Although wireless streaming of regular video and audio is just starting to appear in some homes, it’s good to see that the industry has decided it’s time to create a wireless standard for streaming high definition (HD) content.

A group of leading players, including LG Electronics, Matsushita (Panasonic), NEC, Samsung, SiBeam, Sony and Toshiba have proposed WirelessHD. The new standard hopes to use the “unlicensed, globally available 60GHz frequency band, and will enable wireless uncompressed high-definition, high-quality video and data transmission". The technology will first be built into HDTVs, and a wide range of other technology and consumer devices, from set-top boxes and DVD players to projectors and handheld devices.

“Emerging as the first consumer electronics industry initiative for wireless uncompressed digital video transmission, WirelessHD will provide consumers wireless flexibility and ease of use while preserving the benefits traditionally associated with popular wired alternatives for point-to-point display, such as HDMI and DVI,” said Brian O’Rourke, a senior analyst with In-Stat/MDR. “The data rates (or bandwidth) that WirelessHD will support are truly impressive.” 

According to InStat/MDR, global sales of devices with a high-speed digital A/V interface is expected to grow from 60m units in 2006 to 495m units in 2009.

The final specifications for WirelessHD will be released next Spring. Visit the WirelessHD site here. 

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