Q. When was the HDMI specification released?
A.  The initial HDMI 1.0 specification was released in December 2002.
     Version 1.1 was released in May 2004.
     Version 1.2 was released in August of 2005.
     Version 1.2a was released in December of 2005.
     Version 1.3 was released in June of 2006.

Q. What has been added to V#1.3 specification?
A.  

• Support 1080p HDTV format: Although all previous versions of HDMI have had more than enough bandwidth to support all current HDTV formats.
• Higher speed: HDMI 1.3b increases its single-link bandwidth from 165MHz (4.95 Gbps) to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps)
  
• Higher resolution: Over 400% greater resolution then 720p HTDV. Support the demands of future HD display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Color and high frame rates.
• Deep Color: HDMI 1.3 supports 10-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit (RGB or YCbCr) color depths, up from the 8-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification, for stunning rendering of over one billion colors in unprecedented detail.
• Broader color space: HDMI 1.3 adds support for “x.v.Color? (which is the consumer name describing the IEC 61966-2-4 xvYCC color standard), which removes current color space limitations and enables the display of any color viewable by the human eye.
• New mini connector: With small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras demanding seamless connectivity to HDTVs, HDMI 1.3 offers a new, smaller form factor connector option.
• Lip Sync: Because consumer electronics devices are using increasingly complex digital signal processing to enhance the clarity and detail of the content, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI 1.3 incorporates automatic audio synching capabilities that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with total accuracy.
• New HD lossless audio formats: In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and all currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby?Digital and DTS?, HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio?

Q. Why use "Optical cable" connect to my home theater?
A.  Optical cable uses fiber-optic technology to ensure the optical signal is transferred without distortion and guarantees a sound performance.

Q. How to pick up the right speaker cable for my home theater?
A.  For many years, wires that were used to connect speaker systems were often zip or line cord. The longer the run was, the heavier the wire that was used. There were no special speaker wires--just plain old copper wire--solid or stranded. The emergence of high tech speaker wire has raised some fundamental questions about the benefits of these new and sometimes extremely expensive wires.
   Wire is specified by gauge numbers. A smaller number indicates a larger diameter of wire and consequently a lower the resistance. Stranded wire is composed of several smaller conductors. The total cross sectional area of all of the smaller conductors determines the effective wire size of the stranded wire and it will have lower resistance than only one of the strands.
   For example: you can use#18 wire for a 25 foot run to a nominal 8 ohm speaker, but if the run is increased to 35 feet, #16 wire must be used. 50 feet is the maximum recommended length for normal line cord or Romex solid copper wire. This length is more than adequate for most installations.  
   A wire resistance of less than 5% of the nominal speaker impedance is chosen to work well with almost all speaker systems and can be considered conservative. Even a resistance of less than 10% of the nominal value could be used with some speakers and would not be audible.