HDBaseT Cat 5 Technology is Useful, but No ‘HDMI Killer’

HDBaseT is not an “HDMI killer” as many in the media would lead you to believe.

In fact, the technology -- which can deliver HDMI signals over a single Cat 5 cable -- requires an HDMI chipset at both the transmitting (source) and receiving (display) ends – just like any other HDMI-over-Cat 5 solution.

Granted, the HDMI stack can be hidden in the source and display, exposing only a single Cat 5 connector, rather than an HDMI port.

So, while HDBaseT in its current iteration will not replace HDMI technology, it may end up supplanting the current HDMI cabling options, especially the wide variety of HDMI extenders used for longer distances.

In any case, “We’re not trying to be an HDMI extender,” says Micha Risling, VP of sales and marketing for Valens Semiconductor, which developed HDBaseT. “It’s only one segment that we’re after simply because we can. But we’re trying to introduce much, much more than that.”

In the HDBaseT universe, video, audio and related data signals are processed by the HDMI chip as usual, and HDBaseT takes it from there.


HDBaseT adds to HDMI, doesn't replace it

In addition to HDMI pass-through, the technology delivers:

• Uncompressed video including 4Kx2K resolution, HDMI pass-through and 3D support + audio + 100BaseT Ethernet + IR/serial control + power (up to 100 watts) … all over a single Cat 5 cable
• Extreme distances of up to 100 meters (330 feet) – more if you shed DRM limitations
• Potentially a standard that studios and CE manufacturers can all embrace

A Standard for HDMI Extenders?

Although HDMI extenders are not the end game for Valens, they represent a good starting point for HDBaseT.

One big problem with HDMI extenders today is that the transmitters and receivers are proprietary from vendor to vendor (and sometimes device to device), with no “electrical interoperability” between them.

That means you have to use a specific vendor’s products for all connection points within the HDMI chain. It also means that no one vendor’s technology is standardized across the entire CE industry for inclusion into Blu-ray players, A/V receivers, HDMI Matrix Switchers, TV sets, or test tools.

That’s the problem that Valens Semiconductor is hoping to solve with its newly promoted (but not newly formed) HDBaseT Alliance. The Alliance was first announced in December 2009 by Valens and partners LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The group got a boost on June 29 of this year when it ratified the HDBaseT 1.0 spec, incorporated the alliance, and transformed otherwise cautious A/V editors into love-struck hype-mongers declaring the death of HDMI (we wish).

As we already noted, currently HDBaseT sits on top of HDMI, so the video-transmission standard we love to hate isn’t going away soon.

The more appropriate discussion is this: If CE vendors and content providers want to standardize on one particular Cat 5 solution for HDMI – a good idea, by any account -- why not select a technology like HDBaseT that offers so much more?

Most manufacturers who already make HDMI extenders could keep doing what they’re doing. Audio, video and control data are processed as usual by the HDMI silicon (via TMDS, or Transition Minimized Differential Signaling).

“Since we [HDBaseT] have TMDS, it’s very easy for those making extenders to use our silicon,” says Risling. “From their perspective, it looks like a very long cable.

From the perspective of the consumer, however, it could look like a very expensive cable.

The Cost of HDBaseT

“It’s really only a good solution if you need to go 100 meters,” says Hagai Gefen, CEO of Gefen, currently one of the only implementers of HDBaseT technology. “For 100 meters, it’s easy to justify a more expensive solution, but for shorter distances there are less expensive options.”

Gefen’s HDBaseT dongles retail for $600 (HDMI + IR) and $700 (+ Ethernet) per set. The products do not implement the power capability of HDBaseT, and Gefen has not produced the HDBaseT product with power-over-cable that it announced last year.



Gefen's $700 HDBaseT implementation: Extra Long Range Extender for HDMI 1.3, IR, and Ethernet Over one CAT-5 cable (EXT-HDMI1.3-CAT5-ELR)

Today, the only other vendor to announce HDBaseT product for HDMI and data is Crestron, which is using the technology in its DigitalMedia 8G extreme media distribution system. The remarkable 8G can do with one wire what the original DigitalMedia could do with two, but it is hardly a testament to HDBaseT’s affordability.

In an interview with CE Pro, Valens would not comment on the price of its chipset or the cost of implementation. However, Risling says, “The fact that we see companies like Crestron on the side of the very high end, and Gefen on the lower end means that the overall system cost is reasonable.”

$600 for an HDMI extender may not sound “reasonable” to the average consumer, but in the end we can assume the price will fall dramatically if partners LG and Samsung actually deploy it in millions of CE devices … and convince their friends to join along. (Note that the Sony participant in the HDBaseT Alliance is Sony Pictures, not Sony Electronics.)

Risling says that HDBaseT chips will be available for mass production in less than six months.