HDMI 1.4: 4k resolution, 100Mb/s network

[Florin Andrei]

http://gizmodo.com/5254264/hdmi-14-internet-sharing-more-pixels-and-ridiculous-new-cables

Somebody got a little too eager to share the good word about HDMI 1.4, since PCMag's original story has vanished. Short version: 100Mbps internet, higher resolution (4,096x2160@30Hz) and stupid, stupid new cable BS.

 

[Mark L. Pederson]

It's BACK -

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/28/hdmi-1-4-officially-detailed-ethernet-audio-return-channels/

 

[Dominic Cochran]

HDMI has potential, but they really need to have some sort of locking mechanism. Seriously, has anyone written love songs or epic poetry to how great BNC cables are and how in theory you could have been using one for like 20 years in this crazy industry?

I know the benefits HDMI has over SDI/BNC, but if we could lock it up it would do VERY well. I don't even care if it's flippin' thumbscrews.

 

[Tonaci Tran]

I HATE hdmi with a passion. In a controlled environment with a short cable run, HDMI is fine. Take it out on a feature film in heat, humidity, rain with a long cable run 50ft and up it totally craps out. I had literally 10 hdmi cables of different brands and types go down. I have switched to bnc using production monitors.

 

[Adam Glick]

I HATE hdmi with a passion. In a controlled environment with a short cable run, HDMI is fine. Take it out on a feature film in heat, humidity, rain with a long cable run 50ft and up it totally craps out. I had literally 10 hdmi cables of different brands and types go down. I have switched to bnc using production monitors.

Its capabilities make it interesting for use in professional settings, but to be fair, HDMI was never envisioned or designed as a professional signal interface. It is squarely aimed at consumers, and as such, has none of the built-in robustness that most of us require for heavy-duty production work.

This said, the upcoming HDMI 1.4 looks to have some serious benefits over the best current professional signal interface - SMPTE 424M (otherwise known as 3G-SDI)

HDMI 1.4 is said to have bandwidth capacity of up to 20Gbps
This is enough for moving uncompressed 4K @ 30fps

3G HD-SDI only has about 3Gbps of bandwidth at best.
This is enough for HD & 2K -but forget about uncompressed 4K or 2K stereo

Add to that several simultaneous Ethernet data channels, and capacity for DOZENS of audio channels -as well as audio and Ethernet backchannels, and HDMI 1.4 is blowing HD-SDI away from a purely signal capacity standpoint.

Has anybody heard about replacements for 3G HD-SDI that could compete ?

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Can't comment on any new updates to HD-SDI. It seems the current thinking is to just bond multiple channels together.

As for HDMI 1.4, it looks interesting. Still consumer. If we take the ethernet away and the audio away, the video aspect is actually a subset of the new DVI|QL extensions, which are intended for both professional and consumer applications. Just as current HDMI video spec is a subset of DVI. But our industry works in mysterious ways... Just as we're often [incorrectly] told that DVI can't support 10bit color, and that we need to upgrade to DisplayPort for that, or other such lies. Many of them propagated by display manufacturers.