Consumer electronics manufacturers including Sony and Samsung are developing a technology which will send wireless high-definition video signals from a single set-top box to screens around the home.

The two companies, together with Motorola, Sharp and Hitachi, aim to create an industry standard around Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology from Israeli-based firm Amimon. Noam Geri, co-founder of Amimon, said: 'If you have a TV in the home, that TV will be able to access any source in the home, whether it’s a set-top box in the living room, or the Playstation in the bedroom, or a DVD player in another bedroom. That’s the message of WHDI.'

Amimon is selling chips that partially provide this service. But with the consortium of consumer electronics companies, WHDI-enabled devices may soon be available from different manufacturers working together. Wireless streaming of high-definition video is possible with the fastest wifi versions, but will cause reduction of the data rate and offer degraded picture quality, leading to delays in transmission.

Wireless HD, supported by technology from Sibeam of Sunnyvale, California, uses an open portion of the radio band at 60GHz to provide ultrafast transmission of uncompressed video. But its range is limited, and it cannot allow for whole-house networking like WHDI. Yet another competing wireless technology, ultra-wideband or UWB, requires less compression than wifi, but also lacks wide enough coverage for a whole house.

To overcome the problem of limited bandwidth, Amimon gives priority to important components of the video signal which will attract the viewers, as the image quality deteriorates with increasing distance. Motorola plans to introduce a pair of adapters enabling wireless connection. Belkin International already sells a pair of adapters based on Amimon’s chips for $1,000. Sony plans a similar set for its TVs, and Motorola hopes to sell a kit, presumably at a lower price, next year.

Amimon’s chips are expected to be in the market next year, priced at an additional $100 on the cost of equivalent, non-wireless TVs. X

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