HT010 – HDMI and Home Theater, the Ultimate Experience

Episode #010
Host:  Mike Deckys
Guest: Joseph Lias – President – Simplay Labs
Topic:  HDMI and Home Theater, the Ultimate Experience

Download Full Transcript here

Mike:  On this episode of Smarter Home Theater we are speaking with Joseph Lias who is the President of Simplay Labs.  Joseph is responsible for developing a worldwide brand presence for Simplay Labs and Simplay HD consumer electronics market.  Joseph and Simplay developed strategies to promote high definition interoperability and compatibility standards.  So essentially he is responsible for insuring that the high definition lifestyle, or the home theater experience in our case, is a more rewarding one.  Before joining Simplay Lab, Joseph spent 20 years as a leader and team builder.  Most recently with THX, so it is safe to say Joe knows Home Theater.  So welcome to the show Joseph.

Joseph:  Thank you.  Glad to be here.

Mike:  Thanks for taking time out of your day to talk to us Joseph.  Now we have seen have seen the connections for home theaters progress from Composite to S- Video to Component to DVI and now to HDMI.  HDMI has quickly become the defacto standard for hookup.  Can you tell us what is HDMI and what makes it better than all the other connections?

Joseph:  Absolutely.  Unfortunately the previous connections are not going away.  HDMI is High Definition Multimedia Interface. Its primary purpose is to transmit, or convey, between two devices of high definition content in an uncompressed format. The other interfaces are not capable of supporting that.  In addition to the audio/video information in a non-compressed format it also provides the ability to transmit control functions between devices by creating a control network.  It is a combined interface that supports both high definition audio and high definition video.  If you look at component it only supports high definition but not even high definition in terms of 1080p because component  only goes up to 1080i, but anything greater than 1080i you require an HDMI interface.  And you have a single cord that supports the audio and the video which is not something you get with the other interfaces.

Mike: So it is kind of a one-cable solution.

Joseph:  Yes it is.  It is a single cable solution for non-compressed HD content whether it be audio or video as well as control information.

Mike:   Having un-compressed data is important so you don’t lose any of the original signal quality through the compression/decompression cycle, right?

Joseph:  That is correct.  With all compression schemes you get some noise and we call that “signal to noise” as part of the compression/decompression algorithms.  With HDMI there is no need to have compression of the content so players (for example Blu-Ray players) can transmit the HD content and uncompressed format over to the display devise or the television. So you get best picture and best sound possible.

Mike: How does Simplay Labs fit into all of this?

Joseph:  We started Simplay because if you look at the HDMI protocol and its companion HDCP, which is the content protection piece, they are very complex protocols and what we discovered is that specific device manufacturers typically discover about 30 – 35%of problems with implementing HDMI and HDCP during their R&D development. And then they submit those products to an HDMI DCT/ATC which is an authorized test center for compliance protocols.   We have discovered that the compliance center protocols probably discovered another 35% of implementation problems or issues. Now that is not to say that the products are not sound it is just that with any specs, no spec is perfect or all encompassing.  You can’t write and all encompassing so therefore there are different interpretations.  What we do at Simplay is we provide a Simplay HD interoperability program.  That program focuses on testing products from multiple manufacturers to ensure that manufacturer’s products are interoperable or compatible.  So that when a consumer takes that product home it is a very high level quality of experience.  That is very important because anytime you start talking about HD devices, they are premium devices, so the last thing a consumer would want is to get that premium device home and it not work.  So we insure that all of these devices are inoperable and compatible from different manufacturers.

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Mike:  I know that all you have to do is go to any of the Home Theater forums and you just type in the term interoperability and you get pages and pages of “My new DVD player won’t work with my new plasma TV”, “My satellite box won’t work with my receiver”, “This won’t pass the signal to that” and so on.  It is definitely something that is important.  Your HDMI testing plan provides insures that everything is going to mesh and gel and provide the consumer with the best home theater or digital life experience.

Joseph:  Yes and I want to emphasize that it is not just HDMI testing.  We like to term it interoperability testing.  Because HDMI testing implies that it is just an interface protocol test, in other words, a test of a single devise.   In addition to testing the single devise we test devices in a network to make sure they are inter-operable as well.  Think of it as a matrix of multiple manufacturers being tested against other multiple manufacturers for inter-operability.  We do a lot of other things over and above basic protocol analysis.  We test, for example, signal quality.  We test physical hot plug testing such as multiple connects and disconnects.  Take, for example, a cd installer, in terms of installing equipment you may power cycle these devices.  You want to make sure that these devices work each and every time without any issues.

Mike:  So, basically, the end benefit to the consumer is when they see that Simplay HD Certified sticker logo on there they are going to know that this component that they are buying is going to work well with all their other toys that they have at home.

Joseph:  Yes it is a plug and play.  What we are emphasizing is at Simplay Labs with the Simplay interoperability testing is what I call a “Lean back experience”.  If you get this product home you want to have the experience where you sit back on your couch, or your Lazy-Boy, whatever your favorite sitting item is, just lean back and enjoy.  Let Hollywood do its thing and let the consumer electronic industry do its thing.  When both are doing it properly you are getting that great story and it is getting told to you in the most complete and robust environment.

Mike:  I like that.  “Lean back experience”.  Because that is so true.  We all just want to get it home, plug it in and have it work.  It has been said that HDMI 1.3 is that upgrade that every home theater enthusiast has been waiting for.  What are some of the key differences over the previous versions of HDMI?

Joseph:  There are some key items regarding 1.3. One of the key items is an update to the consumer electronic channel, the CEC control mechanism.  Another key is 1080p so higher bandwidth which allows higher resolution and higher refresh rates on the panels.  And de-color across the interface.  De-color is, which getting too technical, a very rich format for colors on the screen.  Also lip sync is available in HDMI 1.3 that was not available in previous releases.  If you think about lip sync, if you look at the Blue-Ray disc player for example, one thing that you want to make sure of is that the movements of the lips coincide with the words that you hear.

Mike: Right it would be like an old Jackie Chan movie.

Joseph:  If you look at the video processors within these panels nowadays, there is some very intense technology or chips.  So it is very important, and it takes time to process that 16-32 bit or higher color.  In doing so have delays between the audio and the video being displayed.  The receiver can delay its audio based on guidelines sent over to it from the television. Those are some of the key items were available in HDMI 1.3 versus the earlier releases.

Mike: Are all the HDMI versions backwards compatible?

Joseph:  Yes 1.3 is backwards compatible with 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2.  But they are not necessarily compatible because the feature was just defined in the newer release.

Mike: You mentioned that you have the Simplay HD verified products.  So that means that everything is going to play nicely together?

Joseph:  Yes everything is going to play nicely together and we made sure that HDCP plays nicely within each component and they play nice together.

Mike:  I noticed on your website that you have the Simplay Labs consumer experience that you talk about.  What is that?

Joseph:  We have our consumer support on our website.  For example, you get any Simplay devices home and you are having a problem with those devices then we have toll free number that consumers can call us and we will help them solve any issues they are having with the Simplay device. That support is typically for an end to end Simplay system.  Because what we do is that we verify not only the source device, such as the Blue-Ray disc player or a set top box or the av receiver or the television, we also service the cables that go in-between.  So if you call us as a consumer or you are having an issue with a Simplay system we will help you figure out what the problem is.  Typically it is pilot’s error, it is something like they set a menu item wrong or something.

Mike:  so by seeing the Simplay HD certified, or verified, product it is a benefit to the retailers and manufacturers because I imagine  it cuts down on returns when people say, “Well, this won’t work with this”, but if it is simply HD verified then it will all work together.

Joseph:  Absolutely, this program has certainly been endorsed by the major retailers, because, as you said it cuts down on their returns.  So it has strong backing from the retail industry.  One of the things that we focus on is the experience of the consumer.  We want to make sure that with the consumer, what the ears can hear they hear, what the eyes can see they see and what the mind can expect and it expects and in our mind that is the consumer experience.

Mike: So basically when you are shopping for an HD item you should look for the Simplay HD Logo on the devise.

Joseph:  Absolutely.  Either look for the logo or visit our website, because in some cases we are starting to get into the Nascar effect.  Do you know what that is? You know you have all these stickers on the cars.

Mike:   Okay, right.

Joseph:  And with the flat panel screens a lot of the manufacturers want to get away from that Nascar effect because now the wife acceptance factor is beginning to look at it as a piece of furniture.  Wow, look at those names or sticker on that furniture.  So we also encourage consumers to visit our website to see which devices are Simplay certified.  That way they can guarantee that piece of mind and they have a very high quality product and they are guaranteed a true lean back experience.

Mike:  Yes, the wife approval factor is a big deal.  Now if people want to go to your website they can learn more about the lean back experience and they can also get a list of all of the Simplay HD verified products that you have to offer.  So what is your website if people want to go check that out?

Joseph:  Visit us at www.simplaylabs.com.

Mike:  Thanks again for taking time out of your day to talk to Joseph.  There is a lot to be said about that lean back experience you talked about.  Because I love it where I plug it all in and my only job is to lean back and enjoy.  So, please don’t forget to support the Home Theater Show by supporting our sponsor.  Your support of them supports us.  Just go to www.smarterhometheater.com and click on support the show to learn more.  Don’t forget to subscribe to our email newsletter for insider tips, cool contests and more.  Just go to www.smarterhometheater.com and learn more.  Thanks again Joseph for sharing your knowledge and insights with our listeners.  We definitely appreciate it.  Thank you

Joseph:  Thank you