HDBaseT Supporters Hope To Kiss HDMI Goodbye

arcticstoat writes "HDMI's short-lived reign over the TV cable racks could soon be over, thanks to a new usurper that combines several connections into a standard Cat5e/6 network cable with an RJ-45 connector. Designed by a coalition of consumer electronics manufacturers called the HDBaseT Alliance, which includes Sony, Samsung, LG and Valens, HDBaseT promises to not only carry video and audio signals, but also provide a network connection, a USB signal and even electricity using a single cable. The Alliance predicts that we'll start seeing the first HDBaseT equipment creeping into the shops later this year, but says the bigger wave of adoption will occur later in 2011."

Comments

Wait, can they kill my TV?

[drumcat]

As someone who got really annoyed with a bad firmware update on a new Samsung LED, why would I want to allow my manufacturer internet access to my hardware by default? I call shenanigans. This is an ability to monitor my viewing by someone I don't want monitoring. Imagine if Sony knew I was watching DirecTV, and they told Comcast. Wouldn't that be a marketing bonanza... Maybe this is that "Interactive TV" from 1991...