HDMI Licensing Appoints Steve Venuti as New LLC President; HDMI Adoption Continues to Grow

HDMI grows its adopter base to more than 800 as digital connectivity expands into new product categories

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – April 8, 2008 – HDMI Licensing, LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface™ (HDMI™) specification, today announced that Steve Venuti, 53, has been appointed president of the standards body, effective April 3, 2008. Venuti will continue to propel the HDMI specification forward as the worldwide standard for high-definition digital connectivity through industry education and key marketing initiatives, building on the momentum established by past president Leslie Chard.

As one of the initial employees of HDMI Licensing, LLC, Venuti was instrumental in the public launch of the HDMI standard in 2003. Over the past five years, he has held several senior-level positions, most recently serving as the HDMI Licensing, LLC’s vice president of marketing. Venuti was a driving force behind the early adoption of the HDMI standard into the connected home by listening to and addressing the concerns of CE and PC retailers.

“More companies are featuring HDMI technology in their product lineups; it’s the high-definition connection that the whole world is embracing,” said Venuti. “Les Chard provided vital leadership in building the standard and growing it to the success it has achieved today.”  

To date, more than 800 consumer electronics (CE) and personal computer (PC) manufacturers globally have adopted the HDMI specification. This is up from the 750 adopters previously announced at CES in January 2008.  

The HDMI specification is at the forefront of digital connectivity for high-definition consumer electronics. Manufacturers are continuing to roll out products with the most advanced HDMI 1.3 features currently on the market, including x.v.Color, Deep Color and the newest lossless HD audio formats from Dolby and DTS. The HDMI specification is found in more devices, such as gaming consoles, digital still cameras, camcorders and portable media players, as manufacturers meet consumer demand for multimedia convergence. Sony recently announced its S-Frame brand of digital photo frames, including the DPF-V900, DPF-V700 and DPF-D70, all of which have HDMI outputs for connection to an HDTV. HDMI Licensing, LLC is focused on bridging the gap between technology and the consumer.

Increased adoption of the HDMI specification has generated the need for marketing to not only CE and PC manufacturers, but also to retailers, installers and consumers – segments where Venuti has already built strong relationships.

About HDMI Licensing, LLC
HDMI Licensing, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc., is the agent responsible for licensing the HDMI specification, promoting the HDMI standard and providing education on the benefits of HDMI to retailers and consumers. The HDMI specification was developed by Hitachi, Matsushita (Panasonic), Philips, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba as the digital interface standard for the consumer electronics market. The HDMI specification combines uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel audio in a single digital interface to provide crystal-clear digital quality over a single cable. For more information about HDMI, please visit www.hdmi.org.

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