September 28, 2007
ABI: UWB Will be Winning Technology for Wireless Home Entertainment Systems
By Meenakshi Shankar, TMCnet Contributor
Digital video is ruling the consumer market today, and new multimedia communications and wireless standards promise to make this technology even more ubiquitous in the future. ABI Research (News - Alert) recently took a look at the wireless video market to find out just how widespread adoption is.
The study in question examined various technologies currently available for delivering video wirelessly—including short-range radio Ultra Wideband and long-range radio technology like WiFi (News - Alert) and WiMAX
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.“How popular will wireless home video distribution become?” asked ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson, in a statement. “It’s the very early days for this market, so it’s hard to tell for sure. What is clear is that among the connectivity technologies competing in this space, Wi-Fi (802.11n) and wireless HDMI (UWB) are closest to offering practical solutions.”
) are closest to offering practical solutions.”Many products are already available that use these technologies, including products for streaming audio and video from desktop computers to high definition (HD) TVs and other entertainment devices. ABI predicted that UWB will be the winner when it comes wireless technology for home entertainment systems.
UWB offers the advantage of low power consumption and a broader spectrum capable of improving connectivity speeds and minimizing interference. While WiFi suffices for compressed video and other multimedia content, UWB offer the bandwidth necessary to carry large amounts of uncompressed data, ABI said.
suffices for compressed video and other multimedia content, UWB offer the bandwidth necessary to carry large amounts of uncompressed data, ABI said. Creating a device that has the capacity to handle huge amounts of information at a reasonable price is the primary roadblock to widespread adoption.
“The cost must be reduced,” Wilson said. “Vendors are hard at work developing products that will provide better quality at less expense. Especially for HD, today’s approaches may not be economically viable, but there are novel design approaches in the pipeline that may spark market growth.”
To learn even more about wireless multimedia solutions, check TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents free to registered users.
communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents free to registered users. Meenakshi Shanks is a contributing writer for TMCnet. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
