In-Stat: HDMI Looking Up, DVI To Decline

Market research firm Instate reports that te market for HDMI-equipped devices will expand through the year 2010, while the market for DVI gear will start to decline next year.

In a new market forecast, research firm In-Stat finds that the market for HDMI-eqiupped gear (like televisions, gaming consoles, movie players, PCs, media centers, and other consumer video products) will expand by 78 percent per year through 2010, while the now-common DVI connector—mostly found in computers and computer peripherals—will start to decline in the marketplace beginning in 2007.

In-Stat reports that over 90 million DVI-enabled products shipped during 2005—more than in any previous year—but that both DVI and VGA will be eclipsed by yet another format in the coming years: DisplayPort. DisplayPort is a new high-bandwidth display technology standard being developed by VESA in conjunction with several technology companies; the idea is to create a single standard all manufacturers can adopt, making it easier to deploy new products and simplifying display selection for consumers. VESA has recently ratified DisplayPort 1.1 (which includes support for HDCP); version 2.0 is planned. DisplayPort is not compatible with either DVI or HDMI, and offers 10Gbps forwarding link bandwidth capable of supporting monitors with resolutions up to 2,560 by 1,600 on a single cable at very high frame rates and 8 or 10 bit pixel formats. Possible DisplayPort competitors are the Unified Display Interface—which has some major backers, including Apple Computer—and the ever-more-common HDMI.

In-Stat also finds that wireless display solutions will begin to make waves in the market over the next two to four years.