HDMI CEC (Consumer Electronics Control), HDMI communication channel protocol support?

I have been planing to make my XBMC be Bravia Sync compatible by using hardware from these guys:
http://rainshadowtech.com/default_files/HDMICECUSB.htm

That started when I realised how smooth the operation of my Sony TV and Sony BlueRay player was using just the TV-remote.

But as a hardworking, father of two and busy with everything else in life I havent even ordered the piece of hardware yet to be able to get started.

So dont stay up waiting :-) - But I do have the dream of getting the pieces together some day.

So it's been a while, but me/we (Pulse-Eight) will have a USB - CEC Adaptor that will work with XBMC (out of the box*) from around early september!

*Will need eden-pre at the time of release or a patched version of dharma which we will host on Pulse-Eight's website

^Wow! Very exciting news!

Although, how will usb-cec work, exactly... surely that would use up the hdmi port that is needed for the video signal? Or will most TVs accept CEC commands from a HDMI port that is not the one currently being watched?

HDMI 1.3 (onwards) supports CEC why on earth you need another piece of hardware, besides a remote. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC

Oh and its only for US market, so leaves Europe in the dark no matter what it is.

because there is no graphics card with HDMI-CEC. Afaik only few Toshiba laptops have HDMI-CEC integrated with special chip on board.

Malard Wrote:So it's been a while, but me/we (Pulse-Eight) will have a USB - CEC Adaptor that will work with XBMC (out of the box*) from around early september!

*Will need eden-pre at the time of release or a patched version of dharma which we will host on Pulse-Eight's website

great! looking forward to it..

well all the atom IONs Gen1 and above, support this and have this chip, my question is to those who actually have a HDMI revision that supports HDM-CEC what then?

Are we all required to buy another piece of kit or will this work with the hardware out of the box on the machines that fully support it.

X3lectric Wrote:well all the atom IONs Gen1 and above, support this and have this chip, my question is to those who actually have a HDMI revision that supports HDM-CEC what then?

Are we all required to buy another piece of kit or will this work with the hardware out of the box on the machines that fully support it.

You will need this kit, because HDMI-CEC is not supported by ION1/2, as HDMI-CEC is optional by HDMI specification and it's up to manufacturer to implement it. I don't have any real info, that nVidia itself or any other manufacturer included it in their boards with ION.

I do from Pegatron who manufactured the darned things (all IONgen1) support HDMI-CEC the HDMI is version 1.3 see what it supports here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison

Consumer Electronic Control (CEC) has been implemented since HDMI Version one and has only stater been used since version 1.3, I not takig this off the wiki, as I actually poured through design specifications for mini atx boards based on ION gen 1 for xbmc.

The support is there all it needs is being implemented at low level to make use of it... HDMI-CEC is NOT optional is is part of always has been.

Okay just to clarify a few things

Firstly, this isn't a US only technology, Pulse-Eight is a UK based company and ships worldwide. So no-one is left out.

ION chips might support CEC, but the boards don't always have the pin wired up. And as far as I can tell, none of the open or closed drivers support CEC, or expose them, so unless someone wants to write driver support they are out of luck.

CEC has been around since 1.0 in fact its the next generation of Av.link which was in SCART sockets that have been around for at least a couple of decades. Not all TVs support all commands, and some have their own custom commands that only the same line of products support.

Our aim is to produce a box that will work with all of these and allow the community to contribute new codes and missing codes for different TVs for the betterment of everyone.

Lastly, CEC works even if the device is turned of (in standby) oh and CEC is an optional part of the HDMI Spec, only requirement is that the pin is wired to allow other devices that do implement CEC to continue to work.