If you're looking to buy a HD Ready television, then it's more than likely you've heard of 'HDMI'. While SCART is the standard analog connector interface for non-HD televisions, HDMI is the standard connector interface for digital televisions.

HDMI is short for 'High-Definition Multimedia Interface', and has recently taken replaced DVI as the most popular interface incorporated into digital equipment.

  HDMI input

The structure of HDMI is made up from 19 pins. Pins one to twelve are occupied with TMDS data and clock processes, pins thirteen and onwards deal with CEC, SCL, SDA, DDC, CEC, V Power and Hot Plug detection.

Whilst the average consumer has no need to understand the ins and outs of HDMI, it's worth noting that this pin structure enables HDMI to support any TV video format in just one cable.

The capabilities of HDMI are always on the move. A concerted effort is being made to increase the amount of data a HDMI cable can transmit and receive. For example, version 1.0 of HDMI can transmit at 60Hz, but version 1.3 of HDMI can transmit at 340Hz. This enables HDMI 1.3 to support a resolution of up to 2560 x 1600, compared to the benchmark of 1920 x 1200.

HDMI Versions

Below is a listing of the versions of HDMI which have been released,

• 1.0
• 1.1
• 1.2
• 1.3
• 1.3a
• 1.3b

One of the most useful benefits of HDMI is it's compatibility with DVI. HDMI is superior to DVI, because it supports both video and audio signals. DVI can only support video. This means that a DVI video controller, such as a home computers video card, can drive a HDMI television or monitor.

HDMI was developed by,

• Hitachi
• Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic)
• Philips
• Sony
• Thomson
• Toshiba
• Silicon Image