WHDI specification hits 1.0 -- is this what wireless HD has been waiting for?
By Darren Murph 
posted December 8th 2009 8:30AM
posted December 8th 2009 8:30AM
WHDI RELEASES 1.0 Specification
WHDI is the Only Full 1080p/60Hz HD Wireless Solution for All CE, PC and Mobile Devices across the Home
Quality, Robustness and No Latency
Santa Clara, Calif. – December 8, 2009 – WHDI LLC today announced the completion and availability of the WHDI™ (Wireless Home Digital Interface™) specification.
The WHDI standard enables full 1080p/60Hz HD with Deep Color at a distance of 100 feet and through walls. No other wireless standard combines this level of quality and robustness with the ease of multi-room wireless. By doing so, WHDI enables consumers to build a wireless HD network in the home to take advantage of the latest content and interactive services.
WHDI is the leading standard for the wireless, multi-room distribution of HD video, enabling manufacturers to deliver higher value added devices that can connect the increasing number of HD sources (CE, PC and mobile devices) and to TVs around the home. The WHDI standard ensures that by purchasing products with the WHDI logo, consumers will be able to bring home devices from different manufacturers that will simply and directly connect to one another and deliver HD content and services without the need for complicated and expensive wiring.
"WHDI is the only solution that meets consumers' expectation and demand for a high-quality, multi-room HD wireless solution" said Leslie Chard, president of WHDI LLC. Adding that: "WHDI further enables two of the strongest trends in the A/V universe: the proliferation of HD content sources (now including the PC and mobile devices) and the increasing number of inexpensive, high quality displays placed throughout the home."
"WHDI fills an important need to provide connectivity in the home, offering flexibility, convenience and additional features. Robust wireless connectivity and switching means that more devices and more high quality content can reach the consumer's HD displays in a user friendly manner."" said Dr. Paul Moroney, a Motorola Fellow.
"Consumers want access to all of their HD content, whether coming on their laptop, mobile phone, STB or other device. WHDI enables manufacturers to create devices that easily deliver this value. No other wireless technology can provide this connectivity with the quality and robustness of WHDI" said Dr. Yoav Nissan-Cohen, Chairman and CEO of Amimon, Inc.
WHDI - Enabling the HD Wireless Connected Home
WHDI will enable manufacturers to bring HD connectivity, from PC's and laptops, and mobile computing devices, to wireless TV's. With WHDI consumers can easily bring HD content from the STB in the living room to other HDTVs in the home - consumers will be able to easily add a TV to their bedroom, kitchen, playroom, etc. without having to worry about wiring.
WHDI – Brief Technical Overview
WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) sets a new standard for wireless high-definition video connectivity. It provides a high-quality, uncompressed wireless link that supports the delivery of equivalent video data rates of up to 3Gbps (including 1080p/60Hz) in a 40MHz channel in the 5GHz unlicensed band, conforming to worldwide 5GHz spectrum regulations. Range is beyond 100 feet, through walls, and latency is less than one millisecond. Additionally, WHDI relies on HDCP revision 2.0 to provide superior Hollywood-approved security and digital content protection.
About WHDI
WHDI is a Consortium formed by leading CE manufacturers to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity utilizing Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI™) technology. The new standard aims to ensure that CE devices manufactured by different vendors will simply and directly connect to one another.
The WHDI Promoters are: AMIMON Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., LG Electronics, Inc., Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sharp Corporation and Sony Corporation. WHDI LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMIMON Inc., and is charged with licensing and promoting the WHDI standard. For more information visit: www.whdi.org.
WHDI is a trademark of WHDI LLC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are those of their respective holders.
yay! lets hope it doesnt eat too much of my wallet!
@Kev007
I'm not even sure it will eat any of your wallet: Amimon didn't manage to get their technology in Sony's latest designs (http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=221800392), so I'm not quite sure how or when this standard is actually going to become a product...
DO WANT
Just what I need for the computer in my kitchen, the TV in my second lounge and the TV in my bedroom.
@(Unverified)
You have a computer in your kitchen? Are you a woman?
yes. my keyboard is right next to my kitchen sink. it's also waterproof. and i type long, beautiful poems while washing my asparagus.
Wires are a thing of the past. Everything will be wireless in the distant future.
@(Unverified)
As long as wireless is constrained / blocked by grounded metal structures wired will endure.
I can't wait to see what Monster Cable tries to sell us now... Monster Air?
@EJ it will try to convince us that cables carry 'clearer, more HD-ish signals', and that they are more secure.
LOL
@EJ
This monster Air carries better quality sounds and video by using gold plated air. It's a first in the industry.
I hope WHDI (or something similar) gets to market soon.
Much sooner than PMF 1.0 (pigs might fly).
Run google pictures for whdi and compare it with engadget s picture.
Tell me the difference....
Surprise, surprise...
@blade235
yeah none of these houses have stairs!
good catch.
@blade235
haha iKnew it!
Not only will our houses we wireless in the future, but also stairless.
@mattpreston11 and first floors will float in the air.
As long as it can pass though walls (2 at least) then my PS3 is FINE...
I wonder if it also transports people... if not how do you get upstairs in that house?
I don't want yet another connection standard. We should just have internet connections and use WiFi to stream HD video, audio, and data.
Hmmm.
I appreciate the convenience but I'm still not convinced that surrounding ourselves with electric fields and radio waves is necessarily good for us.
Between worries about mobile phones, mobile phone masts and high tension electric cables supplying domestic homes I'd like to see more research done before going full steam ahead and surrounding myself with more wireless signalling in my own home.
Personally I prefer the dependability of a wired connection - and the latest 300mbps plug-in wall socket home networking devices work fine for me.
so, i'm guessing this is just another RF signal. kind of a long shot that it will pass through walls that easily at full 1080p. why not use this tech to replace all old wireless standards, like bluetooth?
I like how the house has a bedroom, two living rooms, a kitchen, two floors, and no stairs. XD
Interesting announcement, but sounds like more “market testing” to me. Do they really have any products available now? I haven’t seen any, but just saw some pretty cool looking WirelessHD products from Panasonic and LG in this weekend’s Best Buy/Magnolia insert.