One of the busiest design areas is electronic video switching for digital and high definition video, and new ICs are serving these needs

A pair of video switching ICs from Texas Instruments meets diverse needs in digital television, audio/video receivers, and KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) switches. The TMDS341 three-port device is designed for Transition Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) channels, and also a hot-plug detector and I2C interface on each channel. Each channel supports signaling rates to 1.65 Gbps. In addition, the 3:1 DVI/HDMI switch offers 8-dB input equalization and selectable 3-dB output de-emphasis to manage signal distortion and optimize performance through cables up to 5 meters or longer.

Interpair output skew is under 200 psec, and outputs go to a high-impedance mode when they are disabled. The 3.3V IC tolerates 5V on all external pins, as well. Housed in an 80-pin TQFP, it is $3.50 in 1000-unit orders. For the data sheet, click on www.ti.com/sc05242

For applications which require converting a single DVI or HDMI input into two high-speed ports, the TS3DV350 is a five-channel differential, 2:1 mux/demux digital video switch. Bandwidth of 2.4 Gbps accommodates the 1.65 Gpbs TMDS signals of many DVI/HDMI applications. Crosstalk is under -27 dB (typical) whole bit-to-bit skew is no worse than 0.2 nsec. The 56-pin QFN IC is $2.30 (1000 pieces).

Texas Instruments, www.ti.com