Monster, Gefen Drop Tzero for Other Wireless HD Providers

Tzero, once the darling of the wireless HD movement, has fallen out of favor in the custom installation channel.

Both Gefen and Monster Cable were poised last year to introduce wireless HD distribution products using Tzero's UWB (WiMedia)-based technology. At CEDIA Expo 2008, however, the two companies will show products based on competitive wireless technologies. (9/3 Update: Gefen to sell Tzero product, too.)

The original Tzero-based transceivers from Gefen and Monster would enable the wireless transmission of 1080i video up to 20 meters (60 feet). Tzero now claims it can deliver 1080p content.

Starting in 2006, Gefen showed its Tzero solution at several trade shows. As recently as the January 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Gefen confirmed its commitment to the UWB provider.

But the company had a change of heart, opting for wireless HD technology from Amimon.



Amimon's WHDI technology uses the 5 GHz band, enabling whole-house coverage as with 802.11 a/n solutions.

Although Amimon claims it can distribute full 1080p HD over wireless, Gefen says its own product, Wireless for HDMI Extender, can deliver 1080i video over distances of 30 meters (90 feet).

For its part, Monster is sticking with UWB/WiMedia technology for its new wireless HD product, the Wireless Digital Express HD. Instead of Tzero, though, Monster is using Sigma Designs, whose UWB Windeo chipset enables the transmission of multiple HD video streams over-the-air to multiple HDTVs simultaneously.

Monster says its product can deliver 1080p resolutions.

Audiovox's Terk subsidiary has also announced a Tzero-based wireless HD solution, but there's been no news on that front since the prototype product debuted in at CES in 2007.

Hitachi, another one-time Tzero user, has also been cozying up to Amimon and its WHDI technology.

Other Wireless HD solutions abound, not least of which is the new WirelessHD (WiHD) "standard" based on technology from Sibeam. LG, Panasonic, NEC, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba lined up behind that standard.

Check out all of the emerging wireless HD technologies here.