HDBaseT - the future?

[berry120]

Has anyone heard of / looked into HDBaseT recently? Essentially it's aiming to replace all the muddle of video connectors we've got at the moment (HDMI, SCART, BNC, VGA, DVI) with ethernet cables using standard RJ-45 plugs. It'd also support PoE so can be used to actually power devices up to 100W as well, works up to 100m (same as standard ethernet) and uses bog standard Cat5 cable.

It's a relatively new thing, but I think it's flippin fantastic. A plug and play technology using existing, cheap, readily available cables for its transmission is in my mind a complete win - I reckon it's going to take on hugely when it launches.

http://www.hdbaset.org/files/HDBaseT_Comparison_Table_Nereus.pdf

 

[iPwn]

I can just see some little old lady plugging the internet into her video card now....

 

[David Lindon]

Yeah sounds like a great idea to me.

 

[01001010]

No more freaking cords. Sorry, I'm not a fan of replacing my HDMI cables in favor of this. The industry needs to stick with one standard and go with it.

 

[winslow33]

No more freaking cords. Sorry, I'm not a fan of replacing my HDMI cables in favor of this. The industry needs to stick with one standard and go with it.

Yeah I know.. Why not perfect wireless technology? I think that would be best of all. I mean, I have such a huge network of cords behind my desk. I have
-TV
-DVD player
-VCR
-laptop hooked to TV
-Xbox
-Ps3
-surround sound
ALL hooked by thier own cables to one another. When I go to move one thing it takes 2 hours untangling cords

 

[berry120]

Sorry, I'm not a fan of replacing my HDMI cables in favor of this. The industry needs to stick with one standard and go with it.

Thing is, the industry hasn't stuck with one standard so far and this is meant to be it. Yes, you've got HDMI - but then there's displayports coming in hoping to replace DVI and the aging VGA still included on lots of monitors these days.

 

[01001010]

Thing is, the industry hasn't stuck with one standard so far and this is meant to be it.

The industry, at this point, has chosen HDMI to be their connector of choice. Not only is it one single cord for audio and video, it's also laden with DRM protection features that help satisfy the movie companies.

Yes, you've got HDMI - but then there's displayports coming in hoping to replace DVI and the aging VGA still included on lots of monitors these days.

DisplayPort is aimed at the computer market. In that, yes, it's an incremental improvement bundling sound and audio into one cord for computer manufacturers.

HDMI is already expandable. I don't see the need for yet another standard to make things more complicated.

 

[berry120]

For what it's worth, I do agree that they've been mucking around far too much - and not having any HDMI based equipment I'm probably a bit biased!

However, if it does end up replacing HDMI (and having the backing of major companies like Sony I think at the least it stands a chance) it'd be simpler rather than more complicated - yes the industry has chosen HDMI in the home entertainment sector, but in the PC world (no relation to a large business in the UK intended) we've got a different connector - standardising the two together is in my mind a good thing (at least I hope that's what happens, there's no need for two separate connectors these days and it's pain for compatibility reasons).

When I go to move one thing it takes 2 hours untangling cords

Time to sort cable management out? HDBaseT actually means far fewer cords since it does audio, video AND power.


On a note of principle I also think it's got another advantage in that stupid gold plated multi-thousand dollar rip off cables may well be a thing of the past. Unless people start falling for gold plated Cat5 cables - but if that's the case I think I write them off as beyond hope...

 

[J03]

Seems cool. We'll see!

 

[Anderwolfe]

So would this mean buying new video cards with a RJ-45 port on it? Or would this be able to use the existing onboard Ethernet ports?

Time to sort cable management out? HDBaseT actually means far fewer cords since it does audio, video AND power.

Maybe for media devices, but the more I think about it..For PCs, you're still stuck with the same amount of cords. Simply the HDBaseT would still have to come from many seperate devices. Unless you somehow integrated your monitor with your router and so forth, nothing changes as far as the number of cables.