Just been reading about this on The Register:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/01/hdbaset/

Some big name players such as Sony, LG and Samsung want to do away with the AV cables and connectors we currently use and use CAT5/6 ethernet cables instead.

I think this could be brilliant or not necessary in my opinion, if they just simply use the ethernet cables to link your Blu Ray player to your TV and that's it it would be a complete waste.

If they allowed you to run the signal through switches or powerline networking it would be a massive step forward, imagine plugging your Sky box into the mains then plugging a TV in anywhere else in the house and being able to watch Sky (obviously some pairing config would need to be done) over the built in Powerline networking.

Or similarly, your PS5 is under the TV in the lounge but your missus is watching the TV and you fancy playing COD15 on the Sony TV you have the second lounge / bedroom whatever so you grab a controller and connect it to the bluetooth in the second TV then stream the AV from the PS5 to the TV you happen to be using.

Ths HDBaseT could be so good, but i'm not holding out much hope.

Very interesting. Really hope that comes to fruition.

Like the idea very much!

Can see Cat 7 coming in very handy to cover all thats needed to maintain a quality signal!

Lets hope it becomes reality in the next 5 years!

(I say 5 years as IvE recently invested in a lot of HDMI kit and would be rather miffed if it became obsolete tomorrow lol)

I don't care for the 100W power, in fact I'd rather not have it, but otherwise it looks nice.

Will it change my telly over when I switch my HD box on - that's all I'm bothered about! SCART did it, so it can't be that hard for our Far Eastern cousins to reverse-engineer something the French came up with...?!?

Powerline networking is a nightmare... just turns house wiring into a massive antenna that interferes with shortwave/VHF radio.

Will be interesting to see how hdmi pans out.. considering a hdmi cable can currently carry about 10gbit of bandwith i can see trying to get that across any distance via RJ45 could be an issue.

(I say 5 years as IvE recently invested in a lot of HDMI kit and would be rather miffed if it became obsolete tomorrow lol)

Me too ...................a few tenners on a few cables lol

Hmm 10Gbit media switches for the house might work out a little expensive.

I think things are more likely to go wireless so you'll have cable-free connections between media devices.

Sony is already doing it.

Hmm 10Gbit media switches for the house might work out a little expensive.

I think things are more likely to go wireless so you'll have cable-free connections between media devices.

Sony is already doing it.

Wireless is very power hungry and prone to interference compared to wired.

Wireless will just work out to be a right pain in the neck. Agree with the Powerline comments too; there's just something about it that un-nerves me! So if they go down the CATx route then I'll just have to plumb in a second network then, alongside the one carrying data: sorted

An interesting concept nonetheless and to bring (any) degree of integration to home AV devices would be extremely welcome.

Steve

I don't care for the 100W power, in fact I'd rather not have it, but otherwise it looks nice.

I agree, they are on about powering TVs etc over the ethernet but it's not worth it. Most homes have enough power outlets so i'd much prefer them to just make the kit cheaper without the PoE!

Wireless will just work out to be a right pain in the neck. Agree with the Powerline comments too; there's just something about it that un-nerves me! So if they go down the CATx route then I'll just have to plumb in a second network then, alongside the one carrying data: sorted

An interesting concept nonetheless and to bring (any) degree of integration to home AV devices would be extremely welcome.

Steve

Apparently you may not need a second network, they mention "daisy chain" as a topology, so much like business IP phones that have a RJ45 in from the switch they also have an RJ45 out port to a PC allowing two devices to be ran from the single CAT5/6 point.

/rant on/

All this makes a mockery out of 'standards'. What is the point if 'standards' just proliferate and sub-divide.

USB is a good standard, and remains useful, but please...... oh so many physical interfaces form factors for it.

DVI is a good standard, but DVI-D -A -I it is confusing.....

SCART did well and needed replacing. But HDMI, DisplayPort, (a few I am sure I have missed), and now these.

It is all just work creation schemes and/or license fee income generation.

We need a standards-standards body.

/rant off/

Edited 6 July, 201016 yr by foo

Apparently you may not need a second network, they mention "daisy chain" as a topology, so much like business IP phones that have a RJ45 in from the switch they also have an RJ45 out port to a PC allowing two devices to be ran from the single CAT5/6 point.

I think you will find these phones are just 2 port switches (with 2 tagged VLANs in, one of which gets stripped of it's tag and presented back out to the desk). It is not really daisy chaining.

Hmm 10Gbit media switches for the house might work out a little expensive.

I think things are more likely to go wireless so you'll have cable-free connections between media devices.

Sony is already doing it.

I can stream 1080p material from my server to my PS3 just fine and it's switched twice through a couple of little 10/100 switches.

How much data is actually put through an HDMI cable between a Blu Ray player and a TV?

It's maximum is 10.2 Gbps but i'm guessing it doesn't actually really get anywhere near that.

I think I'd be happier keeping everything separate Dave. I've seen what happens when voice gets added (badly) to a data network

So I'd need to be thoroughly convinced something like this is bullet-proof. OK doing it this way for most consumers is massive overkill; but old habits die hard I suppose!

Steve

I can stream 1080p material from my server to my PS3 just fine and it's switched twice through a couple of little 10/100 switches.

How much data is actually put through an HDMI cable between a Blu Ray player and a TV?

It's maximum is 10.2 Gbps but i'm guessing it doesn't actually really get anywhere near that.

Server -> PS3 is compressed format.

HDMI carry's uncompressed video.

IIRC 1080P + sound is ~5Gbps

I think you will find these phones are just 2 port switches (with 2 tagged VLANs in, one of which gets stripped of it's tag and presented back out to the desk). It is not really daisy chaining.

Physically it is.

You can have an IP phone that uses VLANs but i'm imagining it basically working as a switch.

Server -> PS3 is compressed format.

HDMI carry's uncompressed video.

IIRC 1080P + sound is ~5Gbps

Ah ok, thanks.

So the question is do we really need 10.2Gbps as the picture I get from my 1080p content from my PS3 looks as good as Blu Ray and also my Sky HD looks pretty nice, i'm guessing Sky aren't managing to get me 5Gbps through my dish!

I think I'd be happier keeping everything separate Dave. I've seen what happens when voice gets added (badly) to a data network

So I'd need to be thoroughly convinced something like this is bullet-proof. OK doing it this way for most consumers is massive overkill; but old habits die hard I suppose!

Steve

I'm guessing you've had problems with VoIP on WAN links or ADSL? I've installed hundreds of IP phones on LANS and never had any problems, it's only when the internet gets involved the problems start in my experience.

Ah ok, thanks.

So the question is do we really need 10.2Gbps as the picture I get from my 1080p content from my PS3 looks as good as Blu Ray and also my Sky HD looks pretty nice, i'm guessing Sky aren't managing to get me 5Gbps through my dish!

1080p blu -ray peaks at around 30MB a sec depending on how much is happening on screen , well according the the PS3 thats what it is.

Ah ok, thanks.

So the question is do we really need 10.2Gbps as the picture I get from my 1080p content from my PS3 looks as good as Blu Ray and also my Sky HD looks pretty nice, i'm guessing Sky aren't managing to get me 5Gbps through my dish!

Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdmi.. that explains it better..

skyHD isnt 1080p.. and regardless of what people think, streamed 1080p videos are still compressed down from full bitrate. most make a significant saving from the audio track, downmixing full 24bit/192 to compressed dolby digital or DTS.

i can tell the difference between a proper blu-ray and a 1080p download...

Ah ok, thanks.

So the question is do we really need 10.2Gbps as the picture I get from my 1080p content from my PS3 looks as good as Blu Ray and also my Sky HD looks pretty nice, i'm guessing Sky aren't managing to get me 5Gbps through my dish!

Again - Sky are sending compressed data to your dish, not raw.

Sky box to TV will be raw (5Gbps).

Assume that everything before the HDMI lead is compressed, and everything after it (including it) is raw.

i can tell the difference between a proper blu-ray and a 1080p download...

Me too. Chalk and cheese.

Is cable HD TV (ie Virgin) compressed data?

It does not matter to us, as we still use Coax cables to connect TVs. We even have an old portable one that does not even have a Scart port, it has a RGB and DIN sockets instead (14" Furguson CRT circa 1985).

Edited 7 July, 201016 yr by Jim H