Gizmodo: Amimon

Mitsubishi 40mm-thin HDTV Panel Packs External WHDI Wireless Tuner, BD Player

John Mahoney — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:30:00 EDT

While there have been several other ultra-thin TVs to cheat on size by moving some of the set's guts into an external box, we're starting to see a few of the biggies taking advantage of the newly-codified WHDI spec to beam the signal from the external box to the screen wirelessly. Details are somewhat thin on these new concept Mitsubushi panels, which are 40mm (a hair over 1.5 inches) thick and should reach manufacturing before the year is up. But their use of WHDI (like these Sharp sets before them) to link the panel to the external tuner box adds an interesting twist to this trend.

Trading a few millimeters shaved off the panel for a big honking box may not seem like a hugely advantageous situation, but WHDI has a range of over 100 feet (into the closet it can go) and allows for seamless pairing of compatible HDTV gear throughout your home, meaning the tuner (or the external Mitsubishi Blu-ray recorder shown next to it) could potentially be linked to other panels in the house. I kind of like the idea of stashing all of my modular source gear in a home theater server room of sorts, leaving only ultra-thin panels to receive the signals visible. That seems to be where WHDI is taking us, although Panasonic (who is not a WHDI member) could have something else up their sleeves. [Tech ON]

Sony, Sharp, Hitachi, Samsung and Motorola Agree on Amimon Whole-House Wireless HD Standard

John Mahoney — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:00:00 EDT

Be happy: A new wireless HD video standard guarantees that major brands including Sony, Sharp, Hitachi, Samsung and Motorola will have interoperable wireless video streaming. Amimon—the chip makers behind the "video modem" wireless HD tech we've been seeing on and off for the last few years, and most recently in Belkin's Flywire—is announcing the WHDI consortium with the above members, formed to standardize their wireless HD spec and embed it in member companies' TVs, projectors and HD video sources. The result is a network of HD components, streaming uncompressed 1080p video not just through one room like competing UWB standards, but to and from any source to any TV in your entire home, with a range comparable to Wi-Fi. Pretty impressive stuff.

The change in range is due to the chunk of spectrum being used (5GHz for WHDI and anywhere from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz for UWB). UWB is a low-power, short-range broadcast because it has to play nice with the other protocols found on the wide breadth of spectrum it calls home. (For better or worse, Monster's wireless HD kit is wireless up until the point it needs to use your home's coax wiring to gain whole-house coverage).

WHDI, however, is camped out in a chunk of unlicensed 5GHz spectrum just like 802.11n Wi-Fi, meaning it must be able to tolerate the reasonable levels of interference only from other devices that use the same frequencies, and can broadcast at higher power levels than UWB—enough for a range of "over 100 feet." WirelessHD, a third major spec also funded by Samsung and Sony, plus Panasonic, Toshiba, LG and NEC, uses the 60GHz band, and apparently has problems unless the transmitter and receiver are within line-of-sight.

Components will be paired through menu systems using a pass-key, like Bluetooth. The spectrum can hold around six streams of 1080p video at a time, although real-world interference may vary. A likely scenario would be streaming from a WHDI cable box or Blu-ray player downstairs to 3 TVs throughout your house while still having room for HD gaming in the den.

The fact that a few heavies like Panasonic are still notably missing could mean another standards battle is on the horizon. While WirelessHD already claims a published 1.0 spec, and Monster's UWB product should be out by the fall, the WHDI spec is due to be finalized at the end of the year, with products hopefully popping up in time for CES '09. Stay tuned until then—as one format war ends, another begins.

Sharp AQUOS X TVs to Come With Wireless WHDI Connection

Kit Eaton — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:55:37 EDT

When we showed you those Sharp X-series ultra-thin LCD TVs recently, we mentioned how Sharp had achieved the slimming down: by putting most of the electronics in a separate box, connected by a single cable. Well, now there's news that Sharp has teamed up with AMIMON to do away with that cable and transmit the HDTV signal wirelessly to the display from the tuner box. The "WHDI" technology has a range of 100 feet, a latency of less than a millisecond and can transmit through multiple walls. So while the 37-, 42- and 46-inch TVs will now have an optional wireless video transmitter with AMIMON's tech inside, there's no info on the price yet. Read on for the full press release.

SHARP To Offer Ultra-thin LCD TV with Wireless HDTV Link by AMIMON
AMIMON's WHDI Technology Enables High Quality and Robust Wireless Uncompressed HDTV Link to Sharp's New X-Series LCD TVs

Santa Clara, Calif. and Osaka, Japan - April 30, 2008 - AMIMON Inc., an emerging leader in semiconductor technology for wireless high-definition (HD) video, has partnered with leading LCD TV manufacturer Sharp Corporation to offer a wireless HDTV link for the new X-Series ultra-thin LCD TVs. AMIMON's WHDI™ technology, capable of delivering uncompressed HD video streams wirelessly, will simplify the installation of Sharp's ultra-thin LCD TVs by eliminating the need for an audio/video cable between the TV panel and the separate tuner unit.

AMIMON's WHDI technology uses a unique video-modem approach to deliver wirelessly uncompressed HDTV. With a range of over 100 feet (30 m), through multiple walls and with latency of less than one millisecond, WHDI technology offers universal wireless whole-home HD connectivity with quality equivalent to that achieved with HDMI.

"WHDI is becoming the technology of choice for wireless HDTV," said Dr. Yoav Nissan-Cohen Chairman and CEO of AMIMON Inc. "With AMIMON's WHDI technology, consumers can enjoy wireless ultra-thin TV displays that are easy to install and easy on the eyes."

Sharp's new X-series models, which come in 37-, 42- and 46-inch screen sizes and are only 3.44 cm thick (at their thinnest part), go on sale in Japan in March. This series adopts a discrete component configuration that separates the display section from the tuner section, and these two sections can be connected with a cable or by using an optional wireless video transmitter unit that employs AMIMON's WHDI technology.

About Sharp Corporation

Sharp Corporation is a worldwide developer of innovative products and core technologies that play a key role in shaping the future of electronics. As a leader in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and digital technologies, Sharp offers one of the broadest and most advanced lines of consumer electronics, information products and electronic components, while also creating new network businesses.

Sharp Corporation employs about 58,900 people in the world (as of December 31, 2007) and recorded consolidated annual sales of 3,127,771 million yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007. For more information, please visit Sharp's Web site at http://sharp-world.com/index.html.

About AMIMON

AMIMON is a fabless semiconductor company pioneering wireless uncompressed high-definition video for universal connectivity among CE video devices. AMIMON's uncompressed Wireless High-definition Interface (WHDI™) enables HDTV manufactures to offer consumers wireless flat panel displays that can interface wirelessly to all HD video sources throughout the home at a quality equivalent to that achieved with wired interfaces such as HDMI™.

The company is headquartered in Herzlia, Israel, with offices in Santa Clara, Calif., USA, Tokyo Japan and Seoul Korea. More information is available at www.AMIMON.com.

WHDI is a trademark of AMIMON, Ltd. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are those of their respective holders.

[AMIMON]

Sony's Launching WHDI Wireless TV Later at CES

Brian Lam — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:52:28 EST

Sony is launching a WHDI powered 1080p HDTV this week, according to Amimon, provider of the technology. More later this week. Sony: are you holding out on me?

Belkin FlyWire Wireless Video Cable Does 1080p Across Nothin'

Brian Lam — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:30:22 EST

We saw this Belkin wireless high definition video streamer in a blurry shot, but had little clue what it was. Months ago, we saw an impressive demo by Amimon of true HD over wireless, up to 1080p using a standard called WHDI, but it was nothing more than parts you couldn't buy. No more. Belkin and Amimon just got together to make this 6 input wireless video device, although details aren't that forthcoming, this is how it works:

One set enables uncompressed 720p and 1080i video to be transmitted over the 5GHz wireless band, using 20MHz of bandwidth and reaching distances up to 100 feet with the same quality as HDMI cable. Two of the chipsets ganged together send 1080p video wirelessly, using 40MHz of bandwidth.

Range is a theoretical 100 feet. Now we have no idea if these inputs are HDMI, component or other, but I'm guessing the WHDI interface is at least HDMI for the simplicity of handling AV through a single cable, and given the size of the box, you don't really have room for 6 sets of component cables using 5 jacks each. More as it comes, at CES. UPDATE: Looks like its an all HDMI affair. [Thanks tipster, previously on Giz: Belkin and Amimon]

Amimon's Full 1080P Wireless HDMI Confirmed as Ready and Shipping

Charlie White — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:15:59 EDT

Amimon showed us its WHDI (Wireless High Definition Interface) working perfectly at last January's CES and today the company is shipping that chipset to manufacturers of TVs, projectors and other consumer electronics products. That's fine, but the big deal is that they've confirmed that 1080p over wireless is a go. Hurrah! It does use an interesting trick, though.

They're doubling the chipsets in each TV to get that 1080p signal. One set enables uncompressed 720p and 1080i video to be transmitted over the 5GHz wireless band, using 20MHz of bandwidth and reaching distances up to 100 feet with the same quality as HDMI cable. Two of the chipsets ganged together send 1080p video wirelessly, using 40MHz of bandwidth. The company also revealed that version 2.0 will combine two chipsets into one for the 1080p solution.

Amimon is a fabless semiconducter company, so it won't be building dongles and boxes using this tech, but will supply them to consumer electronics manufacturers. Amimon is hoping WHDI will become the new wireless HDMI standard, and told us by January, 2008 at CES, a variety of its partners will be announcing products with the WHDI interface, either installed internally or deployed in the form of dongles that transmit and receive the WHDI signal.

Amimon wasn't willing to give us a complete list of manufacturers set to receive the chipsets or embrace the technology, but did mention European high-end TV manufacturer Loewe and Japan's Funai would demo WHDI at the upcoming IFA convention in Berlin. Amimon added that Sanyo was also planning the use the tech (and we saw a demo of its projector running WHDI at 720p at CES last January) and said that Motorola is also an investor in the company.

When we asked about pricing of the WHDI chipset, Amimon wasn't willing to spell out specifics, but said the components would cost "several hundred dollars" at the outset. The company added that as economies of scale improve, the chipset should add less than $10 to the price of a device. [Amimon]

Here's the Amimon press release:

AMIMON Announces WHDI Chipset Availability
Whole-home HD Video Connectivity Net Now Unwired and Uncompressed;
WHDI HDTVs To Be Demonstrated at the IFA Consumer Electronics Show

Santa Clara, Calif. - August 28, 2007 - AMIMON Inc., an emerging leader in semiconductor technology for wireless transmission of high-definition (HD) video, has today announced the availability of its Wireless High-definition Interface (WHDI™) chipset. The WHDI chipset (AMN2110 and AMN2210) enables CE display and device manufacturers to develop home entertainment products that connect wirelessly.

The WHDI chipset can be embedded into CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, A/V receivers, DVD players (HD-DVD and Blu-ray), set-top boxes (STBs), game consoles, PCs and HD video accessories (wireless for HDMI dongles), allowing wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio.

"With WHDI chipsets in hand, CE manufacturers will now be able to offer consumers wireless HDTVs and other HD wireless video devices based on the WHDI standard," said Noam Geri, vice president of marketing and business development at AMIMON.

"Consumers should see initial WHDI-based products at the end of this year, with a wide variety of WHDI-based CE products available in 2008."

AMIMON's WHDI makes it possible for a wireless whole-home HD video connectivity net that allows the devices to share HD content throughout the entire home, up to 30 meters (100 feet) through walls, while maintaining superb, wire-equivalent quality and robustness with no latency. WHDI is the only uncompressed wireless technology with the capability of covering the entire home.

"Home entertainment enthusiasts are asking for wireless HDTVs that can be hung on the wall without having to run cumbersome and unaesthetic audio/video wires," said Roland Bohl, Loewe's director of R&D. "AMIMON's WHDI technology enables us to meet this demand while maintaining the high quality of HDTVs."

CE manufacturers Loewe and Funai will be demonstrating wireless HDTVs based on AMIMON's WHDI technology at the IFA Consumer Electronics tradeshow in Berlin, August 31 - September 5, 2007.

AMIMON's WHDI technology is based on a unique video modem approach. WHDI supports delivery of uncompressed 1080p (with equivalent video rates of up to 3 Gbps) in a 40MHz channel in the 5GHz unlicensed band, in compliance with FCC regulations. Uncompressed 720p, 1080i and 1080p 24/30p (with equivalent video rates of up to 1.5 Gbps) can be delivered in a 20MHz channel, conforming to worldwide 5GHz regulations. Range is beyond 100 feet through walls (entire home), and latency is less than 1 millisecond.

More than just a wire replacement, AMIMON's WHDI enables a connectivity matrix of multipoint-to-multipoint connections, allowing consumers to eliminate all the A/V wires and cables in the entire home.

AMIMON's WHDI chipsets and reference designs are available now. Companies, engineers and developers interested in additional information on WHDI chipsets should contact AMIMON at info@amimon.com.

For further technical details of AMIMON's WDHI technology, please visit: www.amimon.com/technology.shtml.

About AMIMON
AMIMON is a fabless semiconductor company pioneering wireless uncompressed high-definition video for universal connectivity among CE video devices. AMIMON's uncompressed Wireless High-definition Interface (WHDI™) allows flat-panel televisions and multimedia projectors to wirelessly interface to all HDTV video sources at a quality equivalent to that achieved with wired interfaces such as component video, DVI and HDMI™.

The company is headquartered in Herzlia, Israel, with offices in Santa Clara, Calif., USA, and Tokyo, Japan. More information is available at www.AMIMON.com.

WHDI is a trademark of AMIMON, Ltd. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are those of their respective holders.

Motorola and Amimon Join Forces to Standardize Wireless HD

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:17:26 EDT

We were pretty impressed when Amimon demoed their wireless HD interface for us back at CES, and apparently we weren't the only ones. Motorola announced today that they'll be investing in the Israeli-based company, whose WHDMI interface lets you transfer HD video between components with no degradation in video quality or lag. The technology is expected to work on today's HDTV sets via an optional dongle that Amimon will put to the market. They also plan on embedding their chips into future flat-panels so all that wireless goodness will be built right in. – Louis Ramirez

Motorola Snags Developer of Wireless HD [News.com via Xataka]

Wireless Or HDMI? Amimon Demos its Video Modem

Charlie White — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:56:20 EST

Which monitor above is wireless and which is HDMI? In a challenging demo, two 720p TVs were placed side-by side, with one fed by a conventional HDMI cable and the other with the uncompressed wireless HDMI technology the company calls a "video modem." Could we guess which one was HDMI and which was wireless? No, we got it wrong. There was no discernable difference between the two.

Then they showed us its near-complete lack of latency (under 1ms) by playing some 720p Xbox 360 games over the 1.36Gbit/sec device.

Company reps say we'll be seeing wireless HD products by the end of this year, with Sanyo first to demo the device. The also expect to be demonstrating wireless 1080p by next year's CES. How much will this cost?

The target is under $200 for the 720p/1080i dongle version by the time it hits the market, and just a few bucks by the time it's mass produced as a small chip inside TVs and projectors everywhere. – Charlie White

Sanyo Demos WHDMI Wireless HD Projection

Charlie White — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:18:00 EST

Wireless HDTV projection is here, and we saw our first demo at the Sanyo booth. Using a transmitter and receiver from Amimon, the $3000 WHDMI module slides into the industrial-strength projector ($10K) they were using, giving uncompressed wireless performance with no lag time. The Sanyo official told us the system is capable transmitting 1080p video over 60 to 90 feet, probably true if it's indeed able to transmit and receive at 1.5Gbit/sec. as quoted. But the label on the exhibit said we were watching 720p video, so that gave us pause.

More pics and explanation:

Around July, Sanyo says this unit will be just the first of many wireless HDTV projectors it will be shipping. Its next trick will be to attach an external transmitter/receiver to its midrange projectors (ones that cost around $5K), and then by October the company says half its projectors will be capable of accommodating this wireless HDMI option.

To our eyes, this was some fine-looking HD video which held up to projection on a huge screen. It's nice to know that Wireless HDMI is actually possible and soon will be available to all. – Charlie White

Amimon Wireless HD: Good as HDMI, Coming in 2007?

Charlie White — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:54:27 EST

Until now, we thought we'd have to wait until 2008 for wireless HD, but an Israeli company called Amimon successfully demonstrated a wireless high definition interface (WHDI) that can send uncompressed 720p or 1080i video through walls and over distances of up to 40 feet. Tech writers from PC Magazine saw a demo of the system, saying they couldn't tell the difference between this wireless HD signal compared directly to a signal delivered over standard HDMI cable.

Amimon says by its late 2007 release, it will be able to support 3Gb/s throughput by binding two 20MHz channels together. Hey, wait a minute, that's enough to drive a 1080p display. Amimon will be flaunting this wireless HD technology at CES, and we'll train our eagle eyes on it and give you a full report. – Charlie White

Product Page [Amimon, via Extreme Tech]