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The New and Confusing HDMI 1.4 Spec

2009-06-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

[www.hdmi.org]

HDMI Licensing, LLC, the company that determines the specifications of the HDMI standard, are set to release HDMI 1.4 on June 30th, and it could very well be the most confusing thing to ever happen to setting up a home theater. When the new cables are released on the world, you’re going to need to read the packaging very carefully because there are now going to be five different versions of the same cable.

The first thing you should know is that more than likely the high definition television you currently have in your home has HDMI 1.3 ports, so your TV will be obsolete by the end of June. This doesn’t mean it will magically stop working, but it may make buying future equipment a bit more difficult, and it will certainly make buying new cables a larger pain. With HDMI 1.4 you will now need to choose between HDMI Ethernet Channel, Audio Return Channel, 3D Over HDMI, 4K x 2K Resolution Support and a new Automotive HDMI.

The HDMI 1.4 specification will offer the following enhanced functionalities:

* HDMI Ethernet Channel

The HDMI 1.4 specification will add a data channel to the HDMI cable and will enable high-speed bi-directional communication. Connected devices that include this feature will be able to send and receive data via 100 Mb/sec Ethernet, making them instantly ready for any IP-based application.

The HDMI Ethernet Channel will allow an Internet-enabled HDMI device to share its Internet connection with other HDMI devices without the need for a separate Ethernet cable. The new feature will also provide the connection platform to allow HDMI-enabled devices to share content between devices.

* Audio Return Channel

The new specification will add an Audio Return Channel that will reduce the number of cables required to deliver audio upstream for processing and playback. In cases where HDTVs are directly receiving audio and video content, this new Audio Return Channel allows the HDTV to send the audio stream to the A/V receiver over the HDMI cable, eliminating the need for an extra cable.

* 3D Over HDMI

The 1.4 version of the specification will define common 3D formats and resolutions for HDMI-enabled devices. The specification will standardize the input/output portion of the home 3D system and will specify up to dual-stream 1080p resolution.

* 4K x 2K Resolution Support

The new specification will enable HDMI devices to support high-definition (HD) resolutions four times beyond the resolution of 1080p. Support for 4K x 2K will allow the HDMI interface to transmit content at the same resolution as many digital theaters. Formats supported include:

o 3840x2160 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz
o 4096x2160 24Hz

* Expanded Support For Color Spaces

HDMI technology now supports color spaces designed specifically for digital still cameras. By supporting sYCC601, Adobe RGB and AdobeYCC601, HDMI-enabled display devices will be capable of reproducing more accurate life-like colors when connected to a digital still camera.

* Micro HDMI Connector

The Micro HDMI Connector is a significantly smaller 19-pin connector that supports up to 1080p resolutions for portable devices. This new connector is approximately 50% smaller than the size of the existing HDMI Mini Connector.

* Automotive Connection System

The Automotive Connection System is a cabling specification designed to be used as the basis for in-vehicle HD content distribution. The HDMI 1.4 specification will provide a solution designed to meet the rigors and environmental issues commonly found in automobiles, such as heat, vibration and noise. Using the Automotive Connection System, automobile manufactures will now have a viable solution for distributing HD content within the car.

“The HDMI specification continues to add functionality as the consumer electronics and PC industries build products that enhance the consumer’s HD experience,” said Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. “The 1.4 specification will support some of the most exciting and powerful near-term innovations such as Ethernet connectivity and 3D formats. Additionally we are going to broaden our solution by providing a smaller connector for portable devices and a connection system specified for automobiles, as we see both more and different devices adopting the HDMI technology.“

Consumers will also see new HDMI cables introduced to the market. In order to take advantage of the HDMI Ethernet Channel, consumers will need to purchase either a Standard HDMI cable with Ethernet, or a High Speed HDMI cable with Ethernet. Consumers connecting an external device to an in-vehicle HDMI-enabled HD system will need the new Automotive HDMI cable. Consumers can expect to see new HDMI 1.4 cables introduced to the market when new HDMI 1.4 devices are available.

Consumers will have a choice of the following HDMI cables:

* Standard HDMI Cable – supports data rates up to 1080i/60;
* High Speed HDMI Cable – supports data rates beyond 1080p, including Deep Color and all 3D formats of the new 1.4 specification;
* Standard HDMI Cable with Ethernet – includes Ethernet connectivity;
* High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet – includes Ethernet connectivity;
* Automotive HDMI Cable – allows the connection of external HDMI-enabled devices to an in-vehicle HDMI device.

The HDMI standard continues to grow in the marketplace with now over 850 adopters worldwide. The growing adoption of the HDMI specification by both consumer electronics and PC manufacturers further strengthens its position as the worldwide standard for high-definition digital connectivity. According to market research firm In-Stat, over 394 million HDMI-enabled devices are expected to ship in 2009, with an installed base of 1 billion devices. By the end of 2009 100% of digital televisions are expected to have at least one HDMI input.

The HDMI specification 1.4 will be available for download at http://www.hdmi.org no later than June 30, 2009.
About HDMI Licensing, LLC

HDMI Licensing, LLC is the agent responsible for licensing the HDMI specification, promoting the HDMI standard and providing education on the benefits of the HDMI specification to adopters, retailers and consumers. The HDMI specification was developed by Hitachi, Panasonic Corporation, Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba as the all-digital interface standard for the consumer electronics and personal computer markets. The HDMI specification combines uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel audio in a single digital interface to provide crystal-clear digital quality over a single cable. HDMI Licensing, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc. For more information about the HDMI specification, please visit www.hdmi.org.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the HDMI 1.4 technology and its anticipated advantages, growth, market, adoption, consumer demand, and anticipated shipments and product introductions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks associated with the claims made regarding the HDMI 1.4 technology, as well as those risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Silicon Image’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These risks and uncertainties could cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Silicon Image assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

HDMI is a registered trademark of HDMI Licensing, LLC in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the Unites States and/or other countries.

The New Automotive HDMI?

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera

2009-05-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera

Main Features:
• 21.1 Megapixel Full-Frame Sensor
• 3.0" High Resolution LCD Display
• Live View Mode
• 1080p Movie Mode
• Rust & Weather-Resistant
• Self Cleaning Sensor
• Broad ISO Range (50-25600)
• 3.9 fps Burst Mode

What struck me about this digital SLR is that it has a 21.1 Megapixel Full-Frame Sensor. The resolution is just phenomenal. The other thing is it's able to record 1080p video at 30 fps (1920x1080 @ 30fps, 640x480 @ 30fps). Of course you need to supply the microphone and plug it in to the 1/8 inch stereo phono jack. Another plus is its ability to record 3.9 fps burst mode.

You can veiw using the Eye-level Pentaprism or the 3.0-inch High-resolution LCD Screen. The 3 inch TFT color LCD screen has 920,00 pixels which shows enough detail to be useable. Most people use the LCD to position the subject but there's enough detail shown in the 3 inch LCD to tell if you are in focus and estimate the depth of field. The LCD has been treated with an anti-reflection coating that is also water repellant (not water tight!). You still have to be careful on not allowing it to get wet.

It stores images on to a CompactFlash I/II media. CompactFlash II cards are currently up to 48GB in size so you can shoot in RAW mode and avoid compressing your images. It stores photos and video in these formats: RAW, sRAW1, sRAW2, JPEG, QuickTime.

The EOS 5D Mark II is compatible with all Canon lenses in the EF lineup with the exception of the EF-S lenses. There are a number of lenses ranging from the 14mm Ultra-Wide to 600mm Super Telephoto lense. If you currently have an EF lens, like I do, then you may not need to purchase another one. These lens feature Canon's Image Stablization that minimizes the effects of camera shake.

It comes with software and drivers for Win2000, WinXP, and Win Vista, as well as Mac OS X (10.3-10.4.x). It connects to your computer via USB 2.0 (mini-B). It comes with an A/V Out, HDMI (Type C), Stereo mini input, Dedicated port for optional Wireless WFT-E4/E4A.

Website: Canon EOS 5D

Using Neutral Density Filter For Long Exposure

2009-04-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

Over the years every now and then I would go out to the Desert (Joshua Tree) and take photos in complete darkness with no flash. Of course theis means I have to leave the shutter open for 1, 2, 3, sometimes 4 minutes. With my Canon I have to open the shutter a number of times because its limited to 30 second exposures. There is a lot of approximating in night photography. A light meter for instance just doesn't do any good so you just have to experiment to find what works. I use 400 ASA Kodak color film but also use Tri-X Black & White Print Film ISO 400 ASA.

Lately I've been wanting to take photos of city life but walking around town in complete darkness around here is sure to get you in trouble, especially if you have a camera. So I've been using two neutral density filters to reduce the amount of light that enters the camera. What is a ND Filter (Neutral Density Filter), in Photography an ND Filter (Neutral Density Filter) reduces the light at all wavelengths equally. This allows different (longer) expsoure time and aperture settings. My Canon XL-1s (video camera) comes with a built-in ND filter which enables you to turn it off when you get in low light areas, say a forest. The Filters are measured by their f-Stop reduction capabilities as follows:

Attenuation Factor	Filter Optical Density	f-Stop Reduction	% transmittance
2 4 8 64 1,000 10,000 1,000,000	0.3 0.6 0.9 1.8 3.0 4.0 6.0	1 2 3 6 10 13 20	50% 25% 12.5% 1.5625% <0.1%

As I said I've been using two different filters one has a Filter Optical Density of 3 and the other of 4. From the chart you can see that both reduce the amount of light quite a bit. I actually use them both together to get exposure times anywhere from 1 to 2 minutes during the middle of the day. I got the ND 3 from either B&H or Adorama Camera (I don't remember) and got the ND 4 filter from a friend. I haven't found one online.

Tiffen Filter Wheel 3 Neutral Density (ND) 3 Glass Filter

Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 Turnkey Editing System

2009-02-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 Turnkey Editing System

The system consists of a Win Vista (64-bit) computer system, Adobe Premiere Pro,

* 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
* 4GB RAM
* 1TB Hard Drive
* DVD Burner
* ATI Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB GDDR3 Graphics
* Premiere Pro Keyboard
* Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
* Windows Vista Business (64-bit)

The computer's motherboard is an Intel DX48BT2. The processor is a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 with 8M of L2 cache and a 1066 MHz bus speed. It comes with 2 GB of DDR2 ram.

The hard drive is a 500GB Barracuda SATA Hard Drive from Seagate though there is room for a number more. The motherboard has 6 SATA drive connections while the Titan 650 Server Case power supply can output 650 Watts of power. Which is enough to power 6 SATA drives if needed. The 500GB Barracuda runs at 7200 RPMs.

The video card is an nVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT PCI Express 2.0 Display Card from PNY. It has both an DVI and HDTV outputs. Each DVI Port is dual-link and allows for two high resolution digital displays to b connected.

The internal DVD is an Pioneer DVR-1910 20x Internal PATA Dual-Layer DVD Burner. It supports 8.5GB dual-layer DVD burning, and also supports standard 4.7GB DVD media. The drive can also burn CD-R/RW discs. It features a PATA interface, allowing you to install it into almost any modern computer.

Canon XH-A1 3 CCD Camcorder

2009-01-28T09:41:00.000-08:00

Canon GL-2 Mini DV 3CCD Camcorder Kit

The Canon XH-A1 is a budget camcorder that is based upon the XL-H1 HDV model. It uses the same 1/3 inch CCDs but doesn't come with the SDI output for example. It does shoot at 24 and 30 full frames per second as well as 60 frames per second interlaced.

It capable HDV resolutions are: 1080i/60i, 1080i/30f, 1080i/24f -
Using 3 1/3" Native 16:9 CCDs at 1440 x 1080 (Interlaced)

It outputs to miniDV tape and Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC), Secure Digital (SD), and MultiMedia Card (MMC)

The outputs include: Firewire, Component and Composite. The inputs are two XLR, and a 3.5mm microphone input.

The XH-A1 uses HDV compression which allows for over an hour of HD recording to fit on a miniDV tape. This package comes equipped with a camera bag and the entire Anton Bauer ElipZ 10k battery kit, including a battery, charger, and adapter cable.

Zacuto

2009-01-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

Zacuto is a one-stop-shop for custom designed HD 24p camera packages and Zacuto USA brand products. There camera packages are specifically designed so independent filmmakers have the necessary accessories needed to properly shoot a film with limited crew. Zacutoize your existing camera with Zacuto kits or purchase Zacuto components and create your custom dream package. Zacuto products provide solutions on 19mm, 15mm studio and 15mm lightweight rods. Zacuto is the new standard; with features like balancing (both tripod and handheld), quick-release and universally adapting to all cameras, monitors and components. Zacuto has become the leader in 35mm DOF Depth of Field adapter kits and accessories.

Sony Flexible OLED Screens At CES

2009-01-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

At the CES show in Las Vegas Sony shows off their flexible OLED screen. These screens are flexable. It cost about $2,500 US but I'm sure they will come down in price.

Sony DSC-G3 Camera Running On Linux with Wi-Fi

2009-01-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

The Sony DSC-G3 runs linux though you would never know. It's a 10-megapixel camera that has Wi-Fi. It uses Busybox which is a embedded system that runs on Linux. BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single small executable. It provides replacements for most of the utilities you usually find in GNU fileutils, shellutils, etc.

The camera comes with a Zeiss lens with 4x zoom, a 3.5" touch display and 4 GBytes of memory. Most interesting is the camera's software that includes, among other things, face and scene recognition.

Adobe to Discontinue Stock Photos Service

2008-02-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

Adobe Announced they will be discontinuing their Stock Photo Service

The Adobe Stock Photos service is being discontinued as of April 1, 2008, to allow Adobe to concentrate its efforts elsewhere. As of March 31, 2008, you will no longer be able to purchase photos from Adobe Stock Photos. You will be able to search for photos until March 4, 2008, and you 'll be able to check your account and re-download any past purchases until April 1, 2008. When you are finished purchasing and re-downloading any photos from Adobe Stock Photos, use the Adobe Stock Photos uninstaller to remove the Stock Photo service from your Creative Suite applications.

Surface Sound

2008-01-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

Helicopter silencers used to turn all surfaces stereo - [Google]

This will be great when you can completely enclose yourself in sound. It doesn't say anything about surround sound but it did say this: "The screen can be divided into as many as six different speaker zones, meaning someone could have online chats with a half dozen people at once." So I'd say that's a big Yes for surround sound.

"The UK ministry of defense was experimenting with a way to dampen the sound in helicopters and developed a honeycombed material that did the opposite -- conducted sound," James Bullen of NXT told AFP.

A prototype of a folding flat-panel speaker about the size of a pocket journal and 14 millimeters thick was among creations NXT showed off at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.he screen aims music directly at computer users while not interfering with what they are seeing on the screen.

The screen can be divided into as many as six different speaker zones, meaning someone could have online chats with a half dozen people at once."

Glitch could leave some TV blank in 2009

2008-01-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Glitch could leave some TV blank in 2009 [ap news]

"On Feb. 17, 2009, owners of full-power television stations will turn off their old-technology analog signals and broadcast in digital only. Viewers who receive their signals through an antenna who don't have a digital-ready TV will have to buy a converter box.

But here's the wrinkle: the mandate to go digital applies only to the roughly 1,760 "full-power" stations in the U.S. There are more than 2,900 low-power television stations and about 4,400 signal-relay stations known as "translators" that will not be required to go digital by the deadline."

Seagate flash memory-based hard drives on the market next year

2007-08-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Seagate to offer solid-state drives in 2008

Solid-state hard drives for the most part have no moving parts and require less power to operate. It appears they'll be coming out with capacites up to 160GB. These are very similar to what Panasonic is using in there HD cameras: Panasonic 16GB P2 Solid State Memory Card

Seagate says it plans to have flash memory-based hard drives on the market next year. The company says the solid-state drives will be available in laptop and desktop configurations at various capacities.

Flash-based drives will be lighter and less power-hungry than magnetic ones and less prone to disaster from physical abuse.

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2007-08-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

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