Mini HDMI cables on the way

Several companies have prototyped miniature High Definition Multimedia Interface cables, bringing the size near or below that of USB.

The smallest cable, developed by US-based Molex Inc., uses the same 19-pin connection as existing HDMI cables but in roughly half the size, Nikkei Electronics Asia reports. Japan’s Yakazi Corp. and an unnamed third firm have also created prototypes. Meanwhile, Japan Aviation Electronics Industry is working a larger HDMI connector for cars.

All these cables are based on the next HDMI standard, due for release this quarter with products hitting the market in the second half of the year. Smaller connectors retain the 19-pin design of their predecessors, ensuring backwards compatibility.

Molex’s cable uses a type D connector that’s about the same size as a Micro USB connector. The small size suggests that we could see more HDMI outputs coming from mobile devices, such as smartphones. As a reader in our forums noted, this opens the door for easy HD video feeds from phone to TV.

I hope this development leads to that sort of implementation. Being able to plug a phone into a TV to watch all of its stored content is just what downloadable HD video needs to really take off. Something tells me content producers wouldn’t like this, because it’s just another way to circumvent traditional television, but it’s worth a shot.