A recent survey sponsored by IOGEAR (sure they have an interest in the subject matter…) suggests consumers are lacking adequate numbers of HDMI inputs on the TV’s and home theater receivers.
As video games and home video units adapt high definition technology, most televisions still only carry one HDMI port while many affordable receivers come with one or two ports. So if you combine your Playstation 3, HD-DVD, high-definition cable/sat television and enough money leftover for an Xbox 360, you’re out of luck in the HDMI department.
“Home entertainment devices continue to come to market with HDMI capabilities, and as our survey illustrates, end users are finding it difficult to support the number of products in their living rooms,” said Miranda Su, vice president of sales and marketing at IOGEAR. “It is important for consumers to experience the high-quality audio and video that HDMI provides, as it enables them to have the richest home-theater system possible.”
According to the email survey, 300 out of the 1,000 respondents only have one HDMI input, while nearly 60 percent surveyed want to simultaneously connect up to four a/vl products to their TVs.
“This presents consumers with a home-theater conundrum, forcing them to either disconnect a device every time they want to access a new one, or not take advantage of the robust HDMI features incorporated in their digital entertainment products. Having multiple interfaces on HDTVs is increasingly vital as more than 600 makers of consumer electronics and PC products worldwide have adopted HDMI1, with products including set-top boxes, DVD players and gaming consoles,” IOGEAR said.
While it’s not common for users to have three or more HDMI devices, more and more consumers require at least two — one for high-definition television and one for a video game or home video (upconverting DVD, Blu-ray or HD-DVD) setup.
The result: look for more and more home theater receivers to include 2+ HDMI ports and added component video inputs too. Remember, HDMI and DVI use the same video interface — and you can buy an adaptor cable to use any DVI device on an HDMI port.
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