The reason for HDMI’s success was that it had all the right players in the eco-system. These included motion picture producers like FOX and DISNEY, the system operators Direct TV and Dish Network and consumer electronics giants such as Toshiba, Philips and Sony. But what was restricting further growth (or competition) was the limited number of semiconductor suppliers “in the know” to serve this eco-system. In what one author termed as a “self serving synergy”, the HDMI specification would be developed behind closed doors, giving an edge to those privy to the latest specifications. The rest of the semiconductor competitors would hence be playing a catch up game.  Before the competition could get ready, the new revision to the specification would be released, and the cycle continued…

HDMI has done an excellent job of future proofing itself. It has always been ahead of the game in terms of anticipating the next generation features of digital home theatre systems and other multi-media devices. The specification has evolved at a much faster pace compared to the other connectivity protocols like USB, DDR, SATA or PCI Express. New  features such as HEAC and 3-D mode incorporated into the 1.4 specification open new possibilities, for example ethernet connectivity.  However some education is needed as consumers and manufacturers will need to trade-off upgrading their systems for features that may (or not) necessarily be beneficial. To address this we were one of the first vendors to properly document the 1.4 use cases and implementation schemes and this has been appreciated by the eco-system.

With the rapid adoption and commoditization of HDMI, the number of startup companies serving this market has increased significantly. IP companies, like Synopsys are starting to play a very important role to serve this eco-system.  Using the HAPS 51 evaluation platform, our field application engineers are equipped to give HDMI hardware demonstrations using Synopsys PHY and controller IP, further enabling this eco-system.

For time to market reasons, and due to the fact that specification has evolved so rapidly, more and more SoC and system companies are deciding to purchase the HDMI IP. SoC and system designers are realizing that easy availability of HDMI IP in multiple process technologies is very essential to serve this high growth market. Ever since Synopsys acquired the MIPS Analog Business Group (ABG), we have leveraged the strengths of the two companies to penetrate into the HDMI eco-system. Inter-operability is a must for an IP provider, the CEC feature is an example which has caused difficultly for some vendors. Our recent achievements in ATC compliance - a 200 page tome with silicon characterization and plugfest report information highlights the commitment of Synopsys as an IP vendor to the eco-system. In fact, the consumer electronic giants are expecting certification reports as part of their qualification. As this market gets commoditized and fractured, there will be need for various process nodes to serve different applications. Companies like Synopsys will play a very key role in further enabling and expediting penetration of HDMI into multi-media devices.

What started as a discrete effort by a closed group, has truly gained global acceptance. However given the dynamics discussed above, a few players can no longer continue to dictate the market. As the number of HDMI ports has grown beyond 1 billion worldwide, this market will now be served by various competing companies from all sections of the eco-system.