In response to recent input from the industry, HDMI Licensing LLC will meet in late January 2010 to add an additional 3D format (tentatively named “Top/Bottom”) to the HDMI specification, supporting the use of this format over HDMI.

The agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) specification has committed to resolving this issue in January 2010 and publishing a document soon thereafter.

Legacy set-top boxes (those that are already deployed in the market) are required to comply with the HDMI Specification Version 1.4 requirements for 3D functionality even if only implementing one or more of the 3D formats in Appendix H of the specification.

To meet the needs of the market, the HDMI founders have decided to allow legacy set-top boxes to use formats contained in Appendix H without having to implement the HDMI specification’s mandatory 3D formats, provided that they fully comply with the signaling protocol defined in Appendix H. This will continue to be in effect and will be reevaluated once a mandatory 3D broadcast format is defined.

However, legacy set-top boxes that do not support the mandatory 3D formats may not claim 3D functionality as defined by the updated HDMI Adopted Trademark and Logo Usage Guidelines.

“As a leading global standard for HD connectivity, the HDMI Consortium takes the market’s needs very seriously,” HDMI Licensing LLC president Steve Venuti said. “3D is a nascent market and thus continues to evolve quickly. We have taken input from leading industry associations and this announcement reflects the HDMI founders’ commitment to continuously and proactively set the foundation for innovations that will deliver the next generation of content. The addition of the new format will secure the application of 3D for broadcasting, in addition to the existing applications for Blu-ray and gaming.”

For more information about the HDMI specification, visit http://www.hdmi.org