Atlona intros wireless HD video streaming system
updated 04:15 am EST, Wed January 11, 2012
Atlona shows us its LinkCast HD wireless system
Atlona, which started off making HDMI cables and related adapters, has introduced its LinkCast Wireless HD Audio/Video system. It will send uncompressed 1080p HD video over 5GHz WHDI frequencies at up to 40 feet away. The way it works, we were told, is by having the large base station connected to the HDTV, with a small, USB-like dongle plugging into the HDMI output of the source, be it a Blu-ray player, desktop or notebook computer or games console.
The system is said to be plug-and-play as it doesn't require any drivers to be installed, though each dongle requires a USB power connection and has a microUSB connection itself. The demo units were powered from the full-sized USB ports from the source units: a Blu-ray player and the notebook.
At the booth we attended at a CES event, Atlona had a demo of the system running, though there were some visible compression artifacts. This likely had to do with the intereference at the event, we were told, as earlier tests were trouble-free.
The system promises latency of less than one millisecond and supports Dolby Digital and DTS Digital Audio. WHDI 1.0 wireless home digital interface standard and HDCP 1.2 protocols are supported.
The main unit that includes one dongle and the receiver is priced at $300. Each additional dongle will cost $120 each and the system launches in March.
