Silicon Image introduces LiquidHD home networking

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Silicon Image, Inc. has introduced LiquidHD, a new personal entertainment technology designed to quickly and easily connect TVs, home theater, personal computers (PCs) and portable consumer electronics (CE) devices into a seamless network where consumers can enjoy digital content from any source device on any LiquidHD-enabled display in the home.

With LiquidHD technology, pausing a television program on the TV in the living room and resuming it on the TV in the bedroom is done with a single press of a button on the remote control. Resuming a video game or a movie on any LiquidHD enabled TV, laptop or mobile phone are all features enabled by LiquidHD technology.

"With the fast changing home networking market place, we are looking at emerging technologies like LiquidHD to provide for our customers a rich and flexible entertainment environment that leverages our already successful broadcast and on-demand content to be distributed within the home", said Bill Warga, vice president of technology at Liberty Global Inc.

"Silicon Image's technology comes at the right time as the number of TVs and other consumer-facing devices capable of receiving video over an IP network continues to grow," said Tony Werner, chief technology officer at Comcast. "While Silicon Image's technology could be used to enable multi-room DVRs, its real benefit could be its ability to help get cable providers' content and applications to multiple consumer devices."

LiquidHD technology is a suite of protocols that runs over commodity IP networks such as Ethernet, Coax like MoCA, powerline like HomePlug and wireless like WiFi (802.11n). LiquidHD technology is comprised of the following key components:

LiquidDiscover: Automatic discovery and authentication of all LiquidHD-enabled devices in the home, just plug it in and the TV automatically discovers your LiquidHD source devices;
LiquidMedia: High-definition, high-fidelity media streaming from live and stored sources; LiquidPixels: Pixel accurate, low latency and low bandwidth transmission of any source device's user interface to any LiquidHD display device. Includes a single remote control at each display for control of all source devices on the LiquidHD network;
LiquidControl: Secure control & communication between all devices;
LiquidPlay: Comprehensive security and content protection architecture built on a robust hardware solution. Enables consumers to play and move their legally obtained content on any LiquidHD device they own. Also protects CE devices from malevolent attacks by securing the control commands and LiquidPixels remote user interface.

"Our LiquidHD technology is the natural next step to the HDMI standard, and is likewise designed from the ground up for easy, low cost integration into every TV and CE device," said Steve Tirado, president and chief executive officer at Silicon Image, Inc. "The rich networking support baked in every TV will lead to significant simplification and enrichment of the user entertainment experience in addition to a reduction in cost for service providers."

LiquidHD technology is also energy efficient in that it allows all LiquidHD-enabled devices to revert to very low power standby modes when not in active operation. Once the consumer is ready to use a LiquidHD device across the network, a simple click on the remote control will result in full activation and instant access. This convenient and energy saving measure also benefits consumer electronics manufacturers as it meets the U.S. Energy Star rating and European regulations on low-power CE devices. LiquidHD technology also enables significant enhancements to retail and hospitality applications.

Silicon Image plans to partner with industry leading service operators and consumer electronics companies to form an industry consortium that supports and fosters the LiquidHD technology standard for market adoption. For more information on LiquidHD please visit www.liquidhd.com.