Today Amimon, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony announced the formation of the WHDI working group with the goal of establishing the WHDI standard for Wireless HDTV connections. The group’s intention is to complete the new standard in 2008.
WHDI operates in the 5GHz unlicensed band (FAQ) to enable robust wireless delivery of “uncompressed” HD video (including 1080p). WHDI allows secure, encrypted HD video delivery through multiple rooms with less than one-millisecond latency.
WHDI takes the uncompressed HD video stream and breaks it into elements of importance. The various elements are then mapped onto the wireless channel in a way that give elements with more visual importance a greater share of the channel resources,
The objective of this special interest group is to enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video between home devices such as game consoles, computers and tvs. The new interoperable standard aims to ensure different devices can interconnect.
“WHDI technology complements other wireless and wired standards with a new class of connectivity within the home,” said Dr. David Lee, the founder of the HDMI standard and a member of AMIMON’s board of directors. “WHDI’s connectivity matrix introduces to consumers new possibilities to enjoy their high-definition entertainment network.”
Three wireless systems for connecting HDTVs are competing for the home, says EE Times. This “battle of technologies” is being fought between three contending systems, 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and ultra wideband (UWB), according to ABI Research. Most established wireless vendors are waiting to see how the market evolves, says the research firm.
- WirelessHD uses 60-GHz transmission. The bandwidth available at 60 GHz allows data transmissions as fast as 4 Gbits/s. The format is backed by lead technology developer SiBeam, along with Intel, LG, Panasonic, NEC, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.
- Wireless High Definition Interface (WHDI), using 5 GHz. WHDI, developed by Israeli company Amimon, reportedly achieves a data rate as fast as 3 Gbits/s. WiFi 802.11n technology using MIMO can achieve up to 600 mbps, but cannot yield a 3-Gbit/s data rate. For that, Amimon tapped an existing signal-processing technology called joint-source channel coding.
- WiMedia Alliance uses Ultrawideband (UWB) in a band of frequencies from 4.2 to 4.8 GHz or higher. Their Wireless USB standard claims a data rate of 480 Mbits/s and works by compressing and expanding HD video images.
There is no consensus among consumer manufacturers on a single standard or unified wireless HD format. But wireless connections are expected to simplify A/V installations and allow more flexibility in positioning TVs.
EE Times says two different wireless standards are in the works on the same 60-GHz spectrum.
- The IEEE 802.11 VHT study group is trying to pave the road map for WiFi.
- The IEEE 802.15.3c effort is aimed at sending uncompressed high definition video between a set-top box and a wall-mounted LCD TV.
Both will operate in the unlicensed 60GHz band, from 57-64 GHz. WirelessHD, promoted by companies like SiBEAM, operate in the 60 GHz range for uncompressed HD video distribution at rates above 1 Gbps. The WirelessHD Consortium - including firms such as Panasonic, Samsung and Sony have completed the WirelessHD (WiHD) standard Version 1.0 for data rates of up to 4Gbps.
