Gefen Audio/Video Switches

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It represents a digital alternative to consumer analog standards such as Radio Frequency (RF) coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, and VGA. HDMI connects digital audio/video sources such as set-top boxes, Blu-ray Disc players, personal computers (PCs), video game consoles, and AV receivers to compatible digital audio devices, computer monitors, and digital televisions. HDMI supports, on a single cable, any TV or PC video format, including standard, enhanced, and high-definition video, up to 8 channels of digital audio, and the Consumer Electronics Control signal. It is independent of the various digital television standards such as ATSC and DVB as these are encapsulations of compressed MPEG video streams (which can be decoded and output as an uncompressed video stream on HDMI). A Digital Visual Interface (DVI) signal is electrically compatible with an HDMI video signal; no signal conversion needs to take place when an adapter is used, and consequently no loss in video quality occurs.

High-definition television (or HDTV) is a digital television broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition TV, or SDTV). HDTV is digitally broadcast; the earliest implementations used analog broadcasting, but today digital television (DTV) signals are used, requiring less bandwidth due to digital video compression.