Well, it surely looks like the days when one had to cough up a pretty indecent amount of money in order to connect their Blu-ray player or other HD signal source to their HDTV might soon become just a distant memory. And we're not talking here about the advent of low-cost, low-end Chinese knock-off HDMI cables, but about the appearance of a whole new content transmission standard, called HDBaseT.

The new standard has been co-developed by some of the biggest names in the CE segment (Sony, Samsung, LG Electronics, etc.), who've already managed to finalize the HDBaseT 1.0 base specification. The cornerstone of HDBaseT technology is 5Play, a feature-set that converges full uncompressed HD video, audio, 100BaseT Ethernet, high power over cable and various control signals through a single 100m/328ft CAT5e/6 LAN cable.

HDBaseT has the bandwidth to support the highest video resolutions such as full HD 1080p as well as 3D and 2Kx4K formats. HDBaseT is the first to provide all-in-one connectivity, making it possible for a single-connector TV to receive power, video/audio, Internet and control signals from the same cable.

Moreover, the new standard enables a network of sources, such as digital video recorders (DVR), Blu-ray disc players, game consoles, PCs and mobile devices, to be connected directly to displays in multiple locations.

For instance, a DVR can be connected to several TVs throughout the home, allowing users an independent yet fully compatible experience. HDBaseT LAN based technology makes it possible to cut out the assortment of cables for audio, video, connecting CE devices and even the power source. This form of networking, whether it is done by daisy chaining devices or through star topology, can be applied in both the consumer home and in B2B cases such as digital signage networking.

The finalization of the HDBaseT specification paves the way for HDBaseT embedded products to hit the market. The HDBaseT Alliance anticipates products with embedded HDBaseT technology to be available in the second half of 2010, with the majority of adoption taking place in 2011. The specification will also be available for licensing within the second half of 2010.


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