hope our customers past, present and future will find him an accessible, fun way to get the guidance and support so many crave in setting up and operating their home theater and automation systems exactly to their specifications, needs and wants.

The Internet of Things

Back in March I posted about the Internet of Things (or IoT for short).  Since that post I have seen the #IoT in regards to a wide array of topics.  The uses of the IoT are varied with some being downright scary.  Some examples that I have run across in the last few weeks are as follows:

•  Disney has plans to change its experience at theme parks and hotels with its wearable device. From an app or wristband one can get into a park, purchase a souvenir and even sign up for the fast pass on various rides.  All of this can be done from a wristband or phone app.  Learn more here.  No more paper tickets or waiting in lines for rides. 
• Hospitals are using the IoT helping sick children play interactively with shelter pets helping the children forget about their illness for a small time.  
• TheLevis Company is using the IoT to develop clothes that connect to the internet to help people interact more with the real world around them instead of staring at phones. 

Convenience, helpful & scary is how I categorize the above list.

The IOT can help make lots of things more organized (Disney) and helpful (kids in hospitals).  What scares me is there may be a market for wearable clothes that help people be more interactive with the real world. What is that about?

The INTERNET OF THINGS needs to help people be more INTERACTIVE with the REAL WORLD!  People do stare at their phones a lot when out in public.  I am guilty of that myself.  In my house, we had to implement a rule that all cell phones are turned off and put away during family dinner.  Sadly, the rule was put in place for my husband and myself – not my children.  To think that clothes might connect with our cell phones in the near future makes me fear for my grandchildren.  Will we have to change clothes before dinner to continue the tradition of eating as a family and the end of every single day?  Smart phones have changed society in positive and negative ways.  How will Smart Clothes change the next generation?  Do we really need an IoT device (clothes) to help us connect more with reality or should we just be more responsible with the technology we have?  IF the smart clothes catch on – where will this lead us as a society?  Will we start living the science fiction books I grew up reading?  Sounds great in theory but the reality of all of this “connectivity” may be it actually make us less “connected” to real people and the real world around us.

I would love to hear what others think about this Brave New World that is upon us. #IoT #GlobalIndustry #BigData #WearableTech

Most asked Spyclops Tech Questions

Our Spyclops tech department is busy helping customers and I happen to sit in the same room.  So the thought came to be one day, “What are the most asked questions?”    I fired off an email and asked “What question do you answer the most regarding our Spyclops line?”

I was given the top three most asked Spyclops tech questions:

1.       I am having issues connecting on my phone with ESEE, HELP? 

Make sure you have full signal on your Smartphone or tablet to pull the video through, especially if you have more than four cameras connected.  Videos pull more bandwidth than games or regular apps.

2.       I have an Android but I can only view four cameras, where are the other cameras?

Make sure you selected the correct number of cameras when you added your DVR.  If you did, then simply swipe the screen left at the camera view to scroll through all the cameras views.

3.       How do I verify my DVR is recording:

After you set up your recording information, you will see one of the three icons in the upper right hand corner of each camera view that is actively recording.  You will see a clock for timed recording, a red dot for manual recording or a yellow running man for motion recording.  If one of these icons are showing, your camera is recording.

THE EASY WAY TO DIGITAL AUDIO BACK TO YOUR AVR

Today everybody has a smart TV with all kinds of built in Apps. The most common problem that “CI's” face is getting the Digital Audio from these TV Apps back to the AVR.  One answer is of course the ARC function back thru the HDMI cable and while this is a “simple” one cable solution it is NOT a simple one button user solution.

Here is a simple one button user solution and if you can get a piece of coax (RG/6 or RG/59) between the display and the AVR you can make this happen.

Directions: First, on most displays there is an Optical output connection that supports Dolby Digital, come out of this with a short optical cable and go into our CS-D2D optical to coax format convertor. Second you will adapt the “F” connector to an RCA connection at both ends, plug the coax into one of the SPDIF connections on the back of your AVR.  Third program the remote to select that SPDIF input when your client wants to watch in TV apps.

You now have a one button solution.

Parts Needed:

• CS-D2D Digital Format Convertor.
• 1 meter optical cable. (MHY Toslink Cables)
• Coax cable with RCA terminals on both ends.  (Digital COAX Cables)