HDMI - An Evolving Standard

The design brief of HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) was to create a connector to provide digital high definition content, in one simple, easy to understand cable. Eschewing analog legacy cabling such as composite, S-Video and Component did indeed make things easier for consumers. For a time, things were less confusing than they had been in the past. Unfortunately, as malleable technology goes, it is increasingly easy to build on a standard. However, this mentality seems to have rebelled against the very basics of why the cable was created.

The latest iteration of the technology; 1.4 was standardised in the middle of 2009 and will soon be seen in the latest crop of 2010 consumer electronics, including LCD and Plasma Televisions, Blu-ray players, Amplifiers and Set-top Boxes. But what does this latest technology really offer? This is what we shall look at today.