6 Pop Songs Great for Audio Demos
Worst DIY Installs Ever Part 7
10 Must-Have Products for Your Next Install
6 Amazing High-End Home Theaters
Print
Email
Comments (2)
Share
Licensing Chief: Still No Such Thing as ‘Wireless HDMI’
HDMI Licensing president Steve Venuti tells CE Pro there's no test for wireless or field-terminatable HDMI, so none of these products are HDMI-certified ... not that it matters.
Leslie Chard, former president of HDMI Licensing, told CE Pro in 2008, “There is no such thing” as “wireless HDMI.”
More than two years and plenty of products later, the answer is still the same, but the messenger has changed.
“HDMI is a wired play,” Chard’s successor Steve Venuti tells CE Pro. “That’s it. There is no wireless play. It [HDMI Licensing] sees wire as always delivering the highest bandwidth and the highest quality.”
That’s especially true given the increasing bandwidth requirements of new technologies such as 3D, 4k x 2k and who knows what else in the future.
The official stance – and the Wikipedia “Wireless HDMI” page (a shill for Avocent) notwithstanding -- Venuti does recognize the need for retrofit HDMI solutions. He notes the availability of some excellent wireless cables that incorporate “the most popular A/V connector for uncompressed digital data.”
Just don’t call them “HDMI” because the products are not certified by HDMI Licensing; they are not HDMI 1.3 or HDMI 1.4 “compliant.”
We asked Venuti: “So, do you still yell at people when they use the term ‘wireless HDMI?’”
“Yes,” he says, “and they still do it.”
HDMI Licensing certainly is not ignoring the wireless HD community. Venuti and his colleagues spend time with key developers – including former colleague Les Chard, who is currently the president of Amimon, purveyor of Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology.
It’s not that HDMI Licensing is collaborating with Amimon or its competitors to create a certifiable product. It’s more like, “Can you tell us where you’re going so we know what to think about?” Venuti says.
Stay tuned for a round-up for current developments in “wireless HDMI”
And, by the way, there are no HDMI-compliant field-terminatable cables, according to Venuti.
Despite efforts by Audioquest (update to come) and most recently BTX, HDMI Licensing has yet to figure out a way to certify cables whose connectors are sold separately.
It’s pretty simple, says Venuti: “All products have to be tested” and there’s no way to test a product that depends on the skills of an installer.
Not that it really matters. There are thousands of non-certified "HDMI" cables on the market. Some work fine. Others don't. The same could be said of certified cables.
More than two years and plenty of products later, the answer is still the same, but the messenger has changed.
“HDMI is a wired play,” Chard’s successor Steve Venuti tells CE Pro. “That’s it. There is no wireless play. It [HDMI Licensing] sees wire as always delivering the highest bandwidth and the highest quality.”
That’s especially true given the increasing bandwidth requirements of new technologies such as 3D, 4k x 2k and who knows what else in the future.
The official stance – and the Wikipedia “Wireless HDMI” page (a shill for Avocent) notwithstanding -- Venuti does recognize the need for retrofit HDMI solutions. He notes the availability of some excellent wireless cables that incorporate “the most popular A/V connector for uncompressed digital data.”
Just don’t call them “HDMI” because the products are not certified by HDMI Licensing; they are not HDMI 1.3 or HDMI 1.4 “compliant.”
We asked Venuti: “So, do you still yell at people when they use the term ‘wireless HDMI?’”
“Yes,” he says, “and they still do it.”
HDMI Licensing certainly is not ignoring the wireless HD community. Venuti and his colleagues spend time with key developers – including former colleague Les Chard, who is currently the president of Amimon, purveyor of Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology.
It’s not that HDMI Licensing is collaborating with Amimon or its competitors to create a certifiable product. It’s more like, “Can you tell us where you’re going so we know what to think about?” Venuti says.
Stay tuned for a round-up for current developments in “wireless HDMI”
Plus, No Such Thing as Field-Terminated HDMI
And, by the way, there are no HDMI-compliant field-terminatable cables, according to Venuti.
Despite efforts by Audioquest (update to come) and most recently BTX, HDMI Licensing has yet to figure out a way to certify cables whose connectors are sold separately.
It’s pretty simple, says Venuti: “All products have to be tested” and there’s no way to test a product that depends on the skills of an installer.
Not that it really matters. There are thousands of non-certified "HDMI" cables on the market. Some work fine. Others don't. The same could be said of certified cables.
Spotlight on Wireless AV
|
Licensing Chief: Still No Such Thing as ‘Wireless HDMI’ Best Buy, Cisco Invest in Wireless HD Chipmaker Tips for Installing WAPs Outdoors Understanding Wireless AV Technologies MoCA, Verizon Enlist Custom Installation Pros for Whole-House Installs Toshiba UX600 LED TV Delivers WiFi Web Apps Hands On: Iogear Wireless A/V Kit What is a CE Pro Spotlight? |
 Ways to Stream Sports
Some of the ways sports nuts can cut their cable and satellite cords. Wireless Audio Roundup
Audio products using the latest in wireless technologies. |
 Wired vs. Wireless
Discussion Forum: Has a customer ever insisted their entire system be wireless? How did you handle it? |
 Sponsored by IO Gear
Learn more about IO Gear's innovative all-in-one computer connectivity products and solutions. |
||
Subscribe to the CE Pro Newsletter
Read more Spotlight stories
9 Tips for Selling Lighting ControlDSC Taps iControl for Cloud-based Security, Home Automation
LevNet Self-Powered Wireless Devices Save Energy, Batteries
Another Reason to Hoard Incandescents: Easy Bake Oven
Could Motorized Shades Drive Home Automation?
More in Spotlight
Article Topics
News · Product News · Wire and Cable · HDMI · Wireless A/V · Spotlight · Wireless Av · Ppc · Hdmi Licensing · Amimon · Field-terminatable Hdmi · Steve Venuti ·About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
2 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
eesh, I don’t know what’s worse, having to deal with HDMI or having to continually write about it. I don’t envy you Julie! 
Page 1 of 1 comment pages
Julie,
What about certification for HDMI over IP products? I know there are a few options in the marketplace - are any of these HDMI certified, and if not, is there a certification path for this?