The Evolution of HDMI
By Jason Knott
Spec has changed five times since 2002 inception to mimic the landscape of digital media.

Remember when DVI and Firewire were the cat's meow? It wasn't that long ago that the acronym HDMI was non-existent. Today, it's nearly ubiquitous (thanks to Hollywood's help).

The standard has come a long way since its inception in 2002. Five updates later, questions still abound with HDMI 1.4.

“There have been a lot of questions about the different versions of HDMI. One thing I want to emphasize is that HDMI is backward compatible from 1.0 through 1.4," says Jeff Park, technology evangelist for HDMI Licensing LLC.



"What that means is the basic foundation of the spec that was first introduced in 2002 is the same, and all the new specs introduced since then have been added on top of the original foundation.

"That means if you installed a 720p plasma in 2002 and the client calls you back to install a new Blu-ray player in 2010, those two devices will work together at the highest point possible. But since the TV is limited to 720p, that means all the devices in the connection will automatically default to 720p. You are not going to be able to magically upgrade the client’s 720p television to 1080p by connecting it to a new cable or new Blu-ray player, but you are not going to lose the 720p capability."

That same backwards-compatibility holds true with HDMI 1.4., says Park, pointing out the new features.

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