whdi

Though more computers have been landing in living rooms, digital TVs are adding new features to help them hang onto their role as the family's entertainment center, says a report released Tuesday by In-Stat.

As DTVs replace old analog sets throughout the world, manufacturers are beefing them up with new network features, including Internet access, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi, noted an In-Stat report called "DTV 2009: Declining Costs, Increasing Shipments, and Network Capability." In-Stat predicts that 36 percent of digital sets sold in 2013 will be network-enabled.

Technologies for wireless high-definition, such as the competing 60GHz WirelessHD and WHDI … Read more

Belkin will not be releasing its FlyWire wireless HDMI accessory.

CNET has learned that the company has decided not to offer the FlyWire for sale. A Belkin spokesperson confirmed the product's cancellation, saying that "its retail price of $1,499 would be out of line given the current state of the economy."

The FlyWire was introduced at CES 2008. The unit was a transmitter/receiver combo: the transmitter toggled between multiple audio and video sources (HDMI and analog), which were then wirelessly beamed to a receiver. Since the tiny receiver required only AC power and utilized a single HDMI output, it could be stealthily mounted behind wall-mounted flat screens or ceiling mounted projectors, eliminating the need for long unsightly cable runs. At one point, Belkin was mulling two versions: an initial high-end, multiroom-capable $1,499 version for multiple AV sources, followed by a less pricey single-source transmitter.

Early demos of the FlyWire impressed us--enough that we nominated it as a finalist in the Home Video category for Best of CES 2008. (It was edged out by the Dish Network DTVPal DVR.) But the FlyWire's premature death is just another indication that wireless HDMI technology is all but stillborn at the consumer level. Other notable no-shows, at least so far: the Philips wireless HDMI kit (introduced January 2007) and the Monster Express HD System (announced summer 2008). … Read more

Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Dell, and Panasonic are among several companies teaming up to form the Wireless Gigabit Alliance, a group that will push a new wireless standard for transmitting data over short distances at gigabit speeds.

The new WiGig standard will transmit data at around 6 gigabits per second, which is much faster than current versions of Wi-Fi. The speedy wireless technology should easily be able to deliver high-definition video between computers and TV set-top boxes.

But because the technology only transmits over shorter distances, it will primarily be used within a single room to provide wireless connectivity between home … Read more

After two years of telling us, wireless HD video systems makers are now showing us how this works in actual products.

A few weeks ago, we brought you a demonstration of how the WirelessHD video standard works, and now competing standard WHDi is up.

Noam Geri, VP of marketing for Amimon, the chip company that's behind the WHDi wireless standard, gives a brief overview in the video below.

WHDi is already in use, just not in the U.S. quite yet. Sharp is selling a wireless video adapter for its Aquos X-series LCD TV in Japan already, and Sony … Read more

Is the promised land of wireless high-definition video nigh?

Backers of the top two wireless video standards, WirelessHD and WHDI, say the first quarter of 2009 will see actual consumer electronics products using them.

After years of talking about different standards, there's been more movement in this industry of late, but we're still waiting for the floodgates to open where all the top-tier manufacturers have TVs with a wireless HD connectivity option.

Recently Mitsubishi said it would be using WHDI, which sends uncompressed, high-definition video signals over the unlicensed 5-Gigahertz band throughout an entire home, in a wireless TV it's making … Read more

The backers of Wireless Home Digital Interface plan to announce they are officially banding together Wednesday. But we're still months, or even a year from true, interoperable devices that can send high-definition video between themselves.

Wireless Home Digital Interface, or WHDI, sends uncompressed, high-definition video signals over the unlicensed 5-Gigahertz band. The backers of it say its immune to obstructions like walls and can deliver a signal that covers an entire home--that means setting up a set-top box in a basement and connecting it wirelessly to a 1080p TV in an upstairs bedroom.

But we've been hearing this stuff for years. … Read more

HDMI has certainly had its growing pains, but the connection is finally beginning to deliver on its original promise: a single-cable solution for delivering high-bandwidth, all-digital HD video and multichannel audio. HDMI is nearly universal in the home video market, present on all current HDTVs and Blu-ray players, as well as nearly all HD-capable cable and satellite set-top boxes; DVRs; game consoles; AV receivers; upscaling DVD players and recorders; and network video streamers such as the Apple TV. In fact, you realize just how convenient HDMI is when you come across a product without it--I'm looking at you, Nintendo Wii--and then have five cables (three component video wires plus two-channel stereo) instead of one crowding the back of your home entertainment system.

But one aspect of the HDMI promise remains unfulfilled: wireless HDMI. It's an attractive idea, especially for anybody with a wall-mounted flat-panel TV or a ceiling-mounted projector: have all of your HDMI-capable gear running into an AV receiver or HDMI switcher with a wireless HDMI transmitter, and have the TV equipped with a matching receiver--thus allowing you to have all your AV sources across the room from the actual display. We've been hearing about it for years, but to date, there are few--if any--products that you can actually buy. Here's a quick update on the wireless HDMI products we've heard about to date--including when (or whether) we can expect to see them: … Read more