HDMI Blog

HDMI v1.0 20th Anniversary

On December 9, 2002 — High-Definition Multimedia Interface™ (HDMI™) Founders Hitachi, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Silicon Image, Sony Corporation, Thomson, and Toshiba Corporation today released the final HDMI 1.0 specification, the next-generation digital interface for consumer electronics. HDMI interface enables the secure distribution of uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel audio in a single cable, providing consumers with a broader array of high-quality digital content while dramatically simplifying ease of use.

Over the next seven years, the Founders would develop and release five versions of the specification by updating the specification ahead of the needs for the next generation consumer electronics and PC related products.

• 2002—HDMI 1.0 specification released = 4.95Gbps = 1080p 60fps
• 2004—HDMI 1.1 specification released
• 2005 – HDMI 1.2 specification released
• 2006—HDMI 1.3 specification released = 10.2Gbps = 4k 30fps
• 2009—HDMI 1.4 specification released 

Features such as Audio Return Channel (ARC), improved audio formats, 3D video, auto lip-sync, updated CEC commands and deep color were added in the 1.x specs. 
 
Seven years after the launch of v1.0, in 2009, the HDMI Founders were named recipients of the Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) for their contribution to the development and implementation of the High-Definition Multimedia Interface™ (HDMI™) technology standard.
 
With the desire to open up specification development to the industry as a whole, the Founders established the HDMI Forum in 2011.  The HDMI Forum has grown into eighty five companies which have developed and released the 2.x series of specifications.             

• 2013—HDMI 2.0 specification released = 18 Gbps = 4k @ 60fps
• 2017—HDMI 2.1 specification released = 48 Gbps = 8k @ 60fps
• 2022 – HDMI 2.1a specification released

The Forum also added valuable features such as Fixed Rate Link (FRL) static and dynamic HDR, eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel), Variable Rate Refresh (VRR), Quick Media Switching (QMS), Quick Frame Transport (QFT), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Display Stream Compression (DSC) and Source Base Tone Mapping (SBTM).

To improve the quality of HDMI cables, the Premium Cable certification program was launched in 2015 and the Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable certification program in 2020.

And in 2014, the HDMI interface was honored again with a Primetime Emmy® Engineering Award for engineering excellence in the television community by the Television Academy.

Amazingly in twenty years, nearly 11 billion products have shipped with HDMI technology from over 1900 Adopters.  What a success! 

Twenty years is a major milestone for HDMI LA, the Founders, the Forum and our Adopters.  I’d like to thank all of our HDMI Adopters, manufacturers and resellers for your contributions in making HDMI Technology an industry success story. 

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary.

Rob Tobias

CEO & President