WHDI Reviews – Wireless HDTV News

Philips SWW1890/27 Wireless HD Net Connect

The Philips SWW1890/27 Wireless HD Net Connect is a computer to Wireless HD wireless transmission kit. It includes a HDMI dongle that is plugged in to your laptop/desktop’s HDMI port and a receiver that has a HDMI output to which you can connect your HD TV or projector. Setup is completely painless for this kit. It is truly plug and play. Just plug the transmitter dongle and connect the display to the receiver and you are done.

However, both units need a constant power supply. The receiver comes with its own power adapter for this purpose. The dongle however needs to pull it from the computer’s hub. For this, you will need to plug an extra cable from the dongle in to one of your USB ports. So even though it is a completely wireless set up, it blocks up one USB port. Once both are powered up and running, the pairing happens automatically and there’s no intervention necessary from the user.

Running a WHDI chip in the background, this kit from Philips transmits uncompressed HD signals over the 5GHz band. This ensures that the kit does not interfere with other wireless devices or receive interference from them. The transmitted signal is maintained at 1080p at 60GHz, giving your pristine HD quality without the hassle of wires. Since this based on WHDI, there’s no visible lag and is a good kit to be using for gaming that requires real time response from your transmitter and receiver. The best thing about this kit is that it does not require line of sight and can be placed across a distance of 23foot (6 meters) range — which is enough for you to sit on the couch with your laptop and transmit the images to the TV or projector. It is definitely designed to connect devices within the same room.

Philips SWW1890/27 Wireless HD Net Connect is designed to look very sleek. It has an over all dark finish that blends right in with the rest of your a/v equipment and sits in perfectly in most kinds living room décor. Its staid yet stylish looks are also similarly well-matched to a corporate environment. If you are presenting from an HDMI port equipped laptop to an HD projector — you can use this kit to avoid long wires in the boardroom. It is perfect for a permanent set up inside the boardroom of your company as well. Everything on your laptop will be shown at perfect 1080p HD. You can use it to either give you an extended desktop so that you can separate displays or you can mirror everything that’s happening on your screen.

Buyer reviewfor the Philips SWW1890/27 Wireless HD Net Connect in places like Amazon is quite positive. Users report enjoying the flexibility of a no line of sight setup and the great image quality that this set up provides. For the price, it provides really good performance and is very stable as well.

KanexPro WHDI30M Wireless HDMI Extender Kit for HD Home Theater

The KanexPro WHDI30M Wireless HDMI Extender Kit is a powerful wireless HD solution for your home theater setup. It has all the necessary features that make for a great Wireless HD kit. Using WHDI, the KanexPro can broadcast compatible HD signals up to a distance of 50 feet (15 meters). And within that distance it has no requirement for line of sight. It also supports a multitude of formats.

The wireless HD system comes with built in support for Dolby Digital, DTS-HD and Dolby True HD Audio. These format compatibilities highlight its position in the market as a high-end product for serious a/v enthusiasts. Its HDMI connection also supports High Speed HDMI standards, ensuring great color depth, lossless HD audio and proper lip sync.

KanexPro can transmit 1080p @60Hz signals without any compression or quality loss. This makes it great addition to those who don’t want to go through the hassle of installing wires. It give you the clean look of a professionally installed home theatre system without the problems of getting one actually installed at your home.

The KanexPro WHDI30M Wireless HDMI Extender Kit  has flat looking, non-descript black plastic bodies for both its transmitter and receiver. Both the units require a constant supply of power from the included power adapters. Both the transmitter and the receiver have single HDMI ports of respective types. Their black color and simple design ensures that they can easily be hidden from view and won’t attract much attention even if left out in the open.

Since the HDMI in and out ports on the transmitter and receiver respectively are class compliant — this kit is compatible with any HDMI capable input and out device. This means you can connect your HDTV or HD projector to your Xbox, Playstation, Blu-Ray player and more without having to worry about wires and/or compatibility.

There is practically no setup required from the users side. Once both units have been successfully connected to respective devices and powered, they will find each other automatically and start transmitting your video to its intended destination.

Even though the kit is a little on the expensive side, it has the Apogee brand to back it up. This is a high quality kit that sits apart from the other kits that have more features but lower quality. One of the best things about the kit in fact is its long range that does not need line of sight. This gives the user a certain amount of flexibility in terms of placing the transmitter and receiver.

KanexPro WHDI30M Wireless HDMI Extender Kit is clearly meant for the high-end market. User reviews are overall positive. Buyers are especially happy with the quality of video that is delivers. With no visible lag even at the highest HD resolution, it is also perfect gaming on larger screens using your console.

ASUS WiCast EW2000 Wireless HD Video Transmitter and Receiver`

The Asus WiCast EW2000 is a wireless HD transceiver that can broadcast wireless HD video signals from your laptop to TV. It comes in the usual transmitter-receiver pair and both have HDMI connections for connecting to their respective devices. Both units have a fully black finish with a glossy finished cover on top bearing the Asus branding.

Both units need a constant power supply for operating. The receiver unit that connects with the TV comes with a power adapter for this. The transmitter unit can either be powered via USB or via its own power adapter. Using USB power will ensure that you don’t have to tied down to one place but you have to sacrifice two USB ports for it. The video signal is sent VIA HDMI and it also transmits the audio. It supports the transmission of up to 8 different channels of audio to the receiving unit.

The package comes with all the necessary cables. There’s the transmitter and the receiver; a short HDMI cable for connecting your laptop/desktop to the transmitter; a long HDMI cable for connecting the receiver to the TV/Projector; a mini-USB to dual USB cable for powering the transmitter from the laptop and two power adapters. Asus also thoughtfully includes a travel pouch for carrying the Wicast EW2000 around with you.

The EW2000 is based on WHDI (1.4) technology and has a data throughput of 3Gb/s. If you can maintain a line of sight, the range will go up to 33 feet. It supports full 1080p @60Hz while still maintain 1ms latency. This latency also makes it perfect for gaming. It make it much easier to play all your computer games on a larger screen because there are no wires to run.

The Asus WiCast EW2000 operates over a 5.15 ~ 5.85GHz frequency, which allows it to avoid interference from other wireless devices in the vicinity.

Transmitting HD videos wirelessly creates no deterioration in the quality and the image quality remains the same as compared to standard HDMI wires. The best thing about the EW2000 is that since it is HDMI based, the units are truly plug n play. There’s no need to install any drives on your computer and the transmitter and receiver pair up automatically. There’s no need for any human intervention. The pairing happens very quickly so there’s no waiting period either. It supports playback from Blu-Ray players as well.

Average buyer rating for the Asus WiCast EW2000 is quite high. People find the effortless set up extremely helpful. They are also happy with the quality that this system maintains. One of the only complaints about it is that the transmitter takes up two USB ports when it is using USB power to run. The units have a good build quality and are sturdily built to last through prolonged usage.

WHDI Wireless 5GHz HDMI Extender Transmitter/Receiver Kits HD TV PC Video 1080P

This is an unbranded WHDI based Wireless 5GHz HDMI Extender Transmitter/Receiver Kit that supports a full 1080p HD resolution. Even though it is not from a specific brand, it has all the features that you can ask for in a kit like this.

It comes in two parts — the transmitter and the receiver. They are both similarly designed and have provisions to be propped up vertically. The design is flat and sleek, which makes it look quite good. All the connecting ports are along the sides of the boxes. And since the stand is rotating, you can also lay them both flat down to get a stacked set up.

The list of supported features is pretty impressive. The kit supports HD video resolutions of up to 1080p and that too at 60Hz. If you are looking to have a set up that requires the kit to transmit through walls, it will give you a range of about 10m, which is roughly 32 feet. With line of sight available, it can go up to 20m, which is about 65 feet. Given that the other products in the market feature a maximum range of 30 feet at line of sight, this kit definitely poses some advantages over the others.

Specifications and Features

• Instant Wireless HD transmission
• Transmission range up to 20m (65.6 ft) with line of sight
• Transmission range up to 10m (32.8 ft) through walls
• Video Resolutions up to 1080P @ 60Hz
• Supports HDMI 1.3 and HDCP 1.2 Protocols

Another useful feature on this Wireless 5GHz HDMI Extender Transmitter/Receiver Kit is its support for HDMI 1.3 and HDCP 1.2. HDMI 1.3 ensures that you get fully synced video and audio and there’s no lag in that regard. HDCP support ensures that you can playback HD content that is encrypted with this standard. A lot HD content now required HDCP support to prevent piracy. This becomes an issue when your wireless HD kit does not come with HDCP support.

Even though these units boast of very high-end features, they still maintain a price point of below $200. This shows in the housing, which is all-plastic and the small parts like the switches and buttons.

However, the kit does come with its own HDMI cable and two power adapters — one each for the two units. Both the transmitter and the receiver require a steady power supply during operation. Which why they need to have a permanent set up and be plugged in at all times. The receiving unit looks the same as the transmitter except that it only has one HDMI out port that is meant to go to the HDTV or projector, whichever you are using. The Transmitter has a physical switch for switching between inputs on one side and the ports are on the other side.

The units operate over a 5GHz frequency, which should be able to dodge most of the other domestic wireless networks and hence be free of interference.

Overall, this Wireless 5GHz HDMI Extender Transmitter/Receiver Kit has a good price to performance ratio. If you are not looking to own a branded piece, then this is something you can easily go for.

Gefen EXT-WHDMI Wireless HDMI Extender

The Gefen EXT-WHDMI Wireless HDMI Extender is your basic Wireless HD two-piece transceiver kit. It uses WHDI to send full HD video content of up to 1080p over the air. It also supports fully Dolby 5.1 surround sound, which you can hook up to your home theater sound system for the full effect.

The kit consists of the usual two pieces — transmitter and receiver. The transmitter has one antenna, two HDMI inputs, one component video in and a pair of stereo audio in out. It requires a constant 5V DC power supply to be operational. Its design is conducive to permanent set ups and not meant to be moved around.

The receiving unit has two antennas (for better reception it seems), one HDMI out and one pair of stereo audio out. It too requires a constant 5V DC power supply to remain operational. You will have to install it permanently near your display or projector.

Both units have a very good built and exude quality. The antennas and the housing — all of it stands out from the flimsy plastic wireless HD transceiver kits that are usually found on the market. Both feature metal housings with minimal controls that are situated on the front of the units.

Since you can plug in up to 3 different sources (2 HDMI + 1 Component Video), the transmitter unit has a source selecting button with labeled LED indicators to show you which source you are on at the moment.

The Gefen EXT-WHDMI Wireless HDMI Extender uses a feature called Ultra-Wideband to enable support for large amounts of the data that need to be transmitted for full HD videos. It has a range of 30 feet if you are using line of sight. The distance will have to be shortened if the signal is going through a wall to an adjacent room. However, that also means that the kit can also easily work without line of sight.

The WHDI chip shows its presence during the operation in terms of no visible lag and good picture quality. Not compatibility issues have been reported so far and it works with PS3, Xbox, general DVD and Blu-Ray players. It would also work with computers and laptops that have HDMI ouput. It also features support for HDMI 1.3 Lip Sync features and is compliant with HDCP. This means you can also transmit HD content that requires the transmission path to support content protection. This feature is often left out in wireless hd kits and hence many of them cannot transmit protected HD content.

Buyer reviews are very positive with special mention of the lag free performance and the picture quality. The only setback in the performance is that it can support only 1080i at 60Hz. For 1080p it will switch to 24Hz.

The Gefen EXT-WHDMI Wireless HDMI Extender delivers a solid performance and is very well built with streamlined features. The price higher than all competing models but the reliability and HDCP support makes up for it for the buyers.

HP Wireless TV Connect

The HP Wireless TV Connect is a wireless HD connection kit that uses Amimon’s WHDI technology to broadcast HD signals over a wireless connection. It comes in the usual transmitter & receiver pair and it is optimized for use with desktops and laptops.

The transmitter and the receiver are designed as simple black boxes with a matte finish and strategically placed heat vents. The transmitter and the receiver units both have a nicely styled vertical stands to sit on. The transmitter also comes with a hanging bracket or clip that can allows it to be clipped on the back of the lid, somewhat like how webcams can be clipped on to laptop screens.

Set up is extremely simple since the connection is over HDMI, which is a dedicated display port. It is purely plug and play without any drivers. This also means that it can work on any computer with an HDMI out regardless of the OS.

Both units require external power. The receiver unit comes it with its own power source and it needs to stay powered at all times to be operational. The transmitter draws power from a free USB port on the computer. Both require HDMI ports to connect to. HP has thoughtfully added a USB splitter cable so that the USB port used for powering the device does not become blocked altogether and can be used by other devices. However, this device will only be able to use the USB port for data transfer and not for drawing power.

The box also contains the stands, the clip, two HDMI cables, power adapter for the receiver and a USB cable.

The kit supports video resolutions of up to 1080p @60Hz. Audio support includes S/PDIF DTS HD, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby, Digital Plus, AC-3 (5.1 channel) and HCDP 1.0. It has a transmission range of up to 5 meters (about 17 feet), which is often enough for a multi-room setup. There is no requirement for line of sight, which is a problem for many other Wireless HD kits like this.

The HP Wireless TV Connect can thus transmit full HD audio and video, including surround sound for your home theatre system. The HP TV connect is good for streaming HD videos and movies from your laptop and also for sharing photos and using your HDTV or projector as an external display for more workspace. Buyers have also reported good gaming experience through the kit because of almost negligible lag.

Since the transmitter is a large box, it is better suited to permanent set ups between your desktop and HDTV even though it is encouraged for use with laptops. However, the transmitter does not need to connect to anything other than the laptop for power and input, there are no wires tying your laptop down to one spot and you can easily move around.

Buyer reviews note that the HP Wireless TV Connect also works for computers with only VGA ports through a VGA to HDMI converter but the resolution will not reach HD because of the limitations of the VGA standard. Picture quality over HDMI is quite good with vivid colors.

Brite-View Air SyncHD (BV-2322) Uncompressed 1080p Video/ Audio Wireless Transmission Kit Review

Brite-View has been consistently bringing out newer wireless HD solutions since last year and the Brite-View Air SyncHD BV2322 is yet another such product. It is a standard plug-n-play wireless HD transmission kit that comes in a receiver and transmission pair. This pair is meant more for wirelessly connecting home theater components but it can also be used with computers. It uses Amimon’s WHDI wireless HD transmission technology.

The kit comes complete with the receiver, the transmitter, two power adapters (one for each piece), an HDMI cable, a remote, two more cables for connecting other sources to the transmitter and receiver and some screws for mounting. It is good to see that Brite-View has thoughtfully included everything that the user might need to do a complete set up at home.

Both the transmitter and the receiver have alternative inputs so that you can set it up with multiple sources. The included remote helps you choose between them. The base station has an HDMI in port, where you can plug in something that is located close to your TV, like your cable box. And the transmitter you can use for sources that are situated far away from the TV, like game consoles and HTPC’s. If your PC or laptop has an HDMI out, you can easily connect it to the transmitter.

The BV2322 has a range of 100-feet at 1080i and 66-feet at 1080p. It supports 1080p@ 60hz and also 1080i @ WIDE mode. It comes with an IR remote for controlling it between the different modes and sources. It is a completely plug-n-play solution with no set up. You can also create loop-through connections whereby you can transmit the signal through wireless and wired connections. The only problem is that it requires line of sight and hence you will need to have an open line of space between the transmitter and the receiver. However, the long range makes it a perfect way to stream HD videos to the outdoors from the living room — for example to the pool side where a lot of people entertain their guests.

It has a 1ms delay, which makes it absolutely imperceptible and perfect for gaming. It supports HDMI 1.3, making for very smooth HD video performance. And since it is over HDMI, there’s no software to be installed anywhere. Since all the components come with the package, setup is quite simple.

Buyer reviews for the Air SyncHD BV-23322 are generally positive with most people very satisfied with the range and some have also had good results with multi-room and multi-level setups. There have even been full masonry walls between the transmission line. A lot of users have also used the transmitter with HDMI switchers and have had good results. Some of the problems with reception and jitters were fixed by repositioning the transmitter and the receiver. Overall, compared to some of the other kits, it is slightly more expensive but the image quality and the flexibility are worth it.

brite-View HDelight (BV-1222) Uncompressed 1080p Beam-to-TV Kit

Brite-View has brought out quite a few Wireless HD kits over the past one year and more. Their models have progressively become better with more input options and better signal quality. Credit for this also goes towards Amimon’s advances in the WHDI technology. This model was released towards the last quarter of 2010 and it has multiple input options. It also supports Apple’s iPad through a special adapter that must be bought separately.

The HDelight BV-1222 has a simple plug and play approach. The receiver and the transmitter need to be transmitted to their respective devices and the rest happens automatically. There’s no pairing required and the receiver automatically finds the transmitter and starts streaming the HD video signal.

This kit utilizes a 3Gbits/sec throughput and hence has no noticeable lag. This makes it perfect for activities that require a lag-free sync like gaming. It is also a welcome feature for those who would be using it to work on their laptop of iPad.

The kit is especially designed for use with a laptop and has USB connectivity. When connected to a computer, the transmitter draws power from the USB hub and does not require an external power supply. This is helpful because this way the laptop-transmitter setup can be completely wireless without the need to have a power brick trailing from the transmitter unit.

However, the transmitter needs to be plugged in to a power source when using with anything else; such as gaming consoles, Blu-Ray or DVD players and also iPads. That is because the HDMI connector is not meant to power a device. The receiver needs to be connected to a power source at all times.

The transceiver pair has a range of 30 feet and support full HD standards of 1080p@60Hz. There is a requirement for line-of-sight though, which means there should be no obstruction between the transmitter and the receiver that fully blocks one from the other. This is a small caveat for some customers, who would’ve like to set the transmitter behind a partition or in another room.

The signal remains uncompressed through the entire signal path, from the source through the transmitter-receiver to the display (TV/Projector). This preserves the a/v quality through transmission and remain faithful to the source

Customer reviews suggest that the features mentioned on the BV-1222 all work as advertised. Those using the set up for gaming have reported very good performance with no noticeable lag degrading the game play. There are no complaints regarding setup with most comments mentioning a fully plug and play experience. The packaged comes with a short USB-to-USB cable for plugging it in to a laptop.

Most reviewers reported high video and audio quality from various different sources. These included gaming consoles, Blu-ray players and computer content (both local and online such as Hulu, Netflix and YouTube). Some have used it transform their normal PC’s and laptops to home theatre systems (HTPC’s).

Warpia StreamHD Wireless PC to TV Full 1080P

The Warpia StreamHD is a WHDI based wireless HD transmission kit that is designed to work with PC’s. It consists of a base station style receiver and a transmitting dongle that plugs in to the USB port of a laptop or a desktop. The base station connects to the display via an HDMI port. This ensures that the receiver base will be able to connect to anything that accepts HDMI, including HD projectors and HDTV’s.

The receiver base also sports an S/PDIF port for full 5.1 digital surround sound and you can directly connect your home theatre system to it. If you are looking for plain stereo and do not have S/PDIF compatible audio devices, there’s also a 3.5mm stereo jack port. Warpia thus scores well on the audio connectors area where most comparable solutions tend to just leave it up to the HDMI out.

Since the StreamHD Wireless is a PC-based solution, it is as much at home in a boardroom as it is in a living room. The transceiver kit can easily be adopted in an office scenario where computers can easily be connected to HD projectors without the need to run cables through the length of the room.

This kit has a standard 30 feet range with a line-of-sight requirement. That means the transmitter has to be able to ‘see’ the receiver base in order to transmit a proper signal. There cannot be anything blocking the transmitter completely from the receiver, like walls or furniture.

However, once you have a clear line of transmission, the image quality is crisp and true HD. This kit supports full 1080p HD with a native resolution support of 1920×1280 pixels. Customers report an inconsistent experience when it comes to lag. There are reports of some online services having minimal lag and other having some noticeable lag. Skype performance seems to be consistent throughout with a slight drop in call quality but otherwise stable performance.

This kit plugs in to your PC and behaves as a standard external display for your computer. Hence, you can either mirror your desktop or extend it to make more screen space. For most home entertainment purposes, a mirrored set up would do. However, an extended screen would allow the user to work on something else while the extended area was occupied with something else.

This kit is a good option for watching high-resolution images, online videos and local media files on your HDTV or HD projector. However, this kit cannot support Blu-Ray movies played on your computer. Another point to keep in mind is that this kit supports only Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. There is no proper Mac OS support as of yet but some of Warpia’s other kits have beta versions of Mac drivers.

The StreamHD has received a fairly good line of customer reviews on Amazon and other places. Most professional reviewers have also rated it well. The only caveats are the minor lags in specific applications and the line of sight requirement.

ASUS WiCast EW2000 Wireless HD transceiver kit is one of the more well known applications of the WHDI technology from the chip makers Amimon. Once WiDi had landed in the market and frustrated everybody with its latency issues, poor quality and compatibility problems — Asus’ WiCast came in with the promise to fix all that. But does it really live up to that promise?

Read more »