Test solution certified by HDMI Forum

As an HDMI Forum member, Agilent collaborated on the development of official test standards and specifications with Panasonic.

In the new HDMI 2.0 specification, the transmission bandwidth of 18 Gbps is one of the most important extensions to allow the 4K image transmission with 4:4:4 full-colour format. However, since the transmission rate is doubled and it is necessary to support existing HDMI cables, interoperability issues due to signal quality distortions has become a big technical challenge.

To address the technical challenge, Agilent and Panasonic derived the basic measurement data, such as the effect of cable loss, reflection, skew and impedance mismatch, by using measurement technology that combines simulation and measurement. The measurement equipment used to address the test standards was an Agilent E5071C ENA option TDR, an Infiniium 9000series oscilloscope, with transmission simulation option, a ParBERT 81250A, and an AWG M8190A with low jitter and high-quality output.

Through this collaboration with Panasonic, the HDMI test solution was certified as an official compliance test tool. It can cover the most test items in the industry for HDMI 2.0 physical layer test, such as test item HF2-6, Sink Video Timing test for 2160p 24 bit.

“The biggest technology challenge in HDMI 2.0, with its 18 Gbps high-speed transmissions, is to guarantee reliable interoperability,” said Hiroyuki Iitsuka, Panasonic, AVC Networks, Manager of the Format Verification Laboratory (ATC). “This is twice the speed of conventional HDMI, but it must support existing HDMI cables. Panasonic has been working with Agilent to verify this required specification, and we are pleased to be the first Authorised Test Centre in the world to offer the 18 Gbps physical layer compliance test capability.”

“We have been an active member of the HDMI Forum since its inception and have been very engaged in developing the HDMI 2.0 test solution with Panasonic,” said Agilent’s Juergen Beck, vice president and general manager of the Digital and Photonic Test division. “This solution will help to speed up HDMI 2.0 development for many R&D customers and other ATCs requiring compliance test equipment.”

The Agilent HDMI 2.0 test solution covers all physical layer compliance tests, such as source and sink test. Agilent HDMI compliance software N5990A is available to provide test automation for fast and easy compliance testing.