This "HDMI" connector standard is part of a "protected pathway" for video that was meant to combat piracy by making it impossible for pirates to tap into high-definition video output and press "Record," as it were.
![HDMI Setup HDMI Setup](http://www.digital-digest.com/~jmet/newsimages/hdmi.gif)
Many fear, however, that the only success HDMI will have is in making honest users miserable, inasmuch as consumers could be left with a product that plays at low quality or not at all if HDMI is not present on one's player or TV.
More...Credit: ars technica