Ask Engadget: Wireless TV for the home?

This time on Ask Engadget, Lenny's looking for a way to consolidate a couple of national past times: eating and television. What a noble quest. If you've got a similarly humanitarian tech conundrum, or just want the masses to weigh in on something more pedestrian, hit us up at ask at engadget dawt com. Last time we were picking a wireless router for Brad, here's Lenny's question:

"I'm looking for a wireless TV solution for my dining room. I want a TV
that is as unobtrusive as possible. I don't want to run coax in there,
nor any other AV cables. I just want a TV (preferably mounted on the
wall) that gets its signal wirelessly. I saw two solutions by Sharp and
Sony, but they came out in '04, and don't seem to be widely available now."

Seems like there are plenty of ways to go, and we suppose it depends on what kind of quality, resolution and picture size he's looking for, but we're sure Lenny can find an affordable solution to getting that TV where it belongs. What do you guys think?

[Eric @ Jul 28th 2007 8:57PM]

Okay, so I'll be the first geek to say it. Get a laptop if you don't yet have one, and a slingbox. Watch TV on fullscreen mode. I do it nightly while cooking. Awesome.

[HyperHacker @ Jul 28th 2007 9:12PM]

Or if he wants a bigger screen, a small desktop (that can be hidden away in a properly-ventilated cupboard) with wifi and an LCD TV. You could put Bluetooth in it and use a Wiimote to control it.

[Evan @ Aug 1st 2007 3:04PM]

you gotta run power to it anyways... you might as well drop coax at the same time.

[Blake @ Jul 28th 2007 9:08PM]

A series of mirrors leading into the kitchen could work also...

[Jimmy C @ Jul 28th 2007 11:40PM]

Or to the bathroom, a la Brazil...

[blackfeather @ Jul 30th 2007 2:04PM]

hooray for the obscure Terry Gilliam reference!

[Benjamin Golub @ Jul 28th 2007 9:39PM]

Easy: Mythtv backend somewhere (in the basement maybe), very small pc (doesn't need much, not even a hd if you do a net boot) as the frontend hooked up to an lcd and connected to the network over 802.11g. That speed is enough to display SD content. I've done it before using my laptop as a frontend, worked flawlessly.

[BoxOfSnoo @ Jul 29th 2007 12:27PM]

I did this one way, I got a WRT54GL, installed dd-wrt on it so I could use it as a client. Then I hooked it up to my PS2 running SMS. You can browse a Samba share of DivXs. You can play MPEGs too, but it's kinda crashy-skippy.

It's not the best solution, maybe an XBox with XBMC would be better.

[Dean @ Jul 28th 2007 9:14PM]

Are we assuming "cable" tv or streaming media?

Because if he's in an urban area, he can probably get HDTV over the air with a simple butterfly loop. It'll fit behind the wallmount of a 20" LCD easily.

I haven't seen a lot of products out there that'll take the output of a cable box (or coax) and let you pipe it to another TV. Slingmedia makes several products that are close, but the files they output are aimed at someone watching from a computer.

So, maybe a mini-ITX box with a wireless card and a 20" LCD would suit your purposes. Coupled with a Sling Tuner and you're set.

[Tobie @ Jul 28th 2007 9:29PM]

http://mediamentalism.com/category/manufacturer/samsung/hp-t5894w/

This is a great HDTV, no wires but the power cord. Might be too big for your dining room solution.

[flashing.twelve @ Jul 28th 2007 9:36PM]

wireless HDMI or is likely the best solution, but pricey. I know that Monster is developing flat panel wall mounts that incorporate power management as well as wireless HDMI. Not out yet, but shouldn't be too long

[Michael @ Jul 28th 2007 10:52PM]

Sony has a nice, yet very expensive line of Locationfree televisions that use a base to transmit your cable and a connected DVD player, DVR, you name it. The televisions are portable, so you can take them around the house, and have batteries with optional power cords to charge them. The have wall mounts that you can remove the tv from with ease too..

[Andy Overby @ Jul 28th 2007 10:00PM]

Bah.. a coax run with a cable card. Not wireless, but a wallfish gets the wire where you want it and the card gets you premium content without a cable box. Call your cable company and pay them $75 to run the wire and be done with it... Cheap, easy, simple...Cable guy from NC

[samnesral @ Jul 28th 2007 9:59PM]

The slingcatcher and slingbox would be perfect with a cheap flat screen SD tv (so the picture doesn't look blurry). That is when the sling catcher comes out.

[paragraph @ Jul 28th 2007 10:18PM]

if it were me, i'd just run the damn coax, but i'm not afraid to tear the hell out of my house.

i've done some work with hiding cables, but it can get to be too much of a pain in the ass.

a little itx box (like others have said) and a tv would work, you could probably fit a mini/nano itx box behind the tv.

i see you found the Sharp Aquos LC-15L1U-S, i checked pricegrabber, and it dosn't look like anyone has it, i even checked ebay and froogle.

you could go with locationfree (http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/524303323) it's avaialable at circut city too. you will need a second tv box for that, and thats hard to find.

amazon marketplace has one location free tv for sale (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-LF-X5-LocationFree-LCD-TV/dp/B00068NEZY) however, it's 7 inches.

you could go with some wireless video transmitters, but you'll need to have an RCA output. (http://www.palmvid.com/content/categories/related-security-items/sub-categories/wireless-video-transmitters/products/700-los-video-audio-transmitter-receiver.html)
but then you need to make audio wireless, and this would just get too rediculous.

i really think your best best would be to go with a small itx computer, the downside here is that you need to get a tv tuner and software to stream tv (and you would probably end up having to set your channel on the master box).

[Mr. Picklesworth @ Jul 28th 2007 10:40PM]

Rabbit ears?

[joey @ Jul 28th 2007 11:05PM]

Computer running vista media center in one room hooked up to a TV signal (SD/HD/Whatever) and a xbox 360 as a media extender installed behind the flat panel on the wall. You can then watch/time shift live TV, record shows, etc...

[Johan S @ Jul 28th 2007 11:10PM]

It's pretty sad that it's 2007 and Sony doesn't integrate its Wifi PS3 technology into $5000 HDTV's. TV's need to have integrated DVRs and be able to talk wirelessly to PC's. Remote controls need to be reinvented -- drastically reduce the number of buttons to 3 or 4 large OLED buttons and integrate an LCD or selection on HDTV software technology.

[Jeff Couch @ Jul 29th 2007 2:14PM]

take away my number buttons? them's fightin' words...

[Chris @ Jul 28th 2007 11:15PM]

stick one of these on the back of a lcd, add a minipci wifi card and a 266x CF, 4G should be enough for a basic system, and you are good to go
http://www.wdlsystems.com/modperl/view_services.cgi?r=detail&prod_num=1EBOX54&aisle_id=799

[dee-dee-deetarded @ Jul 28th 2007 11:51PM]

hook your cable signal to a pair of rabbit ears then another pair to the tv. opens up your cable subscriptions to everyone else too, but it's worth a try...

[block1of4 @ Jul 29th 2007 1:34AM]

wireless hdmi:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4318

expensive at $699, but philips and other companies are coming out w/ similar products for around $300.

there's also wirelesshd, which has higher throughput, but products based on it won't be out until 2008.

[Kathleen @ Aug 5th 2007 12:45PM]

I was struggling with a similar question and google brought me to this site. Thank God for the engadget geeks! I have so many possible solutions now esp since I have a "spare" laptop and wireless router. I just wanted something I could move from room to room. I thought it was a hard question but it looks like I have lots of ways I could go. Now if I can just find a nice geek to hook it up for me. Can anyone recommend a Geeks to Go group in Chicago?

[AntWhite @ Jul 28th 2007 11:56PM]

If you're mounting it on the wall, what's the problem with putting wires in? Why use wireless for devices that are tethered anyway?

[ChiTownJerry @ Jul 30th 2007 11:47AM]

cuz his wife won't let him make any holes in the wall?

[Chip @ Jul 29th 2007 12:29AM]

I'd look into a SageTV with MediaMVP solution www.sagetv.com. SageTV would go on a computer somewhere else. You'd have to feed that computer/SageTV system with whatever signal you want to transmit (digital cable, satellite, OTA etc). The MediaMVP is the size of a small book.. much smaller than even the smallest PCs. It's about half the size of a Wii. They do make a wireless MediaMVP but I highly recommend a separate wireless N bridge device which are also about half the size of a Wii.

With this solution you'll have full DVR, access to all video files on your computer, all music, all pictures, YouTube, Google video, and much more in an elegant interface.

I did something similar to my wife's treadmill that has a "dumb" TV. http://picasaweb.google.com/willgilliland/2006_10_02

[b-rad @ Jul 29th 2007 2:59AM]

Well if you aren't looking for an HD solution, I bought this LeapFrog
Wireless A/V system. Has coax/RCA input, and coax output. Works on
2.4Ghz, so there is some reception, but I use a DECT 6.0 and 5.8 N
network, and do not use a microwave (which causes much
interference)... but regardless it works pretty well and is easy as
hell to set up.

http://www.smarthome.com/7656l.html

[Jon @ Jul 29th 2007 3:09AM]

I don't believe they are made anymore, and it's not HD, but these things work like butta: http://www.pureav.com/remotetv/

[De De De @ Jul 29th 2007 9:57PM]

If money is limited, just run wires through your wall to the back of an LCD.
Personally, I use Slingbox Tuner on an iMac and my laptop when travelling.
If you can spend a little, get a Slingbox Pro and a 17" Macbook Pro for HD.
If you're going with a larger screen, ever thought about a DLP projector?
Wall-mount a nice screen, ceiling-mount a good WXGA 1280X768 DLP.
That's the way I'd go. Install a slim-fit ceiling-mounted laptop "shelf".
Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse with the Apple remote and you're good.
With a Slingbox you can watch your home theater anywhere you travel.
It's a sound investment, works great, and multiple purpose, as well.

[MR @ Jul 29th 2007 6:42AM]

Wireless TV, huh? I thought we used to just call it "TV"? You know the ones that have some funky antennas poking out on top? Aren't those "wireless" by definition?

Anyways, a "wireless display/monitor" seems more appropriate here.

[TTX1 @ Jul 29th 2007 7:53AM]

these guys have the answer I think:

http://www.radiospire.com/

[Pacey @ Jul 29th 2007 11:24AM]

Ok, you have to get power to it somehow. So you're going to have a wire somplace as it is. Man up, get a drywall saw and two cut-in boxes. Fish the powercord and your a/v cables down to wherever you want them. if you just want cable, run into the basement or crawl space and drill a hole up into the wall and voila, no cables anymore. It's not that hard at all and it'll save you cash by not having to buy a PC, slingbox, mac mini, etc.

The other option is OTA signals, but you're going to have to find a freakishly small antenna that wont be disturbed by the insane ammount of RF put off by LCD's and Plasmas (more so plasmas, but still) But then you still have the powercord you have to run, so whats the point.

[Gaurav @ Jul 29th 2007 9:27PM]

this may help you http://www.ruckuswireless.com/technology/beamflex.php

[Daniel Smith @ Jul 29th 2007 1:10PM]

I know HP is supposed to start making TV's that have a built-in windows media center extender. That way you could have a dedicated media center PC elsewhere in the house that your cable feed will be connected to, then you could stream it wirelessly to your HP TV. They haven't announced them yet but that is the rumor and if they don't do it I'm sure someone else will.

[Ringoes @ Jul 29th 2007 2:51PM]

Yeah I want that too. But not for wireless TV, but for a wireless monitor. I want to lie down on my living room floor and surf the web on my bigscreen 42" tv/monitor. Mine has the 9-pin standard connector thingy; but I gotta use a 25ft cable (it includes a headphone line).

Comeon already; we have wireless mice, wireless keyboards, and wireless headsets; when will we have wireless monitors?!

[marc @ Jul 29th 2007 3:06PM]

To go with the rest of the out of the box thinking: why not buy a projector and put it on the other side of the room. Some of them will take wifi cards as well.

[Rakesh @ SnapStream @ Jul 30th 2007 10:21AM]

You might be interested in taking a look at SnapStream's Beyond TV and Beyond TV Link. This detailed review covers almost exactly what you are trying to accomplish:
http://blogs.snapstream.com/2007/04/25/user-review-beyond-tv-link/

And if you want to get television in your kitchen via a Hauppauge MediaMVP, this plug-in covers that:
http://blogs.snapstream.com/2006/09/26/how-hauppauges-mediamvp-married-beyond-tv/

[Brian Mullins @ Jul 30th 2007 1:11PM]

Check out Angeltrax on Amazon. I bought their model CATV2400PLUS which works with digital cable (but not HD.) They have other models that work with basic cable and satellite. All cost around $150. These units operate on the 2.4 Ghz band so they are subject to some interference; you have to select the one of the 4 available wireless channels which works best, but that's easy to do. They claim a range of 100 feet, but that must be line-of-sight. I've been successful using the system at about 40 feet through walls and ceiling.

[Todd @ Jul 30th 2007 2:58PM]

I have a related problem - I need my wireless-N laptop to display its image on my HD LCD TV, real time. Is there a wireless-N receiver that can take the transmission and direct it to the HDMI-input on my TV? How do I get my laptop to direct the display output over a wireless connection? I'm stumped and could use some good advice... thanks in advance.

[_TMS @ Jul 30th 2007 3:10PM]

Everyone is overlooking the audio. Getting a good picture can be relatively easy, but what is he going to watch? News? Movie? It will have to be crankin if you are munchin a bowl of cereal.

You still need to put speakers somewhere unless you want some simulated sound.

[Joel @ Jul 31st 2007 5:06PM]

If the guy was a true blue uber-geek linux hacker, he would already have one of your solutions. Try coming up with something SIMPLE that anyone can use ...

There was a Terk product some time ago (leapfrog) that would transmit both video and audio wirelessly.

MAJOR DRAWBACK: No High Def.

[Scotto @ Jul 31st 2007 5:36PM]

I always found this sorta question odd because it spurs along a counter-question: Do you happen to have an outlet mounted 4 feet (or so) high on your dining room wall exactly where you want the flatscreen? If not, you'll either have to tear into your wall anyways to install one or have an electrical wire hanging out there for all to see.

Either way, the coax goes with the electric.. Unless you want some kinda wacky battery/solar TV.

I know I'm not speaking to the essence of this posting ("gimme a damb wireless TV"), but I wouldn't directly address "I want a portable toilet in my dining room" either. Some things should just be permanent (and/or not in the dining room).

[ciphan @ Aug 7th 2007 2:28AM]

I know I'm a little late in the game, but...
The cheapest (not to mention still available) product I have been able to find that looks like it would work for wireless A/V is this (http://www.x10.com/promotions/wireless_video_sender_vk82a.html) from X10. I, however, have not tested this product and therefore cannot attest for the quality.

[AZFlyingDiver @ Nov 16th 2007 11:27AM]

Wireless video senders:

This one from X10 is only $49.99 (current special) and basically just re-transmits the channel from the source TV:
http://www.x10.com/promotions/wireless_video_sender_vk82a.html

This one from Angeltrax is about $150 but allows independent channel selection at the remote TV:
http://store.pcpowerzone.com/ancawicatvsy.html

[Kelt @ Sep 17th 2007 2:41PM]

That wireless HDMI isn't 1080 progressive scan... hence, you'd be better off with a cheaper component RGB wireless solution.

The wireless sender at X10 (see above post) is decent if you're not doing HDTV. Keep your lcd below 30 inches and you should be fine for your tv picture.