LG Set Becomes First DiiVA-Certified TV, Consortium Says

LG’s model 42LW6600 TV is the first to pass compliance testing for the Digital Interactive Interface for Video & Audio (DiiVA), the DiiVA Consortium announced Monday. According to the consortium, momentum for DiiVA is expected to accelerate now that “a global manufacturer of LG’s stature has committed to incorporating DiiVA as a key ingredient for smart TVs.”

Neither LG nor the DiiVA Consortium responded to questions by our deadline regarding availability of the TV and in which markets, whether the TV would also have HDMI, what applications the TV would be targeted to, which devices it will connect to and whether all future LG models will have DiiVA built in. DiiVA technology is said to combine a reliable high-speed, bi-directional data channel with an uncompressed video and audio channel over one cable allowing users to “connect, configure and control” various home CE devices from digital TVs. LG is also a founding member of the HDBaseT consortium, an interface that combines uncompressed audio and video, control, Ethernet and power over a single Cat 5 cable. LG also didn’t respond to questions about how or whether its role with DiiVA coincides or conflicts with that of HDBaseT.

DiiVA enables users to interact with content on a TV screen or smartphone where they can view content “without having to know where the content resides,” DiiVA said. The experience mirrors the apps-driven experience consumers are familiar with on smartphones and tablets, the consortium said. DiiVA demonstrated the technology at CES in January with DiiVA-enabled designs from SoC partners Sigma Designs for an IPTV set-top box and media player and MediaTek for a Blu-ray player. The devices were powered by a transmitter, receiver, switch and middleware solutions from Synerchip, a DiiVA founding member that was first to market with DiiVA IC products, the consortium said.

Testing for the 42LW6600 was conducted at the DiiVA Authorized Test Center (ATC) in Guangzhou, China, which opened in Q4 2010, the consortium said. Base system test pricing starts at $10,000 for a TV, according to the website. The DiiVA compliance program requires manufacturers to submit their first product in each product category to a DiiVA test center. Product categories for DiiVA certification include HDTVs, source devices, switches, adapters and cables/connectors. Derivative products, such as a manufacturer’s second TV or DVD player that’s based on the certified models, must also be tested by “self-test” or at the ATC, according to DiiVA. All products submitted to an ATC are tested against the specification’s requirements, and when a product has been certified as compliant, manufacturers are notified they can use the DiiVA logo, the group said. The first DiiVA logo-bearing products are due in 2011, it said.

The DiiVA Consortium’s charter members, known as the “promoters group,” include CE and home appliance manufacturers Changhong, Haier, Hisense, Konka, LG, Panda, Samsung, Skyworth, Sony, SVA, TCL, and chip developer Synerchip. The goal of the consortium, according to the website, is “to build the next-generation global, interactive consumer electronics and home networking standard.”