DVI to HDMI - HDMI Basics Part 2

In the last post we discussed the benefits of HDMI and other basic information. Now we'd discuss some more details regarding the benefits of HDMI.

HDMI is mainly meant for transferring digital information like audio and video in an uncompressed format, and there would be no degradation of quality while that happens.

One important thing to note though is, that it is totally compatible in a backward way with dvi. So you would just require a dvi cable to connect and a dvi to hdmi adapter in between. This enables the device manufacturers to put in extra detail in the output given by the devices.

Previously in the earlier display devices, there used to be one way communication channel between the video source and the display device. But then with the advent of HDMI, there has been set up a two way communication channel between the two, and the the source of the video can now contact the display device, and then device can talk back to the source and try adjusting itself automatically based on the content being served by the source. This enables the device to identify whether a source is sending information at a 4:3 ratio or 16:9 ratio and then adjust itself to broadcast that resolution.

HDMI also keeps in mind the distances usually used for cables, and thus it can easily accommodated copper cables of length up to fifteen meters. And best part is, it doesn't even require amplifiers to amplify the signal. This is a lot better when compared to the dvi amplifier which need to be repeated every 5 meters.


Another great advantage of the HDMI cables is the fact that it is very easy to manufacture the HDMI cables. At higher resolutions you can easily make out the quality difference between a normal S-video and a HDMI brought in video. Even when you look at the corners of the text, it is very noticeable.

Very important advantage is the fact that, HDMI is a single cable, and thus reduces the hassle of connecting multiple cables at multiple spots. This also reduces the mess that is usually created behind the tv. This cable can be effectively used in dvi to hdmi connection.

DVI to HDMI : HDMI Basics Part 1

HDMI stands for the High Definition Multimedia Interface, and was initially developed and released in 2002 December. HDMI was mainly developed for carrying an uncompressed video and digital information over the same interconnect, and the first version was named HDMI ver 1.0. After two years of time, HDMI 1.1 was released in the year 2004 May, and was followed by 1.2 in 2005 Aug, and then finally 1.2a in the very year December.

The versions kept getting upgraded, although there weren't many changes done to the previous versions. In November 2006, HDMI 1.3a was released and again 1.3b was released in March, and in June 2009, HDMI was updated to 1.4 version. In 1.4 though, they added an Ethernet channel, and thus HDMI cable requires additional cable.

Even though HDMI came out in the year 2002, it took almost an year for device developers to fully accept the new cable technology and then adopt it int their device. Thus the first HDMI device started to appear in the year 2003. After the launch of first HDMI device, the HDMI has become vary famous, and has even lead to the cross cable supports like dvi to hdmi. Since then there has been a spike growth in the number of devices that have adopted the HDMI technology, and its almost estimated that there are already more than 200 million devices which are HDMI enabled.

Philips, Panasonic, Sony, Slilicone Image, Thmoson and Hitachi were the leading companies which first developed the HDMI standard. Soon the rest of the electronic device manufacturers followed. HDMI is made to be totally compliant with the High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection ( HDCP) which is mainly about providing copyright protection to the digital content. Many of the major movie producers like Disney, Warner Bros, Fox also support HDMI and so do the system operators such as EchoStar.

Benefits of HDMI

When you look at the composite tv cables you'd notice that there are two or more separate cables to connect the audio and video from the source to the destination. But in case of HDMI, the basic idea was to use a a single interconnection which could effectively carry both audio and video signals. And in this case, the data source can be anything like DVD player, A graphics card, set top box.

The first noticeable benefit of HDMI cables or DVI to HDMI cables is the fact that, they readily reduce the mess that is usually caused by the normal composite tv cables. These HDMI cables or dvi to hdmi cables look sleek and are short and are strong. Thus they can be tucked away behind the table.