The 1394 Trade Association announced that it has issued new specifications focused on video compression and on audio and music transmission. Both can be applied to use of the 1394-Automotive standard.

According to the statement, the revised BT.601 specification on the transport of uncompressed or compressed video addresses the upcoming Analog Sunset directive that applies Jan. 1, 2011 to new Blu-ray Disc (BD) players. The Image Constraint Token (ICT) eliminates the potential for pirated unencrypted video. With this revision, BT.601 has been updated with the token for use with Blu-ray players.

Data in the 4:2:2 format of ITU-R BT.601 includes compatible extensions to the format for the higher and lower resolutions of other commonly used video resolutions over 1394. The data formats for the encapsulation of video data are compatible with those specified by IEC 61883-1.

A new version of the Audio Music Data Transmission Protocol (v 2.2) addresses multichannel audio formats for Blu-ray. It supports all popular surround configurations like 5.1 and 7.1 and is extensible to 32 channels. The new version also addresses the Analog Sunset directive, and describes a protocol for transmitting audio and music data over IEEE Std 1394-1995 or later, including the transport of IEC 60958 digital format, raw audio samples, and MIDI data.

The specification includes excerpts from IEC 61883-6, the improved version of 1394 TA specification “Audio and Music Data Transmission Protocol V1.”

For more information visit www.1394ta.org