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Industry Opinion: AV Distribution - is it all HDMI? (29/8/2008)

By Yasmin Hashmi, HiddenWires

Ask any of your non-industry friends or family whether they know what HDMI is, and you’re likely to get a mixed response. As far as the residential custom install industry is concerned however, HDMI is an essential part of any project involving AV distribution. Or is it?

We asked a number of leading lights in the cable industry what installers are demanding in terms of cables and connectors for residential AV, and whether HDMI is being adopted as quickly and as widely as anticipated. Here are their replies:

John Carrick, Sales Director, Atlas Cables

A wide array of new products is coming to market this year using the most advanced HDMI 1.3-enabled features, such as x.v.Color, Deep Color and the newest lossless HD audio formats from Dolby and DTS. HDMI is also expanding into new product categories.

HDMI is the leader in digital connectivity for high-definition consumer electronics from entry-level devices to high-end home theatre systems, including TVs, set-top boxes, DVD players and A/V receivers. In addition, the HDMI specification is experiencing rapid growth in the game console, digital still camera, camcorder, portable media player and PC markets, as manufacturers meet consumer demand for multimedia convergence. Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Hitachi, JVC, Toshiba and Sanyo have announced or are shipping HD camcorders featuring HDMI technology. Nikon, Sony and Samsung have already released digital still cameras containing HDMI technology, further demonstrating the proliferation of HDMI into new portable consumer electronics product categories.

The market for cables runs to billions worldwide, but dealers and installers should take care over the claims being made by vendors. For example the HDMI test authority will only pass HDMI cables for 1080p 1.3 version Cat.2 in lengths up to 6 metres. Long runs that work with previously available hardware may not work with current hardware. Hard luck if the cable has been plastered behind a wall!

Greg Schwartz, President, BTX Technologies

Residential contractors are still demanding standard audio, video and data connectors, cables and tools for their installations. However, over the past few years, we have seen an increase in demand for HDMI-related products that exceed that of competitive formats and has surpassed our forecasts.

While HDMI can simplify an installation by offering a single cable for digital video and audio transmission, problems associated with distributing the signal to displays with differing native resolutions has been a challenge for designers and integrators. Additionally, cable length limitations, the non-positive locking nature of the connector itself, combined with the inability to terminate in the field, have been obstacles for installers and end users alike. Some of our customers believe it’s more prudent to install component cables in lieu of HDMI to avoid problems that may occur when plasma and LCD displays are upgraded in the future. It is this line of thinking that has prevented HDMI from being considered the better mouse trap.

Tim O'Malley, UK Distributor, Supra Cables

For residential AV distribution, we are currently seeing a high demand for both long and short cables of many types, hence we try to keep all available lengths in stock, just in case.

In terms of type of cables and connectors, the demand is around 75% HDMI, and we're starting to see an increase in demand for v1.3a specification HDMI cables - even though there isn't much hardware and software available at present. No doubt many installers are thinking ahead so as to ensure as much future proofing of their installation as possible - after all, how many would want to go back and rewire things once a customer has bought a shiny new PS3 or high-end plasma?

Adam Thompson, Sales and Marketing Support, Henley Designs

In our experience it’s less of a case of ‘is HDMI being adopted?’ more that HDMI, and in particular a 1.3 compliant version, is already required as standard. So much so that all the installers we speak to can't easily remember doing an install that didn’t require HDMI, and most now rarely use SCART, S-VHS or component cables.

One of the most interesting trends in home cinema cabling has to be the phoenix-like rise of the once humble optical cable. With Sky boxes and many Freeview TVs only having an optical output for digital sound, installers are now demanding a high-quality optical cable that is also tough and durable.

Rich Baxter, Senior Certified Trainer, Monster Europe

The biggest problem, before we even talk about HDMI, is getting the consumer to understand that SCART is not the way forward, but while HDMI is being pushed as much as possible, and as quickly as high definition is evolving, you simply cannot run 20m of digital cable the same way you can analogue. 6m - 15m is the maximum most experts believe you can run high-quality HDMI cables without degrading the 1080p signal. Anything beyond that, and an HDMI booster will be required to re-gain the signal and extend it further. The point is, the average customer is not aware of any of this. Every installer I have spoken to has this knowledge, realises the issues ahead, and usually goes prepared to offer HDMI first and explain why.

There is also the problem of future proofing what has been installed. As HD evolves, demand on the HDMI cable also evolves, so using a medium-speed cable running at 4.95Gbps in a custom install maybe OK today, but what about the next few years? HD will go beyond 1080p, 8-bit colour and 16-bit sound, so when the next level arrives, does the customer have to rip out their cables from the wall and repeat the process of a new custom install? Unfortunately, yes - just to replace one cable that essentially looks the same.

For this reason alone, custom install using HDMI has to be seriously planned. A cable running at 10.2Gbps will give much longer performance without ripping the walls out again, but that day will still come. Therefore, at present, custom install with HDMI has yet to overshadow other connections, despite it being the ‘best’ connection.

As a company, we have recognised the problems ahead and not only developed higher speed HDMI cables running at 23m without the need for boosters, but also the use of wireless streaming of 1080p HDMI signals. And as the demands of high definition increase, so too will the performance of wireless streaming.

Chris Auckland, Technical Sales, LINDY UK

The growth of home cinema and high-definition television is undeniably driving the widespread adoption of the HDMI standard in the home. With HDMI cables now the preferred type of cable for many home installations, it will eventually overtake SCART as the standard AV cable in use, but whether it lasts as long as SCART's thirty year reign remains to be seen. In addition, alternatives such as DVI, component with Toslink audio and AV over homeplug technology are experiencing an increase in demand.

Residential AV installers are looking for product features that are quite different to those of commercial installations, where VGA is still very much in force. For the home market, products need to be installer friendly, not just user friendly, particularly if the job is being carried out for a fixed price. Spending extra time on the installation can seriously dent profit margins.

It is still early days for HDMI installations, but already we are seeing a demand for modular wall plate systems and wall plates with right-angled interfaces on the rear that make cable management easier. Where cables cannot be hidden, installers want HDMI cables with a flat profile or white cables to run against white surfaces, and users are looking for a range of finishes to the products that they can coordinate with their interior decoration.

HDMI installations however, are not without their challenges. As installers know only too well, HDMI has more cabling and length limitations than traditional installations, along with a fair share of compatibility problems, although these are starting to be addressed by the AV companies. Where an installation requires cable runs that exceed the maximum recommended cable distances, then HDMI over either CAT5 or fibre is needed, and we expect demand for this type of product to increase substantially over the next 18 - 20 months, particularly as more users look towards technologies such as NAS to provide video and audio streaming.

As the market moves forward and home cinema becomes more affordable, we also expect to see the demand for matrix switches, signal extenders and distributors, including wired and wireless solutions to increase.

Alan Quinby, Director, Keene Electronics

The majority of domestic installations use wall outlet faceplates, and more and more of these are now being custom machined to match their client’s requirements exactly. HDMI faceplates remain consistently popular, although HDMI itself has been problematic for domestic distribution, with compatibility issues and cable length limitation being the main factors. Wherever possible, many installers still prefer component for HD as this still gives the most dependable solution.

HDMI uptake however, is being forced by the gradual withdrawal of HD component by manufacturers, although HDMI to component/RGB convertors are a popular problem solver. Recent dramatic price drops make HDMI via CAT5 a sensible option that is much more practical for long cable runs, and SCART to HDMI convertors ease the integration of legacy equipment.

Looking to the future, it seems inevitable that developments in bandwidth and compression technology will allow complex installations to be handled entirely by TCP/IP networks. Who knows, one day we may even have reliable wireless networks!

Rob Hay, Business Development Manager, The Multi-Room Company

Customers are demanding HDMI for their installations as they are led to believe, rightly or wrongly, that it provides the ultimate in picture and sound quality. This puts demands on the installer to ensure that an HDMI signal path is put in-situ, even when they feel it may not be the best solution. Obviously, the auto aspect ratio capabilities and positioning of HDMI as a simple plug and play solution make it very appealing to the end user. Explaining that a good quality component feed is possibly going to give a better picture and is more reliable doesn’t hold much weight with a consumer base that demands HDMI, and of course it doesn’t overcome the HDCP 1080p issues.

So we have to use HDMI, and more importantly, we have to make it work reliably. Local HDMI in-room is fine as, for the most part, HDCP and handshake issues in directly connected systems are a thing of the past. The problems arise when multiroom and multisource distribution is required. Ask ten installers for their preferred HDMI distribution solution and you’ll get ten different answers. There are many balun and matrix systems on the market being used by installers, but what does seem to be commonplace currently is that most are installing a back-up in the form of a component video and stand alone audio distribution system.

One could therefore easily conclude that at the moment HDMI is adding an extra level of cost and consumer expectation, whereas a component and separate audio system might well have been sufficient and more reliable.

The more sensible option is to ensure that projects have an extensive LAN cabling system - media servers, Apple TV, squeeze boxes etc. A huge number of 'locally' placed streaming products can then sit on the wired network with a local connection giving speed, robustness, security and reliability.

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