Had the itch of wanting HDMI connectors on your nifty electronic gadgets but somehow manufacturers just couldn’t integrate them because the standard HDMI port is too big? Your prayers have been answered.
Shown above is the prototype HDMI Type D connector which very much resembles micro USB. The Type D connector keeps all 19-pins of the HDMI standard connector intact, but greatly reduces the connector in size. Hopefully, they would also find a way to integrate a lockking mechanism of some sort because HDMI cables get disconnected rather easily.
The HDMI Type D connector has the same functionality as its larger HDMI brother, the only advantage of the new prototype is the size. It won’t be a surprise that we will soon see a mini-HDMI port integrated into mobile phones, digital cameras and other smaller electronics
The next revision of the HDMI standard will apparently be adding a new, extra-small connector to the spec. The Type D plug is similar in size to Micro USB but, cleverly, still has the same 19 pins as a standard Type A HDMI connector.
This pin-for-pin compatibility means that direct Type D to Type A connections would be possible. As such a mobile phone or media player capable of playing high definition content could be hooked up directly to an HDTV using HDMI.
With a growing number of small, portable devices now purporting to offer HD playback, such as the Omnia HD, the Flip Mino HD and, rumour has it, the Zune HD, it's definitely a good thing to see a standard, universal connector emerging. I'm sure I'm not alone in my hatred of proprietary ports and cables.
The next version of the HDMI standard will apparently arrive this half of 2009, so products using the connector will likely appear not long afterwards.
