Wifi Revolution

Seven of the world’s most influential electronics manufacturers announced Tuesday the formation of an initiative to develop a new digital wireless specification, WirelessHD, designed for improved delivery of high-definition audiovisual content.

 

Founding members are the WirelessHD Consortium are LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (best known for its Panasonic brand), NEC, Samsung Electronics, Sony, and Toshiba. Wireless technology startup SiBEAM is also playing a role.

 

The companies said in their announcement that the WirelessHD specification, which will use the globally available 60 GHz frequency band, should be completed and ready for adoption sometime in spring of 2007.

 

In-Stat (News - Alert) analyst Brian O’Rourke had mostly positive things to say about WirelessHD.

 

“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,” O’Rourke said in a statement.

 

He added: “The data rates (or bandwidth) that WirelessHD will support are truly impressive.”

 

The companies developing WirelessHD claim the new technology will be capable of delivering high-definition video at multi-gigabit rates, Associated Press reported Tuesday.

 

WirelessHD Consortium Chairman John Marshall, said in a statement that the new specification is being developed to make delivery of high-definition content less complex and more secure.

 

“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,” Marshall said.

 

He added: “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.”

In an Associated Press article Tuesday, reporter May Wong predicted that “the first products to carry the WirelessHD technology will not hit the market until at least 2008.”

 

Wong quoted Marshall as saying that the WirelessHD format will have a range of up to 32 feet. Because no compression is involved, the image quality should be the same as with wired HD connections.

 

“In the last few years, the number of digital devices has really just amplified, and consumers are looking for a way to simply manage this A-V network,” the AP report quoted Marshall as saying.

 

Despite the promise of WirelessHD, there are some concerns about the practicality of its applications. For example, O’Rourke wondered in the AP report just how much devices using the new specification will cost.

“WirelessHD says it is targeting a low-cost solution, but we'll have to see,” O'Rourke was quoted as saying in the AP article. “Adding a couple of bucks (to the manufacturing cost) is a lot of money already.”

 

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