Understanding Communication Protocol The root cause of most HDMI problems in the field is the I2C communication protocol used in the DDC line which carries both HDCP and EDID. The I2C uses one wire for two way communications. If one device does not detect another device already talking on the line, it would start talking at the same time and cause a collision. This can lead to corrupted HDCP or EDID data. The Covid Communicator has built in technology to separate the communications between the source and display and to use a new HDCP key while keeping the EDID data unchanged. This will resolve the communication collision automatically, enable the source to send out the optimized signal format and enable the display to decode the copyrighted signal correctly. Ask any installer or manufacturer of HDMI electronics and they will tell you there is definitely a problem with HDMI communication. Comparing apples to apples, there’s no exact competitor to the Covid Communicator in the market. There are a few other products that try to address it in a different way. Most other products that attempt to fix the HDMI communication problem actually cut off the communication all together and create an emulated or “fake” EDID data. In comparison the Covid Communicator will restore the communication so the EDID can go thru from display to source. The trouble is that HDMI supports hundreds of different timings and resolutions. These other products only have very limited number of emulated timings and resolutions. This would also post a problem with the matrix switcher system in which the EDID data would change based on which display it is currently routed to. On top of that, they still cannot fix the HDCP issue; so they either pass the HDCP thru or just cut if off completely. Let’s use an analogy to understand: Person A and person B cannot hear each other clearly on the phone due to the simplex technology used. Covid Communicator functions as if we change the phone line to duplex. The other competitors’ products function as if they cut off the phone line all together, or send “fake” information to person A that’s supposedly from person B.
