Silicon Image, introduced its new InstaPort technology designed to add intelligence to HDMI-enabled digital television (DTV) inputs to reduce switching lag time.

Silicon Image's InstaPort technology shaves down the access time to digital content from different sources to less than a second by accelerating HDMI port switching time.

"With the number of HDMI ports increasing every year and HDMI port switching delays ranging from four to seven seconds, DTV and AVR manufacturers are beginning to realize that the port switching lag consumers are seeing can?t be ignored," said Lew Paceley, DTV marketing director, Silicon Image.

"Switching delays are a major consumer issue and one that hasn?t been effectively addressed by the industry," said Randy Lawson, senior analyst of display electronics, iSuppli. "According to iSuppli's latest HDMI technology forecast, the market for HDMI-enabled consumer electronics devices capable of sourcing or displaying high-definition content is expected to grow by over 300 percent from 2007 to 2012, based on ever-increasing user demand for high-definition content from myriad multimedia devices. As a result, more manufacturers need to design in solutions that address the lag time between HDTVs and external source devices."

InstaPort technology will be incorporated into three new Silicon Image semiconductor products, including the SiI9287 port processor and the SiI9251/SiI9261 input processors, all which will be sampling in July.