HT013 – HDTV and HDMI Digital Video Delay

Episode #013
Host:  Mike Deckys
Guest: Waheed Rasheed – Director of DTV and Home Theater Marketing – Silicon Image
Topic:  HDTV and HDMI Digital Video Delay

Download Full Transcript here

Mike:  On this episode of The Smarter Home Theater Show we would like to welcome Waheed Rasheed.  Waheed is the director of product marketing for digital television and home theater with Silicon Image.     Silicon Image is a leading innovator in the semi-conductor products market for high definition consumer electronics.  Their products allow you to experience high definition digital video content anytime, anywhere on any device. So thanks for taking time out of your schedule to talk to us today, Waheed, and welcome to the show.

Waheed:  Thank you, Mike.

Mike:  Thanks, Waheed.  Well, let’s start off by discussing a new technology that Silicon Image has developed and I think it is going to appeal to pretty much everybody, especially those channel flippers out there, myself included. It is called InstaPort.  Can you give us a quick overview of what InstaPort is?

Waheed:  Sure,  Mike.  InstaPort technology enables immediate access to HD content from consumer electronic devices.  For example consumers today connect their source devices such as game consoles, set top boxes, Blue Ray players, AppleTV and Roku boxes to their TVs via HDMI  and when they switch between these devices they experience a 5 to 7 second delay before they see contact. InstaPort technology enables immediate access to the content by reducing that switching time to less than 1 second.

Mike: So the benefit to the consumers is that they are not going to have to wait as long for the switching?

Waheed:  Exactly.  The wait is over now.  Televisions with InstaPort technology really speed up the switching time without any modification required to the source devices.  Today we are engaged with TV manufacturers who are integrating the InstaPort technology in their 2009 models.

Mike:  So all TVs manufactured from 2009 and on will have this technology built in already?

Waheed:  There are many major TV brands that will support InstaPort technology in 2009.

Mike: Okay, so basically, look for the manufacturers who recognize this as a value to the consumer and those are the ones that will be adding this technology.

Waheed:  Yes.  Consumers can look for this InstaPort technology feature in major TV brands in 2009. So when consumers are looking for purchasing a new television, this is a technology that they can look for, in 2009 and 2010 product.

Mike: Now make it a little technical, but why is there an inherent delay in switching between HDMI sources?

Waheed:  The inherent 5 to 7 second delay is primarily caused by the authentication process required to display protected content of the TV.

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Mike:  Okay

Waheed:  HDCP or high definition content protection standard, implemented in HDMI insures that there is no copying of premium content.  The source devices which initiate the HDCP authentication process by exchanging keys with the television typically take 5 to 7 seconds before displaying content. The authentication process is like a handshake which happens between the source devices and the TV to insure that they both support this HDCP or HD content protection.  So every time the user switches a source device this long authentication process starts all over again causing this inherent 5 to 7 second delay.

Mike: So how does InstaPort technology solve this handshaking problem then?

Waheed:  What InstaPort technology does is it maintains constant authentication for all the source devices connected to the TV.  So when the user switches between the devices they do not see the delay and they get instant access to the HD content.  This technology is integrated into Silicon Image port processor chips which are now designed into televisions in 2009 which enables them to see this content immediately once they switch between the devices.

Mike:  Is this InstaPort backwards compatible?  So if I get an InstaPort technology enabled television is it going to able to work with my satellite box, my Roku box, my PS3 or whatever?  Is it going to all work together as long as my television is enabled with it?

Waheed:  Absolutely.  This technology is implemented into the television and it will work with any HDMI source device in the market today.  Primarily by addressing the switching device in the TV the source device does not have to be modified to support InstaPort technology.

Mike:  Is this InstaPort technology available as an external unit?  Another set top box or is it strictly a chip set that goes inside of the new television sets that are coming out?

Waheed:  This InstaPort technology was specifically designed for televisions.  If you look at the market today TVs are supporting 3 to 4 HDMI ports.  In moving forward into 2009 and 10 you will see televisions will support up to 5 HDMI ports.  And as users connect more and more of these HD source devices to the television, InstaPort technology becomes really important on the television.

Mike: That is awesome.  Once everything is on you are all set up and there is no wait between the switching.  So if you are watching basketball on TV and you are playing basketball on your Xbox 360, you can jump back and forth between the real game and your game and there is no waiting involved.

Waheed:  Exactly. It is all about instant access.  And that is what consumers want when they are watching content.  When they want to switch from a game console content to a soccer game they want to make sure they get the access instantaneously.  And the 5 second delays do matter at that time.

Mike: You said that a lot of the manufacturers are going to be coming out with this technology in 2009.  Are there any big players that have partnered with you guys to release this technology?

Waheed:  When we announced this technology last year we saw a lot of interest from major TV manufacturers because they saw the value of InstaPort.  We are now working with these TV manufacturers to design this technology and you will see the roll out of televisions with this technology in the later half of 2009.

Mike: That is great news.  There is a definite value to the end user with InstaPort .  So thanks for taking the time out of your day to talk to us, Waheed.  I am glad to see that there is hope for those of us with short attention spans who can’t stay on one channel or source device too long without flipping around.  You can find links to Silicon Images technologies I the Smarter Home Theater Show notes for this episode.  Please, don’t forget to support The Smarter Home Theater Show by supporting our sponsor.  Your support of them helps to support us.  Just go to www.smarterhometheater.com and click on “Support the Show” to learn more.  And don’t forget to subscribe to our email newsletter for insider tips, cool contests and more.  Go to smarterhometheater.com and learn more.  So thanks again Waheed.  We appreciate you explaining this new technology with our listeners.  Now if someone wants to find out more, what is your website address where they can go ahead and do that?

Waheed:  Yes, they can go to our Silicon Image website which is www.siliconimage.com and we have detailed information about InstaPort.  We have a Flash Five which demos how this technology works.  We are comparing a television without this technology and with the technology.  Consumers can see the benefit there.  We also have a technical review of the technology so they can understand how it works.

Mike:  Thanks again for your time, Waheed.  We definitely appreciate it.  Have yourself a great afternoon.

Waheed:   Your welcome, Mike and thank you.