Wireless HDMI standard eliminates home theater cables
updated 02:15 pm EDT, Wed September 6, 2006
Wireless HDMI Standard
HDMI by itself streamlines much of the elaborate cabling required for high-definition video and sound, combining both into a single cable. That simplifcation needs to be taken one step further, says chip manufacturer TZero. The company has been working on a wireless version of HDMI that would eliminate the need for anything but a power cable. Using ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) signals, the 500Mbps chipset can distribute three full HDTV streams with sound even when interference from microwaves and WiFi networks is present. The technology uses lossless image compression to maintain a constant stream regardless of bandwidth. TZero additionally promises that a single HDMI transmitter can broadcast to three receivers at once, making it possible to send content to three different devices at once - even if that content varies. Adapters should be available for electronics that already have physical HDMI in place. A television with built-in wireless HDMI is set to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in January; other hardware announcements are pending.
