HDTVs Gone Wireless

Streaming in HD is nothing new—D-Link and Xbox 360 both offer solutions to wirelessly stream HD content off your computer to a TV—but HD streaming from anything other than a computer has been a bigger challenge. But here at CES, a handful of new wireless HD solutions designed to work with sources other than your computer are making their debuts.

The prize for "most wireless" goes to Samsung's Wireless plasma, a 58-inch 1080p plasma that can accept and display up to 1080i HD video blasted to it from a set-top box via 802.11n Wi-Fi. You plug your components into the set-top box, which can be located far away from the plasma across the room, making it a much more "wireless" solution than most other options, which usually make you plug some wireless receiver (or Xbox 360) into the TV. Unfortunately, the day I visited, the company didn't seem to have an HD feed set up, so I just watched regular broadcast TV, which couldn't hold a candle to Apple TV, for example. If the thing actually works when it comes out later this year (Samsung is saying second or third quarter 2007, which means the fall), it will go a long way toward maximizing the aesthetic potential of wall-mounted flat-panel TVs (at last, no ugly wires on your wall!).

Meanwhile, Philips is showing off its wireless HDMI system, which consists of a small receiver and transmitter that blasts up to 1080p to any TV via Ultra-Wideband (UWB), a wide-range brother of Wi-Fi that is less prone to interference and should address the choppy video/latency problems typical of Wi-Fi-streamed HD video. Plug anything from a DVD player to a cable box into the transmitter, which can be located up to 25 feet away. The only downside is you actually have to plug the receiver into your TV, but happily it's a small receiver (about the size of personal pan pizza). Philips' wireless HDMI is set to hit stores in May.