| HDMI Part 3 - HDMI Version 1.3, Digital Connectivity at its Best |
| By Rodolfo La Maestra on July 31, 2006 |
Lets us review the new features and what those would mean for your HD system.
The foundation has been set for even higher bandwidths over a single-link. With double-link, if implemented, the 10.2 Gbps could virtually be doubled, if ever needed. How the possibility of several 1080p/60fps running simultaneously over HDMI for future applications sounds to you?
HDMI 1.3 enables manufacturers to build devices that can represent any color in nature, with as fine detail as can be seen by the human eye. The interface will no longer be a constraining pipe that forces all content to fit within a limited set of colors, unlike all previous video interfaces. In other words, this will let HDTVs and other displays go from millions of colors to billions of colors.
Significantly, the increased color bit-depth of HDMI 1.3 eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors. This enables manufacturers to deliver significantly increased contrast ratio.
HDMI 1.3 allows displays to represent many times more shades of gray between black and white.
At 30-bit pixel depth, four times more shades of gray would be the minimum, and the typical improvement would be eight times or more.
Many devices cannot accurately represent many colors that exist in nature - leading to the sometimes cartoony look that you see on some displays. What is worse is that current display technologies, such as backlit LCD displays, can display colors far beyond those described by previously existing color space standards.
The diagram on the right is a standard type of diagram used to display color spaces (the colors that can be depicted by a given device). The shaded area represents the colors in nature that the human eye can see. The triangle is a representation of the RGB color space.
The new xvYCC color standard is a real innovation. Current color standards represent only a small portion of colors that are viewable by the human eye.
By implementing the xvYCC color space standard, HDMI 1.3 removes virtually all limits on color selection and supports 1.8 times as many colors as existing HDTV signals. This is because the xvYCC color space standard defines colors by means of an algorithm that can specify any color in nature. This lets HDTVs display colors more accurately and with more natural and vivid colors. The first TV to use this standard was the Sony Bravia, which premiered at the 2006 CES in Las Vegas.
Higher refresh rates (up to 120hz) for smoother motion, less blurring and better gaming (faster response time).
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2006/04/multi-channel_a.php
As well as in a dedicated section of the 2006 HDTV Technology Review report:
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/reports/hdtv-technology-review.php
Stay tuned for Part 4 "1.3 Backward Compatibity".
