11.11.2008 — After examining all of the wireless HD options out there, Monster Cable decided to develop its own technology with Sigma Designs to create Digital Express HD, a point-to-multipoint wireless A/V distribution system.

Monster originally worked with Tzero, whose Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology is being used by Gefen and Terk for Wireless HD transmission.

Monster left that partnership because the two companies could not get a product to work in a timely fashion, according to Monster product manager Elbert Lee.

Lee says Monster looked at other third-party technologies including Amimon, whose 802.11n-based solution can deliver whole-house coverage of wireless HD. That particular technology, however, comes with a fairly hefty price tag.

In any case, none of the key players including Monster seems to be shipping any kind of wireless HD product yet.

Gefen was perhaps the first company to announce a wireless HD solution based on Tzero, winning an Electronic House Product of the Year award back in 2006. The $999 product still is not shipping. "It should be shipping by the end of the year," said Gefen's Khasha Roholahi at the Electronic House Expo last week.

Belkin, too, has delayed its much-ballyhooed Flywire wireless HD system, which uses Amimon technology. That product purportedly will have a street price of $1,500.

Gefen also has announced an Amimon-based product, and that one is not even available for pre-order on the company's Web site (unlike the Tzero model).


Gefen's wireless HD solutions based on Tzero (left) and Amimon technologies

Why the Delay with Wireless HD?

What seems to be the hold up? Gefen's Roholahi explains that the challenges mainly revolve around HDMI compliance (although there is no such thing as "wireless HDMI"). "You have to support the whole HDMI spec," he says, including HDCP and DVI.

The "wireless" portion of the product poses less of a problem, he says: "The radio has been done for over a year."

Like Gefen and Tzero, Monster and Sigma are using wireless technology based on UWB.

Monster's Lee says that, after working with Tzero and Sigma, he has a greater appreciation of the challenges in delivering wireless HD. Price and performance have been major obstacles.

"The trick is in the encoding," says Lee. "If you can be efficient in encoding, you don't have to strip out any data."

Monster's Digital Express HD can deliver 1080p video wirelessly to multiple TVs. Only one source is supported for wireless transmission in the first-gen product, but the unit also uses a home's existing coax cable to distribute up to five sources around the house.