HDMI Licensing question

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  • August 25, 2021 at 1:00 PM #48935
    vittopascu
    Participant

    Hello everyone,

    I have a question out of sheer curiosity: reading online I found that early version of the OSSC only had DVI-D output because of the prohibitive licensing costs that come with becoming an HDMI adopter, however I see that newer version 1.6 has full HDMI support (both connector and protocol). I wanted to ask if anyone knows the details of this transition, namely whether the developers/manufacturers became HDMI adopters or if instead they found some legal loophole that allows them to elude said hefty fees and still use HDMI technology.

    Thank you

    August 25, 2021 at 1:24 PM #48936
    BuckoA51
    Keymaster

    For the classic we believe our factory has basic HDMI license status. Legally, we’re not even supposed to mention HDMI on the packaging or product page. OSSC Classic 100% does NOT conform to HDMI specs and is NOT guaranteed to be compatible with HDMI devices.

    For the pro, HDMI compliance is currently under review and we expect to be a certified adopter by the time of the launch of the OSSC Pro. There is no way around paying the fee this will have to be factored in to the price of OSSC Pro.

    August 26, 2021 at 4:41 PM #48947
    vittopascu
    Participant

    Thanks for the reply, there is something I don’t quite get though… Looking at the schematic, the OSSC currently features an IT6613 chip, which is a compliant HDMI 1.4 transmitter. In addition to this, the very fact that the OSSC with extension board is capable of transmitting audio over the digital video interface would seem to be an indication that the OSSC IS, in fact, already transmitting a compliant HDMI signal, perhaps with a subset of features, and perhaps not officially certified.

    Do you know how this situation was handled from a legal standpoint? And what kind of licensing scheme would allow such operation without becoming an HDMI adopter? I would imagine that the IT6613 chip provider, ITE Tech Inc. has already licensed the technology (they are an HDMI adopter) and, by selling the device to non-HDMI adopters, they would be subject to the HDMI per-product fees. At that point, if OSSC is not using the HDMI trademark and is not implementing its own HDMI transmitter it would seem possible that no licensing fees would need to be paid by the OSSC manufacturers, does this make sense?

    Thank you again for your precious insights

    August 27, 2021 at 3:36 PM #48961
    BuckoA51
    Keymaster

    The transmitter chip is HDMI compliant but the way the design is implemented is not.

    There is no way around paying license fee. We cannot comment on what other manufacturers/distributors do.

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