What does the UDI-HDMI connection mean for future Macs?

Posted by Dennis Sellers Jan 30, 2006 at 9:28pm

Apple is working with Intel on UDI (unified display interface). The In-Stat research says that HDMI technology is phasing out DVI (Digital Visual Interface), the technology used to connect the current line of Apple Cinema Displays. Obviously, changes are in store for the world of computer displays in the coming years.

The UDI work is designed to create a better link for connecting computers to high-definition televisions and other consumer devices. The goal is to replace VGA, a non-digital technology with HDMI (for high-definition multimedia interface). HDMI offers an uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface. It provides an interface between any audio/video source, such as a set-top box, DVD player, or A/V receiver and an audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV), over a single cable.

Quality-wise, DVI and HDMI are pretty much equal, but the latter offers several “extras.” HDMI carries audio as well as video, and uses a different type of connector, but both use the same encoding scheme. This is why a DVI source can be connected to an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, with a DVI/HDMI cable, with no intervening converter box.

HDMI supports standard, enhanced, or high-definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and supports 8-channel digital audio, with bandwidth to spare to accommodate future enhancements and requirements. The HDMI Founders include consumer electronics manufacturers Hitachi , Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Philips, Sony, Thomson (RCA), Toshiba, and Silicon Image. Digital Content Protection (a subsidiary of Intel) is providing High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) for HDMI. In addition, HDMI has the support of major motion picture producers Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and Disney (which brings to mind the new Steve Jobs/Pixar and thus Apple connection), and system operators DirecTV, EchoStar (Dish Network) as well as CableLabs.

The standard Type A HDMI connector has 19 pins, and a higher resolution version called Type B, has been defined, although it’s not yet in common use. Type B has 29 pins, allowing it to carry an expanded video channel for use with high-resolution displays. Type-B is designed to support resolutions higher than 1080p.

Type A HDMI is backward-compatible with the single-link DVI used on modern computer monitors and graphics cards. This means that a DVI source can drive an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, by means of a suitable adapter or cable; however, the audio and remote control features of HDMI will not be available. Additionally, without support for HDCP, the video quality and resolution may be artificially downgraded by the signal source to prevent the end user from viewing or especially copying legally protected content. Type B HDMI is similarly backward-compatible with dual-link DVI.

A new display standard is needed if low-cost computers with simple graphics technology are going to be able to send content to high-definition TVs and displays. Which means UDI offers some interesting potential for future “media center” Macs, whether we’re talking repositioned Mac minis, the iMac or Apple-products-yet-to-be-unveiled. UDI—expected to emerge in the second quarter of the year—promises to bring the features and functionality of HDMI to mainstream computers. Offering compatibility with both HDMI and DVI, a UDI computer would work with HDMI TVs or DVI digital displays.

So what does this mean? If nothing else, I expect the next rev (the Mactel versions) of Apple’s pro desktop line to inherently support UDI and therefore HDMI. This means they’ll have the advantages of HDMI but will still be fully compatible with the DVI-based Cinema Displays now available.

Thoughts? Write me at dsellers@macsimumnews.com

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