CEDIA 2007 Show Report

All Through The Air - Amimon, Amimon, Amimon Posted Wed Sep 5, 2007, 12:38 PM ET
By Fred Manteghian

Although they won't be at CEDIA, Amimon WHDI chipset (see my "Tired of Being Wired" blog earlier this year) is finally ready for consumption. WHDI, for the acronymly-challenged, stands for Wireless High Definition Interface. Due to the high bandwidth requirements of 1080i and doubly high requirements of 1080p, wireless transmission of high definition digital video signals has been impossible or at least laboratory grade only. Already working with Motorola, Sanyo and Pixelworks, the Israeli-based Amimon hopes to end all that.

For specificity, Amimon has developed two chipsets, the AMN2110 and AMN2210, that can be imbedded in high definition capable products like flat panel TVs, projectors, A/V receivers, high definition disc players, DVRs and even video game consoles – in short, anything that currently offers a hard-wired HDMI output could just as easily offer a wireless connection. Aminon claims uncompressed transmission of 1080p 24p (film) ( /30p (video) video at rates up to 3 Gbps are possible at distances up to 100 feet through walls with only 1 millisecond latency. Just how many walls isn't specified, but Amimon envisions a "typical" home allowing jokesters everywhere the thrill of scaring the bejezes out of the family cat a few rooms away.

Amimon uses a 40 MHz channel in the unlicensed 5 GHz band for full out 1080p. They also offer a less powerful solution utilizing half the channel width for 720p and 1080i devices but covering the same 100 foot distance.

So if they're not at CEDIA, where are Amimon? Well, they're just coming off the ISF show floor (Europe's answer to CES, wrapping up today in Berlin) where Loewe and Funai were demonstrating HDTVs using Amimon chipsets. No word yet if anyone is going to make HDMI add-on products that would turn your HDMI equipped devices into wireless HD gods, but I'm sure licensees are lining up.

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