Have you ever wondered what the different versions of HDMI are and if they work together and mover over which are the best cables to purchase?  Thanks to our good friends at HDMI.org we have the answers.

Firstly let’s start with the basics.  What are the advantages of HDMI over existing analogue video interfaces such as composite, S-Video and component video?

Quality: Because HDMI is a digital interface, it provides the best quality of the video since there are no lossy analogue to digital conversions as are required for all analogue connections (such as component or S-video). The difference is especially noticeable at higher resolutions such as 1080p. Digital video will be sharper than component, and eliminates the softness and ghosting found with component. Small, high contrast details such as text bring this difference out the most.

Ease-of-use: HDMI combines video and multi-channel audio into a single cable, eliminating the cost, complexity, and confusion of multiple cables currently used in A/V systems. This is particularly beneficial when equipment is being upgraded or added.

Intelligence: HDMI supports two-way communication between the video source (such as a DVD player) and the DTV, enabling new functionality such as automatic configuration and one-touch play. By using HDMI, devices automatically deliver the most effective format (e.g 480p vs 720p, 16:9 vs 4:3) for the display that it is connected to - eliminating the need for the consumer to scroll through all the format options to guess what looks best.

HD Content-Ready: HDMI devices supporting HDCP have the comfort of knowing they will have access to premium HD content now and in the future. HD-DVD and Blu-ray have delayed the activation of the image constraint token (a.k.a. content protection flag) with today’s HD movies to help minimize potential issues caused by the transition, but are expected to activate this in a few years, meaning future HD movies will then not be viewable at HD resolutions over unprotected interfaces such as analogue component.

The following provides an overview of major functionality added to each version of HDMI:

HDMI 1.1:

• Support for DVD Audio.

HDMI 1.2:

• Adds features and capabilities that increase HDMI's appeal for use in both the CE and PC industries. Specifically, the features and modifications for HDMI 1.2 include: Support for One Bit Audio format, such as SuperAudio CD's DSD (Direct Stream Digital), changes to offer better support for current and future PCs with HDMI outputs, including: availability of the widely-used HDMI Type A connector for PC sources and displays with full support for PC video formats, ability for PC sources to use their native RGB colour space while retaining the option to support the YCbCr CE colour space, requirement for HDMI 1.2 and later displays to support future low-voltage (i.e., AC-coupled) sources, such as those based on PCI Express I/O technology.

HDMI 1.2a:

• Consumer Electronic Control (CEC) features and command sets and CEC compliance tests are now fully specified.
• Creation of version 1.2a of the HDMI Compliance Test Specification (CTS), which includes a CEC Supplement. HDMI CTS 1.2a has been updated for technical consistency with HDMI Specification 1.2a as well as to the recently released HDMI Specification 1.2.
• Significantly, CTS 1.2a contains additional cable and connector testing and Authorized Testing Centre (ATC) submission requirements. Specifically, under CTS 1.2a, the Adopter shall submit for testing to the ATC any new HDMI cable whose length exceeds previously tested cables.
• Additionally, HDMI Licensing, LLC will maintain a list of approved connectors. For a device to pass CTS 1.2a testing at an ATC, all connectors on such device must appear on the approved connector list. To add a connector to this list, the vendor must submit to the ATC or HDMI Licensing, LLC full and passing testing results.

HDMI 1.3:

• Higher speed: HDMI 1.3 increases its single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps) to support the demands of future HD display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Colour and high frame rates. In addition, built into the HDMI 1.3 specification is the technical foundation that will let future versions of HDMI reach significantly higher speeds.
• Deep Colour: HDMI 1.3 supports 10-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit (RGB or YCbCr) colour depths, up from the 8-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification, for stunning rendering of over one billion colours in unprecedented detail.
• Broader colour space: HDMI 1.3 adds support for “x.v.Color™” (which is the consumer name describing the IEC 61966-2-4 xvYCC colour standard), which removes current colour space limitations and enables the display of any colour viewable by the human eye.
• New mini connector: With small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras demanding seamless connectivity to HDTVs, HDMI 1.3 offers a new, smaller form factor connector option.
• Lip Sync: Because consumer electronics devices are using increasingly complex digital signal processing to enhance the clarity and detail of the content, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI 1.3 incorporates automatic audio synching capabilities that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with total accuracy.
• New HD lossless audio formats: In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and all currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby® Digital and DTS®), HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™.

Well done for getting this far and as a reward here is a video overview of HDMI.

According to a recent announcement, Silverstone race track will gain its own technical college to specialise in engineering.

Set up with Northampton University and a local college, it will be one of 13 UTCs to offer highly technical subjects to teenagers from next year.

For those of us in the highly technical business of electronics this can only be good news. There is, believe it or not, a shortage of the right type of skilled engineers and this is a great new move by the government to up-skill our workforce. This is also great news for us as Silverstone is right on our door step!

There are already two UTCs open in England, one sponsored by heavy plant manufacturers JCB in Staffordshire and the other, The Black Country UTC, in Walsall in the West Midlands. And three more are already in the pipeline.

They offer 14- to 19-year-olds the opportunity to take a full time, technically oriented course of study and are supposed to be very well equipped with modern technical facilities.

They are sponsored by a university and aim to offer clear routes into higher education or further learning in work.

For those of us who work in the very specialised area of Cable Assembly, the skills required at the top end of the industry can not be underestimated. Quite literally there is a big lack in these specific skills and we already have close links to academia fighting the good fight against the popularism of IT as the default choice for most students.

Having worked in both industries, I can say that had I been given the opportunity to take a course in high-end manufacturing I would have taken it.

I am very happy that we are starting to see some very positive moves in getting our young excited about our industry it can only be good for all of us.

The following list is my personal Top Ten of connectors. The connectors I have chosen are based on my experience and personal preference and no other criteria. I just like them!

1 - The D-Type Connector

2 - RJ45 Ethernet Connector

3 - IDC Connectors

4 - Molex KK Series

5 - SMA Connector

6 - Tyco Mate-N-Lok

7 - Harting Han Series -

8 - JST PHR Series

9 - The Mill Spec Mill-C 26482

10 - IEC C Series

I think you can make just about anything work using the above connecters, mostly they have been around for ages, that's not a bad thing because anything that lasts in this industry is because it works and works well.