Wireless HDMI over UWB? Heck yes!

Some buzzwords just sound good together. Like robots and flamethrowers -- those two just hit it off right from the start. Now Tzero Technologies and Analog Devices are teaming up for a new standards-based wireless HDMI tech that marries UWB with everybody's favorite home theater plug. Tzero is bringing the UWB to the table, while Analog Devices' is sharing their JPEG2000 video codec. A UWB transmitter compresses all the HDMI data on the way out of a video device and a receiver converts it back to HDMI on the way back into your display. With a range of 30 meters, and no line of sight requirements, all sorts of diabolical home theater configurations become possible. For instance, we can envision a ceiling mounted projector without all the wiring, or a noisy HTPC hidden away without similar hassles. According to Tzero, the first adapters should be out in a couple of weeks, and the price should be "similar to other WiFi devices." We'll be sure to test out the performance before we jump in with two feet, but if the price is right we're liking where this wireless HDMI thing is headed.

[Via Cnet]

[Travis Bell @ Sep 5th 2006 11:32PM]

IF (I say IF) this device works as promised with no picture quality loss and is in fact reasonably priced I am sure a lot of people will buy this product. Plus, can you say cool?

[Nizam Rahman @ Sep 5th 2006 11:35PM]

That made me kinda wet.

[granny down east @ Sep 5th 2006 11:43PM]

This is an answer to prayer. I am in.

[Andrew Bubb @ Sep 6th 2006 12:00AM]

Sounds like a really cool invention. But do you really want to buy a wireless high-bandwidth digital device from a company called "Analog Devices"? :)

[Tyler McPheeters @ Sep 6th 2006 12:23AM]

If you predict the "Noisy HTPC" to be hidden away, and using this device, show me a HDMI graphics card for the HTPC...

[Chris Lee @ Sep 6th 2006 12:08AM]

wow, they have totally stolen the Telus logo eh ?

[Steve Ranta @ Sep 6th 2006 12:21AM]

Some education here, while UWB does provide an extraordinary high usable BW, it still is not high enough to handle an uncompressed HD digital video signal. Therefore compression is required. Unless lossless JPEG2000 compression is used (which still requires lot's o' bandwidth) some loss of video information is inevitable. The extent of that loss can be quantified with test equipment but depending on the compression ratio, may be "visually" lossless (that is an ordinary TV viewer may not be able to tell that the video is compressed further than it already was when it was broadcast initially.)
Without compression, no wireless transmission could take place and you'd be stuck with VERY expensive cabling and retrofitting wiring into existing walls if you did not have it there in the first place. JPEG2000 (and in particular the ADV202 chips inside the Tzero box) allow wireless HD connectivity to happen. The very small signal degredation that occurs due to JPEG2000 compression might be highly acceptable (or likely the degredation will not even be noticed) if one does not wish to run the cabling inside their existing walls and having a true plug and play solution for equipment not necessarily located physically right next to each other.
To learn more about the amazing ADV202 (Analog Devices JPEG2000 compression chip), see http://www.analog.com/ADV202. It is currently the lowest cost HD video compression/decompression chipset solution on the market.

[Steve Ranta @ Sep 6th 2006 12:37AM]

Obviously Mr. Bubb judges his books by their cover...
Analog Devices, Inc.(ADI) is a highly respected semiconductor company and has been designing Analog, Digital, and Mixed Signal (both Analog and Digital circuits in one device) semiconductor ICs for more than 40 years. While not a household name, more than 70% of the digital still cameras on the market utilize ADI Analog Front End (AFE) chips to digitize CCD arrays (which produce an analog signal.) And while marketeers of consumer products tend to tout "digital this" and "digital that" as being the greatest...we still have to interface to an analog world...the real world. Although "Analog and Digital Devices" might be a more appropriate name for the company, it is a mouthful and like I mentioned previously, the company has been around for 40+ years with the same name.

[DarkFader @ Sep 6th 2006 1:47AM]

This is great for HD VR HMDs.

[Russell @ Sep 6th 2006 1:07AM]

Great, now make a JPG2000 HDMI to firewire so I can capture this stuff wirelessly from my DVR :)

[Joe @ Sep 6th 2006 1:15AM]

"If you predict the "Noisy HTPC" to be hidden away, and using this device, show me a HDMI graphics card for the HTPC..."
- Tyler McPheeters

http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/16/msi-announces-worlds-first-hdmi-certified-graphics-card/

[Joe @ Sep 6th 2006 1:23AM]

Does anyone know the model number to the device pictured in the article?

[Jason @ Sep 6th 2006 10:49AM]

Let me guess, Steve Ranta works for Analog Devices

[steve @ Sep 6th 2006 11:59AM]

What about lag? If you stream your xbox360's output to this, would it display in "realtime" or with a delay that would impact gaming?

[Dan @ Sep 6th 2006 2:16PM]

What about audio lag? If you send your video to your projector across the room, will it stay in sync with the audio going to your soundsystem via wire?

[Dave @ Sep 12th 2006 4:25PM]

Latency should end up around 50ms... should be fine for most gaming.

[Joseph @ Jan 9th 2007 3:47AM]

SNYC!?
I don't think so since the "real time" transmissions between audio and video are different. For example, when any discontinued audio streaming occurs, human may hear the intermittent sounds easily, and result in the mismatch of video and audio signals.
I wonder whether such device has any buffer mechanisms used to restore “to-be-executed-streams” in advance, and maintain playback smoothly in the wireless environments. (The fact of unstable throughput on wireless networking is not avoidable, I guess.)