Cable Spies

Home theater and stereo setups are a must for any living room or bachelor pad, but with an HDTV, DVD and Blu-ray player a cable box and speakers comes cable clutter. At the 2008 CEDIA Expo a few manufacturers showed off their wireless HDMI products aimed at getting rid of all that cable clutter. Most of the consumer wireless HDMI products showcased at CEDIA should be on store shelves before the end of the year. With the popularity of HDTVs and Blu-ray movies wireless HDMI devices naturally will become very popular as well. Below are some of the wireless HDMI products on the way:

Monster Cable

At the Monster Cable booth, the company’s Wireless Digital Express HD demo featured two products, a transmitter (DX WHD TX1) and a receiver (DX WHD RX1).

At the heart of the Monster’s Wireless Digital Express HD is Sigma Designs’ Wireless HDAV streaming technology that incorporates a H.264-compliant encoder chip (MB86H52CODEC), Sigma’s SMP8634 Secure Media Processor that is utilized in many Blu-ray disc players, and Sigma’s UWB (ultra-wideband) Windeo wireless chipset that is based on the WiMedia Alliance standard – offering the possibility of compatibility with other products that conform to the standard as well.

The Wireless Digital Express HD’s transmitter will incorporate two HDMI ports, two component video inputs, one composite/S-video (w/audio), as well as optical and coaxial digital audio inputs. The receiver will accept up to 720p/1080i video signals that can be converted for output at resolutions up to 1080p60. Claiming a wireless transmission range beyond 30 feet, the DX WHD TX1 and DX WHD RX1 has an MSRP of $699 for the pair and has an estimated ship date of late 2009.

Belkin

Belkin’s CEDIA Expo booth featured a fully-functioning demo of the company’s FlyWire Wireless for HDTV product. The FlyWire product will include a transmitter, receiver, remote, three as well as an infrared receiver/repeater. Utilizing Amimon’s WHDI wireless technology, Belkin is claiming the FlyWire will deliver uncompressed HD video at resolutions up to 1080p24 (the video format of most Blu-ray movies) at distances exceeding 100 feet. The FlyWire’s input connections will include three HDMI ports, two component video inputs, S-video, and composite video input. Available now for pre-order for $999, the FlyWire has a November ship date with a list price of $1,499.99.

Gefen

Gefen had two wireless HDMI products at its CEDIA Expo booth – neither of which were operational. The GefenTV Wireless for HDMI Extender (GTV-WHDMI) incorporates Amimon’s WHDI 5GHz wireless technology that features a claimed transmission range of up to 90 feet with effectively lossless image quality. Gefen reps claimed the HDMI Extender supports HD input up to the 720p/1080i formats with 5.1 surround sound. With an estimated price of $1000 for the transmitter/receiver pair, the GefenTV Wireless for HDMI Extender is expected to arrive in November.

Gefen’s other Wireless for HDMI Extender product features TZero Technologies’ ultra-wideband (UWB) technology and utilizes JPEG 2000 wavelet-based image compression to transmit video signals up to distances of about 30-feet at a maximum HD resolution of 1080p24 with 5.1 surround sound. The Wireless for HDMI Extender’s transmitter features two HDMI ports, component video input, and other analog inputs. Shipping late September, the Gefen Wireless for HDMI Extender transmitter/receiver has an estimated price of $700 per pair.

-Ray

[Source: yahoo]