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Akihabara News: Both of Onkyo’s new HT-S7300 & HT-S6300 “Home Theatre in a box (HTiB)” packages include 7 home theater loudspeakers (130-watt, 6-ohm), 290-watt subwoofer, audio-video receiver, Audyssey calibration microphone, and an outboard dock for iPod/iPhone (UP-A1).

They both are 3-D Ready, feature HDMI-1.4a inputs, 1080p video upscaling regardless of native resolution, lossless Dolby & DTS high definition audio, Audyssey 2EQ room acoustics correction technology (Audyssey Dynamic EQ and Audyssey Dynamic Volume processing), as well as Dolby ProLogic IIz height channel processing allowing the back surround speakers to be re-tasked as front height speakers.

The first is available for $899 and the latter for $749.

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Engadget HD: You’d be hard pressed to find a TV without some sort of extra box attached to it these days — and with each box comes another remote. The sad part is it doesn’t have to be this way, nope, the necessary interaction between devices really isn’t that complicated. The problem is the devices just aren’t designed to work together, but that isn’t because the industry hasn’t tried. All the political reasons aside the technology to let your cable box carry on a two way conversation with your TV and other equipment does exist. So we’re going to explain what’s out there. If you’ve ever wondered how you can gain more control over your gear using everything from an IR blaster to sending TCP commands via IP, then read on.

Infrared (IR)

This is the king of control protocols in the living room and in fact just about every remote control made in recent history uses it to deliver controls from across a room. It’s very basic in that the remote emits light at a wavelength outside our eye’s range and the receiving device patiently waits for the signal. Because it’s based on light its line of sight (i.e. if someone is standing in the way the remote doesn’t work). The only wonderful thing about IR though is its universal support, and so it is the de facto control standard. While no control protocol is perfect, the big problem with IR is that most devices can’t send signals, only receive them. This means that while you can buy a programmable remote to control everything in your rack, the Blu-ray player can’t send a signal to your TV and tell it to turn on. Technically it’s possible, but since every manufacturer uses its own IR codes, even if the Blu-ray player did have an emitter, odds are it wouldn’t emit the correct signal. Lets assume for a second, though, that every device did use the same codes. Then you’d still have two more problems. Since IR is line of sight any TV in range would respond, and even worse, if something was blocking the signal it wouldn’t work at all.

There have been some devices that emit IR signals to control other devices like the original TiVo, the Slingbox and in the near future the Google TV, so to deal with the line of sight issue, IR blasters are used. A blaster is basically an IR emitter attached via a wire directly to the controlled device. This way you can place the emitter directly in front of the device you’re controlling in an attempt to ensure nothing gets in the way. IR blasters work pretty good as long as they stay in place — especially if you install a shield that blocks stray IR signals — but still don’t overcome IR’s one way nature. And of course the controlling device must be programmed to send the appropriate IR signals and timings. It also helps if the device support discrete IR codes for on and off, as reliably controlling a device with only toggle power commands can be almost impossible.

High-Definition Multimedia Interface – Consumer Electronics Control (HDMI-CEC)

HDMI has really taken off as the new standard in connectivity in the home theater and for good reason — it isn’t perfect though. Instead of requiring a number of cables to carry the various signals between your Blu-ray player and your HDTV, a single cable carries audio, video and other data like control signals. Unfortunately HDMI-CEC isn’t nearly as popular as HDMI, and even when it is supported, manufacturers only support it when connected to the same brand hardware. Most even go further and re-brand it like Samsung who calls it Anynet while Panasonic that calls it VIERA Link. In reality most of the basics do work between different manufacturers and since no programming is required, many functions just work. The best example is when you turn on a Blu-ray player, the HDTV would also turn on and switch to the input that the Blu-ray player is connected to. There are also examples of when it doesn’t work, and sometimes it is intentional. We’ve seen a few devices that would probably work together, but disable themselves if they don’t detect the expected device on the other end. But even worse, some manufacturers don’t seem to support it at all which can at best be annoying, but at worst prevent other devices from communicating — for example if you have a Blu-ray player connected to an HDTV via a AVR that doesn’t support HDMI-CEC, then it doesn’t work at all. We’ve even seen some HDMI cables that won’t pass the signals, so yeah, there’s lots that can go wrong here.

All the bad things aside, HDMI-CEC does have the most potential of all the control protocols used in the home theater, but until it is widely supported by the industry, it’ll never gain significant traction in the home. When it does work it is pretty sweet, especially since it is truly plug and play — so no programming required.

RS-232

Oh the interface that’ll never die lives on in the our home theaters too. It even uses our old friend the DB-9 connector and is pretty universal. After you get the old 8-N-1 going you’ll have to know the codes which can be more difficult to come by since there isn’t exactly large databases of codes like there are for IR remotes, and you can’t exactly learn the codes either. But when you can get the protocol from the manufacturer you have yourselves some very reliable two-way control. Now of course most devices don’t sport RS-232 ports these days and even when they do there’s only one. So it isn’t like you can daisy chain ‘em like HDMI-CEC, which means you need a dedicated device to control everything. This device can be as simple as an old PC loaded with serial ports or as high end as a Crestron controller that retails for more than most cars.

But just because your set-top box doesn’t have a DB9 on it doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t support RS-232. No, in fact there are some devices like the old ReplayTV that had a mini-jack port that was actually an RS-232 port and another example is the latest DirecTV receivers which support certain USB to RS-232 adapters. Now for something like a Slingbox or a Google TV, RS-232 would work perfectly since the two are close to each other and it is very reliable — but of course it isn’t perfect either as it isn’t like a set-top would respond to a request for a list of current VOD offerings.

1394 (aka Firewire)

This isn’t exactly one of the first things that pop in your head when you think of control interfaces, but anyone who has transferred video from a HDV camcorder knows that you can control the camcorder from the capture software. Well these same controls and more are available to make recording via 1394 from a set-top box possible. And while we’ve only seen a few HDTVs with 1394 ports, there are lots and lots of cable set-top boxes with them — although thanks to a loophole in an FCC mandate, many of the ports don’t actually work. We’ve seen people use the 1394 port to change channels on their cable box from their HTPC. It is more reliable than IR, but not nearly as widely supported.

IP control

The most prolific communications protocol in the world is also useful for controlling some home theater gear; and has the best chance of taking over the job of being the de facto standard from IR. More and more devices are internet connected than ever these days and in many cases these same Ethernet ports can be used to control the device. Sadly many of these protocols are not documented at all and only exist to allow the manufacturer’s iPhone remote to work. Luckily most of these devices don’t require authentication so using a network sniffer to discover the protocol isn’t beyond the abilities of any decent networking geek. So far we haven’t seen the adoption we need to really make IP the new standard, but there are plenty of AV receivers, and Blu-ray players that can be controlled like this and TiVo’s have performed this trick for years. The best part is that most of the IP control protocols we’ve seen go beyond basic on/off and transport controls and do allow you to query data from the device and other fancy things.

Lots of options, but no silver bullet

As you can see there are plenty of control options for your home theater gear way beyond IR, but even with some very carefully planning you’ll probably end up using more than a few of them at the same time. The only two that have any chance of being used by your mom is HDMI-CEC and IP control with the later being a stretch since it requires all the devices be connected to the same network. We say that because both can auto discover and configure themselves once the proper plumbing is in place. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record if just about every device out there doesn’t support the same control interface, then it is all for naught.

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Electronista: The HDMI organization has made the 3D portion of its 1.4 available spec for public download.

HDMI spec v1.4 was completed in June 2009, but was only available to companies that had signed an HDMI Adopter Agreement.

The announcement on Wednesday makes the new standards accessible to all other content producers and manufacturers. The group also stated that an update to the specification, dubbed 1.4a, will be released in the near future, possibly to address a mandatory 3D broadcast format.

The group had announced in December 2009 that HDMI v1.4 would add support for 3D content without the broadcast component. HDMI v1.4 establishes protocols for several 3D display technologies including frame, line, or field alternative methods; side by side display modes, and 2D plus depth methods.

It also includes data for the first time and supplies a 100Mbps Ethernet connection as well as two-way audio signals.

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Electronista: HDMI Licensing, the group behind the media interface specification, has announced plans to support 3D content with the upcoming HDMI spec v1.4.

The consortium will meet in January to add the “Top/Bottom” 3D format.

The group acknowledges the lack of a mandatory 3D broadcast format, leaving the standard open for further additions or modifications. HDMI 1.4 establishes protocols for several 3D display technologies including frame, line, or field alternative methods; side by side display, and 2D plus depth methods.

The new specification also features data as an essential feature, with a dedicated pipe for 100Mbps Ethernet connections. An Audio Return Channel is designed to send compressed sound through intermediary devices, while a proposed micro HDMI connector will support 1080p video for small devices.

HDMI 1.4-equipped devices are expected to be launched early in January at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

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DigiTimes: President Steve Venuti for HDMI Licensing, the agent responsible for licensing the global technology standard High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), on July 13 presented HDMI 1.4, the latest version of the standard, in Taipei, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

HDMI 1.4, among other advancements, offers networking capabilities with Ethernet connectivity and add Audio Return Channel to enable upstream audio connections via HDMI cable, according to the HDMI Licensing website.

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Electronista: The HDMI Licensing group today provided further details of the HDMI 1.4 spec that will have data become a core feature of the video standard. The technology will add a new pipe known as the HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC) that can supply up to a 100Mbps Ethernet connection between the device host and others that recognize the format.

The approach will let two compatible devices share information without requiring a separate cable and is suggested both as a way of networking close-by devices as well as sharing content across multiple rooms.

The technology also brings a reverse-direction path for sound known as the Audio Return Channel (ARC) that can handle compressed surround sound through an intermediary device, such as a home theater receiver, without requiring a separate optical audio cable. Future video support is also built in with the ability to handle resolutions up to 4K (4096×2160), 3D and the same color spaces as digital still cameras.

A recently proposed micro HDMI connector will be part of the 1.4 format and allow up to 1080p video from very small devices, including portable media players and compact cameras.

The combined technology is expected to significantly overhaul the approach to home media serving, particularly for networked media devices, and may also help future computers that could use the extra networking and audio features.

Samples of HDMI 1.4-equipped chipsets ship before the end of the spring and should result in finished products sometime within 2010.

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Engadget: Mini HDMI connectors aren’t exactly anything new, but a number of companies have now produced some prototypes based on the latest Type D spec set for inclusion in the next HDMI standard, which they hope will be more suitable for cellphones, GPS systems, and other portable devices.

One of those comes from Molex Inc and, like the others, is half the size of a regular HDMI connector (or about the same size as a micro-USB connector) but employs the same 19 pins as the standard HDMI design.

That’s joined by a similar connector from Yazaki Corp of Japan, as well as a connector designed specifically for automotive use by Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Ltd, which supposedly boasts improved reliability and durability.

Still no promises as to when any of these specific prototypes will actually materialize, of course, but the first few mini connectors of some sort could start appearing as soon as the second half of this year.

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Gizmodo: Monster Cable has teamed up with silicon chip developer Redmere to develop ultra-thin HDMI cable that deliver a 10.2 GB/s data rate.

The idea is to make it easier to deal with a mass of cables, but we all know that anything from Monster is going to carry a hefty price tag.

Details have not been announced, but would thinner cable be worth what will surely be a hefty markup over regular HDMI?

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EngadgetHD: Sony is launching its own version of the suddenly popular swivel head HDMI cable, with both vertical and horizontal links going on sales this month in lengths of about three or six feet.

At $50 and $60, respectively (between €40 and €50), they solve the need for “costly” 90 degree adapters and save space on flat panel wall mounts.

Of course, if you were planning on wildly overpaying for HDMI cables already, they’re really not that bad. It’s all about perspective.

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Home Media Magazine: With market penetration for high-definition televisions with HDMI ports approaching 100%, the interface is rapidly expanding beyond TV to include set-top boxes, DVD and Blu-ray players and mobile PCs, according to a new report.

Research firm In-Stat said HDMI-enabled product shipments will increase at an annual rate of 23% from 2007 to 2012.

Portable electronic devices, such as camcorders, digital still cameras and portable media players will be among the emerging categories to watch, according to In-Stat.

HDMI adoption in mobile computers is estimated at nearly a quarter of all machines shipped in 2008. IPTV set top boxes will see the highest adoption among pa-TV set-top boxes, growing to 85% penetration and 17.6 million boxes by 2012.

HDMI penetration in portable media players will approach 10% by 2012.

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Cdfreaks.com: During the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month, several companies will discuss at least four different wireless high-definition TV standards.

A panel discussion between vendors and representatives of the following formats will take place:  AMIMON, a WHDI supporter; Pulse-LINK, HDMI supporters; SiBEAM, wireless HD supporters; and ProVision, the 802.11n backer.

Out of the four standards, only 802.11n “is the only standard capable of cost-effectively transmitting interactive wireless HD video across all rooms within a home,” said Professor Andrew Nix.

Broadcom, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony joined the WHDI Special Interest Group (SIG), in the hope of creating and promoting a new 5 GHz platform. Intel, Panasonic, LG Electronics, NEC, Toshiba, Samsung and Sony also are supporting a 60Hz technology used by Wireless HD.

“SiBEAM has recently completed a new round of fundraising, successfully securing the participation of two major backers, Panasonic and Samsung,” ABI Research analyst Steve Wilson said in a statement.  “Broadcom has also joined the consortium.  Meanwhile Mitsubishi has announced its choice of the Amimon chipset.”

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Techradar: We first clapped our eyes on Sony’s just-launched latest picture frame TV, the beautiful Bravia EX1 featuring integrated High Definition wireless connectivity, back at IFA in August this year.

The design is, well, like a lovely big picture frame – created specifically for the UK and European markets by Hirotaka Tako and his team of whizz-kid designers at Sony’s Design Centre Europe.

The Sony Bravia EX1 range is available in 40-, 46- or 52-inch screen sizes, featuring Sony’s MotionFlow 100Hz technology, full 1080P high def, three HDMI sockets (built into the wireless box) and all the regular gubbins.

The real USP, aside from the gorgeous design aesthetic (with the choices of wood finish, black or brushed aluminium thin frame) and the fact that you can just show it off with pre-programmed luscious high def pics and photos, is the wireless HDMI connection.

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