HDMI - Relationship With MHL

Relationship With MHL

Mobile High-definition Link (MHL) is an industry standard for a mobile audio/video interface for directly connecting mobile phones and other portable consumer electronics (CE) devices to high-definition televisions (HDTVs) and displays. MHL is being developed by the MHL Consortium, a consortium of developers of mobile devices. Many of the companies behind MHL are also the ones behind HDMI. MHL is an evolution of HDMI rather than a new standard.

MHL is basically an HDMI stream that has three logic channels multiplexed into a single physical one. Each logic channel represent a data channel in HDMI. Overall, an MHL cable only needs five wires instead of the nineteen used in HDMI.

MHL features:

• Power is transmitted through the cable. Typical cases include the TV charging the mobile device and the mobile device powering an active MHL to HDMI dongle.
• Uses a single, thin cable to connect the mobile device to the TV compared to HDMI. Typical MHL cables are 1.5m long.
• The HDTV remote will control the connected device with guaranteed mixed manufacturer interoperability (CEC).
• Video resolution limited to 1080p uncompressed 4:2:2 HD video (PacketVideo) or 720p 4:4:4 HD video.
• 8 channel (e.g., 7.1 surround sound) uncompressed audio.
• Supports High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP).
• Typical MHL connector is micro USB, a typical connector already found in many mobile devices. The same micro USB connector can be used to charge the device, to establish data communication with a computer and to transfer uncompressed video.