CE Pro June 2021 - 19
HDMI CORNER by DPL Labs
Audio+Video
HDMI Cable Power May Finally
Give Active Devices a Boost
IT SEEMS AMAZING to me
that the entire world had to
wait all this time to finally
get some extra power on
the HDMI bus. And while
it's not necessarily a perfect
solution, it will allow integrators the opportunity to use
active HDMI devices such as
active cables and fiber (AOC)
in systems without the worry
of not having enough power
to operate them.
Just to recap, when the
HDMI interface debuted
it introduced quite a few
firsts to an industry that for
50+ years worked under a
somewhat antiquated television system. The move from
analog to digital transmission
was a huge change to an
industry that quite frankly
is very slow in making any
changes, let alone a move
to an entirely new transmission format. These changes included much higher
bandwidths, and a transmission that had to take analog
video signaling, convert it to
a digital signal and then bring
it back to analog again.
However, the goal was to
not only provide a better TV
with better image quality,
but to make a standardized
international format and
deliver features and benefits
that could never be taken
advantage of in the analog
system. One, for instance,
was to introduce multiple
video resolutions, from 720p
up to today's 48G 8K and
10K offerings. This is accomplished by a channel within
the interface that allows
source and screen to communicate with each other.
This " fly-by-wire " approach allows not only these
features but even more
for future development.
The only downside is the
inverse response between
screen resolution and cable
used by an external device
that pulled substantial
current.
So how did all these active
cables work for all these
years? Well, in many instances they didn't. It all depended on the source device
and the amount of power
each device delivered. The
interface has power minimums, but that did not mean
the source electronics that
Almost every source
device had different power
minimums ... Many [HDMI]
systems failed to function correctly
due to insufficient power.
distance. The better the
resolution, the worse the
cable distance. This started
becoming an issue in the
1080p days with data rates
at 5G and up. To increase
these distances, extender
devices were used, and those
types of active devices were
employed inside and outside
of cable assemblies. But they
needed some form of power
source - where did that
come from?
The interface does in
fact have an internal power
source used to wake up the
system and supply some
crucial power to the display.
But it's not much, enough
to power four or five LEDs.
It was never designed to be
supplied this power couldn't
provide more. Almost every
source device had different
power minimums; some at
HDMI limits and others way
above. Many systems failed
to function correctly due to
insufficient power.
HDMI never offered any
active cable certification
testing, so integrators continued to implement them in
any system they wanted. This
goes for copper and fiber. It's
really very risky when you
think about it. Even worse,
supply problems do not
necessarily cause issues at
start up. Many active cables
DPL tested had issues due
to operating thresholds that
varied over time. These can
be due to thermal and consumption inconsistencies.
Now in comes 48G with
the highest data rate and
shortest passive cable
length offering ever, less
than 10 to 15 feet! Now we
have no choice, as active
devices will be required to
improve these distances
whether they are copper
or fiber. You would have
thought that with the
introduction of 48G this
power issue would have
been rectified, but it was
not addressed. So, all these
AOCs installed out there
are scrambling to get power
management under control
with external power or with
more efficient active chips
that use low current. We
need a robust power source
for any active device to
perform correctly and never
had it until just recently
when HDMI added Cable
Power to the spec to support these active devices.
But don't break open the
champagne just yet. It is
unknown which companies
will be offering this option.
So how can the integrator
know? You need to find a
Cable Power label by reading
all the features and specs on
those source devices.
JEFF BOCCACCIO,
president of DPL Labs, can
be reached at info@dpllabs.
com, or visit dpllabs.com.
cepro.com June 2021 CE Pro | 19
C2106 pp19 HDMI Corner.indd 19
5/11/21 2:06 PM
http://www.dpllabs.com
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CE Pro June 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro June 2021
CE Pro June 2021 - Presentation
CE Pro June 2021 - Cover1
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