Capitalizing on increasing consumer interest in Media Center PCs and the growing availability of HD content for PC platforms, Silicon Image’s new series of HDMI transmitters targeted at PCs—consisting of the PanelLink® SiI 1390â„¢ and SiI 1930 transmitters—are the first integrated solutions designed to interface directly to the video and audio interfaces of PC platforms for seamless connectivity. Silicon Image also introduced the SiI 1368â„¢, the industry’s first Digital Visual Interface High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (DVI-HDCP) transmitter designed for PCI-Express graphics chipsets supporting Intel’s Serial Digital Video Output (SDVO) interface.
Designed for Intel CPU-based chipsets, the SiI 1390 transmitter accepts Intel’s Serial Digital Video Output (SDVO) input and offers a fully compliant HDMI output capable of supporting video resolutions up to UXGA and 1080p with up to eight channels of 192kHz audio. It supports both motherboard-down applications for desktop and notebook PCs, as well as ADD2 card applications. The SiI 1930 HDMI transmitter also provides an HDMI output. Designed for graphics card applications using a discrete Graphics Processor Unit (GPU), the SiI 1930 features a Transition-Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) interface to the GPU. The SiI 1368 transmitter supports Intel’s SDVO input and offers a DVI-HDCP output.
All three transmitters support the full 25-165 MHz HDMI and DVI bandwidth. The SiI 1390 and SiI 1930 transmitters also support a wide variety of audio interfaces—including HD-Audio, SPDIF and three I2S channels—to ensure compatibility with a broad range of PC audio hardware platforms. Silicon Image’s industry-leading on-chip HDCP capability is standard on all three transmitters for proven HDCP reliability and security. By incorporating production-proven and compliance-tested HDMI and HDCP implementations, the SiI 1390 and 1930 set the gold standard for quality and performance.
“As PC users gain access to HD content, secure content delivery on PC platforms will be an important issue,†said Neerav Shah, president of Digital Content Protection, LLC, the licensor of HDCP. “HDCP already has the support of content providers in the consumer electronics market and has emerged as an important technology in enabling consumers to access HD content. We expect HDCP will similarly become a requirement on PC platforms capable of receiving and playing HD content. As a contributor to the HDCP specification and having developed HDCP test protocols for its PanelLink Cinema Partners test center, Silicon Image can help enable PC platforms to access the growing volume of HD content.â€
