The protesters outside St Paul's have been making a lot of headlines recently and creating a discussion point around the nature of capitalism and how the economy works.

These are far too big and important issues to go into in my humble blog post, however I did want to raise the interesting point of how we the consumer can drive big business to do more in terms of reducing the impact on our environment.

I was interested to see that www.epeat.net has been set up with the view of identifying manufacturers that have products with more environmentally-friendly features. This is an outcome of consumers wanting to know who is doing more to protect the environment and therefore create the real link between companies that care about their consumers.

I very much believe that the consumers of today and tomorrow will get better, more environmentally friendly, electronics simply because they choose to buy from the companies seen to be doing more. There are already some very good examples out there - for example, Samsung producing LED's with no mercury and 50% less power consumption.

This to me is how capitalism, and therefore the consumer, can be a positive force. If we avoid bad companies and move towards the harder working companies through natural selection the best companies will survive and thrive.

Now here is a small video to illustrate my point and some new technology.

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.

This week the government and the UK Marine Alliance launched a new initiative to raise the awareness of the important roll that the marine industry plays in the UK economy.

Business Minister and Co-chair of the Marine Industries Leadership Council Mark Prisk said

"Britain's marine industries are one of our best prospects for high value, high skilled economic growth. That's why we are launching the Marine Industries Growth Strategy to harness that potential and grow the industry by £8billion by 2020".

This sounds very exciting to me and this has a major positive impact on the UK electronics industry. Much of the manufacturing related to the marine industry is electronics based, from navigation & communication systems through to advanced control systems.

What's more, there is a great potential for the next generation as Lloyd's Register and the University of Southampton have already forged the largest university and business partnership of its kind in the UK.

The University's Vice-Chancellor Professor Don Nutbeam said:

"As a leading global centre of marine research and innovation, with strong links with maritime industries including SMEs and larger companies such as Lloyd's Register, we recognise the importance of establishing long-term relationships between business and academia. This approach ensures that university research is relevant to marine industries and that they in turn can benefit from our innovation. We therefore welcome this new strategy for sustainable growth."

This initiative, you will be pleased to here, is industry and not government lead. It is in my book a great example of how industry can get co-ordinated and then get the government to get excited about industry sectors that are often assumed to be dormant in the country.

This is very good news!

One thing that is good about big companies is their responsibility to society and, more specifically for the purpose of this blog, the environment.

The bigger the company the more pressure is put on them to show how much they care and want to make a positive difference. So let's look at who's been doing what in the connector industry to benefit the environment...

...Now, that's how the blog was supposed to go. However, after spending a lot of time searching for manufacturers with credible eco credentials, I was only able to find the following.

• Tyco Electronics, has just signed the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), further reinforcing the company's commitment to corporate responsibility and ethical business practices around the world.
• Molex has received the Earth Flag award from SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling & Composting Education), a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the DuPage County, Illinois community about conservation and recycling. The award-winning Earth Flag Certification Program was developed by SCARCE to help businesses become more environmentally responsible.
• Alpha Wire's new EcoWire is the latest innovation in hook-up wire. A true engineering breakthrough, EcoWire achieves increased performance in a wire that is fully recyclable.
  
  EcoWire derives its advantage from its unique insulation, a modified polyphenylene ether (mPPE) thermoplastic. mPPE-based insulation is non-halogenated and contains no heavy metal pigments, allowing it to help manufacturers meet Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) requirements.

I expected to find many more awards and plaudits given to big companies rewarding their efforts.  I would at this point welcome a correction so any reader that knows of a manufacturer with credible eco awards please do let me know.  

It is true everyone has great environmental policies and big statements on their websites but anyone can write an environmental policy with key values.  I like to see real measurable action.

So go-ahead let me know who else is doing great work out there!

Despite all the doom and gloom out there I have decided that I will not go along with it and do everything I can to find positive stories to comment on. There is plenty of good news out there. Recently an article in TWST.com sheds some positive light on the connector industry.  You can trust these guys - they really know what they are talking about!

A recent interview excerpt from The Wall Street Transcript (TWST.com) asks Steven O'Brien, a J.P. Morgan analyst specializing in coverage of connector giants Amphenol (NYSE:APH), Molex (NASDAQ:MOLX) and TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) about the investment outlook for these companies and their respective performance in the diversified global electronics market.

In response, O'Brien elegantly breaks down the many industries supporting the continuing growth in global demand for electronics connectors, and explains why connectors are such vital components in the signal/power chain:Basically, a connector connects one piece or part, and it could be the input/output portion of an electronic device, to typically the internal controls of a machine or a device. It could be carrying electronic signals, it could be carrying electrical power.

In either case, these connectors serve a vital function. Poor connections degrade signals or degrade power, resulting in lost efficiency or worse. So an ideal connector is one that has the least interference on the electronic signal or the electric power being carried through.
In terms of specific examples, [connectors] are used in everything. They are used in your mobile phones. They are used in automobiles. They are used in aircraft. They are used in military equipment. They are used in networking equipment. They are used in appliances. They are used everywhere.

I think, broadly, connectors are about a 50 billion a year industry right now. I'd say about 30% comes from communications. That includes both communications equipment like communication service providers use, as well as communication devices like smartphones and tablets. Industrial, which is a hodgepodge, it's the industrial automation equipment.
It's any kind of product used in terms of transportation, or oil and gas industry or mining, so on and so forth. It's hard to call that a market, but it's probably the next biggest user of connectors, I'd say. It's about 22% of the market.

Automotive would be a close third place, roughly around 18%. Aerospace and defence, and data networking, which includes computer servers and so and so forth, are both about 12% of the market. What you have left is probably about 5% of the market from appliances and consumer devices.Elsewhere in the interview, by way of explaining why exactly Amphenol, Molex and TE Connectivity are successful in their dominance of the industry, O'Brien had this to say:The broad theme here is [that these are all] companies that benefit from growing electronics penetration across industries. Connectors are used in any product or any device that has electronic signals, and that's pretty much everything these days. In any given industry, electronic content is growing, there is no denying that trend. All these companies broadly benefit from that trend.

Another major positive that the connector industry has going for it is that unlike other areas, you have broad and almost agnostic exposure to success of the various OEMs in any given industry. So you don't see the success of Amphenol, Molex or TE tied to the success of any other company. That is in contrast with the electronic manufacturing services industry where the troubles of companies like Cisco and RIM have been disruptive for their supply chain. You don't see that in the connector industry.We in the connector / interconnection industry have always felt secure that our products are the cornerstone of most electronic products so there is still plenty of opportunities out there.  We just have to be smart and work along side the still growing markets such as Space, Medical & communication industries.

Do you ever check what you are paying for is what you are getting? I expect most of you to say 'Of course I do'.

Well, the reality is that you probably do check that the correct quantity of product has arrived and they are the correct type of product, but how do you know that what you are buying is legal when it comes to copper cable?

A recent programme on the BBC, Fake Britain, showed how thousands of tonnes of copper cable had been found to be illegally marked because the cable was marked as a higher AWG grade than the copper is actually on the reel.

All this is not news to us in the cable assembly business because we have seen this for years. Suppliers in the far-east only putting 6 strands instead of 7, trying to be that little bit cheaper than the competitor.

Another consequence is copper-clad aluminium (CCA) cables. We are seeing a lot of Ethernet cables being offered into the market at substantially lower prices than traditional pure copper conductors. The problem is that although they pass the specific Cat 5e & Cat 6 test their performance is poor especially if you need to rely on them for video streaming and high bandwidth applications.

The main reason for all of this I believe is our fault because we keep expecting the price to go down when commodity prices like copper and oil are going up. At some point something has go to give.  

So, my challenge for today is to go to your stores and just check those reels of copper cable you have and satisfy yourself that you have what you paid for. Most importantly what YOUR CUSTOMERS expect to receive as a finished product from you.

So the next time you go through your QA for goods in, how about just adding a simple copper conductor test? Believe me, it will save you a lot of hassle in the future.

For all you Apple tech junkies out there we have some news for you.  As reported at the tech blogs Tapscape and The APPera, the Taiwan website Apple.pro - notoriously known for circulating leaked images of Apple devices ahead of formal release dates - has done it again.  

This time, images reportedly leaked from Apple's internal inventory reveal a white dock connector with a 90-degree tail end for an iPad-like device - speculated to be the iPad3, owing to the fervid amount of attention being paid to that device's anticipated release.
No telling, however, whether the pictured connector might not actually be for the rumoured iPad HD or even, it has been suggested, the quasi-mythical iPadPro tablets.

It's not the first time the rumour mill has swirled over these small, but not insignificant parts of these no-doubt-soon-to-be-everywhere tablet devices. That it swirls at all may tell us something about how pervasive the footprint of this technology might very soon be.

Either way I think this is a first for a UK blog, so quite literally you heard it here first!

Shocking news came in last week that HDMI.org the group responsible for keeping the HDMI Specifications in check, have declared that the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable to be unlicensed and that ALL UNITS must be withdrawn.

This report was carried by SlashGear - see HDMI to Mini DisplayPort Cables Declared Illegal (via TechRadar) - but I have been unable to confirm it. I did contact HDMI.org but have not received any replies yet, so I can't independently validate this as all being true.

In the SlashGear article, HDMI.org are quoted: "The HDMI specification defines an HDMI cable as having only HDMI connectors on the ends. Anything else is not a licensed use of the specification and therefore, not allowed. All HDMI products undergo compliance testing as defined by the Compliance Testing Specification. The CTS clearly defines necessary tests for all products defined in the HDMI Specification. Since this new cable product is undefined in the Specification, there are no tests associated with this product. It cannot be tested against the Specification."

If true, this is one of the biggest industry enforcements I have heard of in recent years and will have major implications to major manufactures like Toshiba and Apple who use the DisplayPort.

I have spoken to people in the industry who currently sell generic versions of the cable and they had not heard of this issue and quite rightly went into panic mode since they have been selling the cables for sometime.

I find all this quite confusing since there is a plethora of HDMI-to-something-else cables and why they choose to pick on this one is very strange. This story will continue to unravel and we will try to get to the bottom of this and find out what impact this will have on the market.

As I write this I can sense engineers all over the world rushing back to their desks to design out any HDMI interfaces. This could inadvertently be the beginning of the end of HDMI because if people have any doubts about something then generally people won't use it.

An advisory word to the wise and all electronics manufacturers is: before going into mass production just make sure your interconnection is both legal and you have the necessary licences to produce your products.