Crestron view on new and forthcoming connectivity standards

Stijn Ooms, director of product strategy AV and digital workplace, Europe at Crestron, gets down to the detail on connectivity standard developments and their impact on the Crestron product roadmap.

Ooms [pictured above] speaks to Tim Kridel.

 TK: Which new and forthcoming connectivity standards are you keeping an eye on? For example, USB4 Version 2, HDMI 2.1a, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 seem like ones that belong on the radars of pro AV vendors and integrators.

SO: Long story short: we keep an eye on all new and forthcoming connectivity standards because, as a manufacturer, it’s our job to be aware of everything that might become relevant for the pro AV market. That being said, all connectivity standards mentioned have their pros and cons and very specific use cases.

The first HDMI standard came out at the beginning of 2003. The earliest products to use this standard in the pro AV market came out in 2008, and only by 2013, there was a 50% adoption rate. That means that ten years passed between the launch and mass adoption.

We see the same timeline if we look at HDMI 1.4, which came out in 2009. The first pro AV products using this version appeared in 2014, and by 2019 50% of applicable products included the standard. This means that, on average, there is a five-year gap between the spec release and the phase of early adoption.

Therefore, it follows that the first products equipped with 8K HDMI — the 2.1 standard, which was released in 2018 — will be available in 2023. 2.1a was only released in 2022, so AV products with that standard will likely not be available before 2027 if the pattern holds. Given the limited added value of 8K for smaller screens, we think it will mainly be adopted for very specific use cases, such as medical imaging, military applications, the design world, recording studios, and video walls or large LED screens, especially since the difference between 2.1 and 2.1a is minimal: Features with the latter standard include SBTM (Source-Based Tone Mapping) which supports HDR, or High Dynamic Range (making blacks blacker, whites whiter, and providing more options with brightness and colour — a larger range).

Today, when multiple sources are on the same display via distribution, technically, contrast and colour settings should be adapted for every source device separately. We’ve seen this in movie theatres or on superyachts but not in other use cases. With SBTM, the source tells the display what to do regarding brightness and colour — it doesn’t have to be adapted manually. The advantage here? All adjustments at the display are no longer dependent on the source but happen automatically behind the screens and also when multiple sources are shared on one display. The 2.1a standard can, in most cases, be achieved with a software update on the display and the source.

We’re also keeping tabs on USB 4 Version 2.0, which brings with it massive bandwidths: specifically, 80 Gbps. (For comparison, Version 3.0 delivered 5 Gbps, and 3.2 clocked in at 20 Gbps.) Additionally, USB 4 Version 2.0 features asymmetric data transfer, meaning 120 Gbps output from the host and 40 Gbps return from the device to the host, making it useful in many scenarios where asymmetric data transfer is required, such as display + docking station, 80 Gbps for display output and 40 Gbps for data transfer.

As far as applications and adoption are concerned, we are monitoring what’s happening, but it’s not immediately relevant to our industry. It might be used for home offices with multiple screens, USB drives, networks, and so on. With capabilities to drive multiple desktops on multiple screens, it would be for esports, medical applications, and those home offices built for high-powered user cases, but for most cases, its deployment is simply massive overkill. Today, Crestron can transport full USB 2 and 3 over long distances.

Wi-Fi is also of interest. Wi-Fi 6, released in 2019, gave us slightly higher speeds (up to 9 Gbps), WPA3 security, and larger MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, which allowed more users on the same access point). In 2020, one year later, Wi-Fi 6E delivered an extra band (which gave us a 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and now a 6 GHz band). The result: three different Wi-Fi networks without interference. The disadvantage here is that the higher you go, the smaller the distance you can sit from your access point.

As far as applications and adoption are concerned, we are monitoring what’s happening, but it’s not immediately relevant to our industry. It might be used for home offices with multiple screens, USB drives, networks, and so on. With capabilities to drive multiple desktops on multiple screens, it would be for esports, medical applications, and those home offices built for high-powered user cases, but for most cases, its deployment is simply massive overkill. Today, Crestron can transport full USB 2 and 3 over long distances.

When Wi-Fi 7 arrives in 2024, that will deliver 46 Gbps peak speed. Channel width will improve as well: with 6 and 6E, we’re at 160MHz. That increases to 320MHz with WiFi 7 (and takes us from 8 x 8 MIMO to 16 x 16 MIMO, which results in even more users per access point).

Wi-Fi 6 is now becoming the standard access point, which is very interesting for most applications. Wi-Fi 6E is in debugging phase: There are already a number of laptops and access points enabled for 6E, but it’s still in its infancy. Wi-Fi 7, as we’ve mentioned, is due in 2024, but it won’t be stable until 2030.

Lastly, 5G is as fast as Wi-Fi 6. Once 5G is established worldwide, will WiFi access points still have a place? Pro AV does not use Wi-Fi for video or audio distribution. Wi-Fi 7 can allow us to send DM NVX signals over Wi-Fi, for example, but we are still far away from that option becoming reality.

There are some other standards we are keeping an eye on, but it’s too early to talk about them and predict which ones will be a success.

 

TK: Regarding your answer to question 1, why those?

SO: One example: bring your own device or media (BYOD/BYOM) has been a major trend in verticals such as higher ed for years. Perhaps one factor is whether tablet, streaming player, and laptop vendors are adding support for those standards. Another may be that they enable you to add product features and capabilities that aren’t practical or possible with legacy connection standards.

 

TK: As a vendor, how do you keep tabs on emerging standards? For example, is it worthwhile to participate in standards bodies and trade associations such as the Wi-Fi Alliance to understand what’s in development so you can get a head start? And if you do, do the needs and wants of pro AV tend to take a back seat to those of IT, broadcast and mobile when it comes to determining what goes into each new standard?

SO: We don’t participate actively in such connectivity standards, because there’s lots of time between the creation of a standard and its adoption in the mass market. We focus specifically on standards that are relevant to us. Wi-Fi, for example, is purely for control, so bandwidth and speed aren’t terribly important — what we really need in those applications is just stability. We are participating in some bodies —Matter, the new residential communications protocol, is an example.

We do take all of this quite seriously — it’s an important part of our job.

 

TK: HDMI’s lack of a locking connector has been a headache for pro AV. As a vendor, how much freedom do you have to layer on additional physical, electrical or communications features to address any shortcomings in HDMI, USB and other standards? And as you look at the standards discussed in question 1, are there any shortcomings, market requirements, etc. that you think pro AV vendors will wind up having to address on their own because the standards themselves fall short in terms of meeting pro AV’s unique needs?

SO: Of course, we have the freedom to improve the standard or build around the standard. A standard simply describes basic rules that you must comply with — but you’re certainly able to build on that foundation. As a manufacturer, you can make a difference by going above and beyond certain standards by adding features even improving quality. There's a reason why Crestron products are better than other products: We build more components around the chip to build more functionality.

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