SUNNYVALE, Calif.—What do LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic), NEC Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., SiBeam Inc., Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have in common? Obviously they are all electronics giants, but they are also collaborating to push for the standardization and industry acceptance of a wireless high-definition audio-video streaming technology they say will let consumers get rid of some of the cables that connect TVs to other electronics gear.
The special interest group, dubbed WirelessHD or WiHD, said it intends develop a standard that works in the unlicensed 60 GHz frequency band to stream uncompressed high-definition data between HDTVs and cable or satellite boxes, as well as DVD players, game units and portable multimedia devices such as video camcorders. The group said it expects transmission rates of up to 5 gigabits per second at distances of up to 30 feet within a single room along with support for video streams to multiple displays.
John Marshall, chairman of WirelessHD, said he expects the group to present its specifications for standardization in the spring of next year. He said products based on the standard could be available as early as 2008.
“The availability of high-definition wireless connections stands to eliminate the morass of cables, switches and other complexities traditionally needed to support the wide variety of devices consumers have and will continue to buy, such as HDTVs, HD disc players, digital video cameras and game consoles,” noted Marshall. “With high-definition wireless links, media streaming and transmission from any source to any display or recorder is dramatically simplified by removing the need for a hard-wired connection. WirelessHD will provide a high-speed wireless digital interface that will enable customers to simply connect, play, transmit and port their HD content in a secure manner.”
Research firm In-Stat predicts global sales of devices with a high-speed digital A/V interface is expected to grow from 60 million units this year to 495 million units in 2009.
“Emerging as the first consumer electronics industry initiative for wireless uncompressed digital video transmission, WirelessHD will provide consumers wireless flexibility and ease of use while preserving the benefits traditionally associated with popular wired alternatives for point-to-point display, such as HDMI and DVI,” said Brian O’Rourke, senior analyst with In-Stat. “The data rates (or bandwidth) that WirelessHD will support are truly impressive.”
WirelessHD said industry support for its standard is critical for interoperability among HD video-capable products. The group is calling for support from other manufacturers.
WirelessHD joins a growing number of companies looking to unwire the home with various competing technology proposals.
