U.K.-based Aquavision is the first company to announce a...

U.K.-based Aquavision is the first company to announce a commercially available TV that uses HDBaseT technology to deliver video and power over one cable, said Dana Zelitzki, marketing director of Valens Semiconductor, supplier of HDBaseT chipsets, on a press tour through New York Wednesday. Aquavision makes waterproof TVs that are used in bathrooms and kitchens, and the ability to run a single wire -- and not have to bring in an electrician to add a power outlet -- is an appealing attribute for custom installers, Zelitzki told us. The Power-over-HDBaseT feature enables the transfer of DC power along with data signals in wire runs up to about 300 feet. Valens ensures “safe delivery” of up to 100 watts of power over the four pairs of an Ethernet cable used in an HDBaseT solution, and offers an answer to power challenges manufacturers face when designing thin, wall-mounted TVs that require bulky companion AC-DC power circuitry, she said. In a prepared statement, Alastair Benn, technical director of Aquavision, said the company designs its displays so customers can put them in any room “without sacrificing a sense of style,” but the bundle of audio, video and power cords required in an installation “can ruin that effect.” The HDBaseT solution allows consumers to include a video display in their interior design plans “instead of trying to design a room around the display and location of power outlets,” he said. Silvertel provides the PoH display for Aquavision. Meanwhile, Savant Systems became the latest company to join the HDBaseT Alliance member list, which now totals about 60 companies, a number that’s doubled in the past six months, Zelitzki said. HDBaseT “is evolving more and more as a standard,” said Jim Carroll, executive vice president-corporate strategy & business development at Savant. It’s also a lower cost solution than other options for delivering uncompressed audio and video over long distances, he said. Savant has been using a fiber wiring solution and HDMI over extenders to date. The combination of extenders with HDMI -- since HDMI on its own can’t handle long distances -- “is a very expensive proposition,” Carroll said. “HDBaseT essentially takes those extenders and integrates them into the same product,” he said. Instead of having an output switch card running to an extender and to another extender at the other end to convert back to HDMI, “it all comes out of one card,” he said. Economies of scale bring cost savings from an HDBaseT solution to as much as 40 percent less expensive than an extender option, he said. Although HDBaseT is capable of combining uncompressed audio and video, Ethernet, power and control in a single Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable, Savant separates power and control from the audio and video, Carroll said, because IT organizations don’t like an unmanaged IP network inside of their networks. “When you're talking about banks and Fortune 1000-type corporations, they're not real excited about HDBaseT running on their corporate network,” he said. Savant systems are used in both commercial and residential applications. Version 2.0 of the HDBaseT 2.0 spec has been drafted and is under review by the HDBaseT Alliance members (CED June 18 p1). It’s expected to be finalized by the end of August, which Zelitzki called “a formality.”