Patent ID: 8042145

Claim:
A method of detecting and controlling the power states in a multimedia system, the system comprising a multimedia connector box ( 201 ) including a multimedia source ( 203 ) interconnected to a transmitter module ( 204 ) and a multimedia device ( 202 ) including a receiver module ( 205 ) interconnected to a multimedia sink ( 206 ), wherein the transmitter and the receiver modules ( 204 , 205 ) are interfaced via multimedia interfacing means ( 210 ), and wherein the transmitter module ( 204 ) is capable of having a power state which is different to a power state of the multimedia source ( 203 ), the method comprising: on the connector box ( 201 ) side; determining ( 101 ) the power state of the multimedia source ( 203 ), switching ( 103 ) the power state of the transmitter module ( 204 ) to the same power state as determined for the multimedia source ( 203 ), wherein information indicating the current power state of the multimedia source ( 203 ) is provided ( 105 ) to the receiver module ( 205 ); and on the multimedia device ( 202 ) side; switching ( 107 ) the power state of the receiver module ( 205 ) to the same power state as determined for the multimedia source ( 203 ).