The HDMI Consortium, a group of US, European and Japanese companies responsible for the development and licensing of the essential HDMI interface, have announced that their fee for a company wishing to use the technology in their products will lower from $15,000 to $10,000, in order to encourage Chinese manufacturers on board and avoid a wave of competing technologies. Royalty fees will stick at 4 cents per unit.
Manufacturers who belong to the Chinese Video Industry Association will also be invited to take part in the future development of HDMI, currently at version 1.3.
As in many other areas, I think China is going to be a force to be reckoned with in HDTV, and this move should give them a step up to the world marketplace.
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