Though it's hard to get excited about HDMI cables in themselves, there's been a development by the HDMI Licensing Committee that means a new connector type should make it easier for mobile devices to interface with other high definition gear.

This is great news, given the increasing number of mobile phones and mini camcorders that are capable of shooting in a high definition format.

Shop for the latest mobile phones with HD capabilities at Phones4u.co.uk

According to a company which has disassembled Apple's iPhone 3G S, the unit features a CPU powerful enough to both capture and playback 720p high definition video.

RapidRepair has revealed that the iPhone 3G S contains a Samsung S5PC100 600MHz ARM processor.

The newest Atom processor has started shipping to computer manufacturers according to a report released today.

The 1.66GHz N280 is coupled with Intel's GN40 chipset that includes a hardware-based encoder for 720p high definition video. Presumably (though not a foregone conclusion) a hardware solution for handling HD on netbooks will mean better playback of high-def than a software solution, though of course this could in turn reduce battery life.

There's a definite push towards getting high definition onto mobile devices. NVIDIA has shown off its 720p-capable processor, and On2 has announced a multi-format video decoder capable of processing up to 1080p video at 30fps.

The Hantro 8190 offers mobile phone and device designers a highly optimised hardware decoder supporting Adobe's Flash video format plus H.263, H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark and VP6.

The design is capable of decoding H.264 format high profile, 1080p resolution video at 30fps using a clock frequency under 165MHz.

The Hantro 8190 is now available for licensing from On2, though it's likely to be some time before useful full HD solutions emerge in truly mobile devices.

At the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona, NVIDIA has been showing off its "breakthrough" APX 2500 applications processor which should be capable of some pretty impressive 3D user interfaces and high definition quality video on mobile devices.

The NVIDIA APX 2500 applications processor, the culmination of 800 man years of engineering, delivers:

* the industry’s first HD (720p) playback and capture capability for handheld devices,
* a new ultra-low-power GeForce core that is fully OpenGL ES 2.0 and Microsoft Direct3D Mobile compliant
* the lowest power 3D hardware solution available for acceleration of intuitive 3D user interfaces, NVIDIA nPower technology, enabling over 10 hours of high-definition video playback and up to 100 hours of audio,
* plus the connectivity and media acceleration technologies required to enable the latest Web 2.0 applications.

NVIDIA's Oscar Clark said that you can play around ten hours of HD content using the chip, though the exact playback time will depend upon what screen is hooked up to it. "Enough for a movie at a quality halfway between Blu-ray and DVD," he said.

Over the jump for some video from the show.

Microvision, who makes light-scanning technologies for display and imaging products, will show off their latest innovation at CES this year.

Their prototype, codenamed SHOW, is a pico projector intended for mobile devices, and is based upon their PicoP display engine.

The PDA-sized, fully self-contained, battery operated, full-colour laser projector will allow images from between 12 and 100 inches in size to be projected, with the image always in focus.

Broadcom has begun sampling a new multimedia processor which may allow mobile phones and portable media players to play back high definition video at up 720p/30fps.

Their BCM2727 chip is based on their new VideoCore III multimedia processor, performing at up to 144 million pixels per second. It's also supposed to be able to handle H.264 compression.

Another impressive claim is that mobile handsets could achieve five hours of HD video playback, or three hours of HD video recording, on a single charge of a standard cellphone battery.

The chip would also support the output of HD footage via an HDMI 1.3 port, for connection to a high definition TV or projector.

Getting these chips into handsets will be another matter, though, with earliest estimates for consumer phones utilising the technology as the year 2009.

(Via TG Daily)

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Engineer Live reports that high definition could come to mobile devices earlier than expected, as Texas Instruments launches the OMAP3 processor:

TI has produced a development platform that includes a 12Mpixel CMOS image sensor, encoding the image to the 720p HDTV format using the AVC high profile standard for products in 2008. "This gives you a top notch camcorder," said Rick Wietfeldt, chief technical officer of the handset division at TI. "The screen on the handset is not the only screen. If you capture in high definition then what do you do with it? You can preview on the small screen but view it on something else.”

It is planning a version that will do the full 1080i HDTV, but "there hasn't been a requirement for it," he said. "1080p is the challenge now," he said.

We covered the OMAP3 technology here

Texas Instruments has just demonstrated the industry's first application processor that can play back 720p high definition video on high-end mobile phones. The OMAP3430 solution integrates the newly-defined OpenGL ES 2.0 graphic standard, giving 'life-like' 3D graphics and claiming to provide a mobile gaming experience comparable to today's handheld gaming devices.

TI's OMAP 3 products allow the playback of 720p high definition videos on a mobile handset, which can then be connected to high definition TVs and projectors.

NEC has partnered with Telegent Systems to develop a low-power, high definition mobile TV platform that promises up to four-and-a-half hours worth of viewing time on mobile phones.

The product is due to be unveiled this week at 3GSM in Barcelona.

ATO will be releasing a high-definition version of its iSee iPod sleeve which will turn any iPod - even a non-video one - into a HD video player.

The sleeve comes with its own LCD screen and will handle MPEG4, DivX, HD.264 and other formats, with the battery lasting up to 5 hours.

It works by covering the iPod, plugging into the USB 2 port, and then partitioning the storage in the iPod - one part for video meant to be displayed by the Pod and one for video to be viewed on the iSee. Apparently this is to do with DRM issues.

There's not much more info at the moment, like whether it will output video to a larger display.

It's coming in about 5 months time, US price $199-$250. We'll keep an eye out for it over here.

Read

The following article gives an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the kitting out of two state-of-the-art high definition TV (HDTV) outside broadcast trucks. There's a fair bit of techno-speak in there, but if you're interested in how a £4m versatile OB truck is put together, read on.

High density, high definition patch panels provide maximum flexibility for state of the art outside broadcast HDTV trucks

Broadcast TV systems integrator Neil Wilson Enterprises (NWE) has made use of high-density patch panels from Deltron Emcon in equipping two state-of-the-art high definition TV (HDTV) outside broadcast trucks for a leading UK broadcaster. The 32x2 panels give more flexibility in less space than would have been possible with traditional 24 x 2 models, allowing the programme makers more freedom both in camera locations and production / mixing.

Micron Technology claims to have built the world's first 8-megapixel image sensor in the standard format used by mainstream digital cameras.

Not only will this allow for incredible still pictures, but because it's based on a CMOS chip it also allows much faster image capture. At its top resolution it can shoot 10fps, but at 2-megapixel resolution it will shoot at 30fps in a format compatible with 720p HD.

Voila! High-def video.

Sanyo-Epson have announced a new technology called Photo Fine Vistarich which allows for a very large viewing angle without loss of clarity or colour on smaller LCD panels.

Their press release states that "the new technology enables the displays to produce beautiful images even when viewed from an angle of 90 degrees from the top, bottom, left, or right. Volume production of displays featuring this new technology, which are available in five sizes (2.4-inch, 2.5-inch, 2.8-inch, 7.0-inch, and 10.1-inch), will commence in Autumn 2006."

I'm not sure about viewing from exactly 90 degrees (89.9 degrees, perhaps?) but I get their point - very wide viewing without obvious quality losses.

Tech Digest has an interview with Omar Javaid, Senior Director of MediaFLO, a company with a mobile TV solution that is soon to be trialled by Sky. Here's his intriguing response a question about HD on mobile phones. Apparently we have it already.

Lastly, it might sound daft but how far are we away from HD on mobile phones?

Well you kind of have it already with MediaFLO in that the distance which a person watches from a handset coupled with the quality of the video is akin to a 1080i/p signal. Realistically though it will be a while before we see true HD on mobiles. In the far east the high end standard screen on mobiles used to be QVGA, now it is VGA, though realistically for true HD it will have to be at least XGA, so when we reach that standard we will start to see 1080i signals popping up on mobiles.

So there you have it. Sky’s HD launch next week might be all about home TVs, but just maybe the broadcaster is already sizing up the HD mobile market. Mmmm.