What is wireless HDMI? Should I use it?

Wireless HDMI products (Wireless HDMI) have been around for nearly a decade, but they haven't really become popular. Today, TipsMake.com will work with readers to find out how wireless HDMI works and whether to buy wireless HDMI products without the following article.

Wireless HDMI is an alternative to HDMI cables

HDMI cable is the standard medium for high-definition video transmission for more than a decade. But HDMI cables have some obvious drawbacks. Some unreliable HDMI cables can turn your 'entertainment center' into a 'mouse nest' and they restrict the movement of cable boxes or game consoles in a certain space.

HDMI wireless is a high-definition video solution, which can solve some HDMI-related problems. You can clean up your entertainment center, play a single video source for all indoor TVs or project your phone or computer screen to TV.

There are many wireless HDMI products on the market and all are easy to install. Just plug in a device that emits the HDMI port of the video source and the HDMI input device of the TV, that's it!

Wireless HDMI is like Bluetooth, but only for videos

Unlike screen projection applications like Apple AirPlay, wireless HDMI requires WiFi connection. The transmitter plugged into the video source will emit the frequency and the device plugged into the screen will decode that frequency into a high-definition video. Think of it as Bluetooth, but only for videos.

Some wireless HDMI products have an integrated infrared transmitter. These infrared transmitters allow the use of a TV control to control remote devices. These devices are also needed for many wireless HDMI settings.

Like any wireless transmission, wireless HDMI is easily blocked. Most wireless HDMI products operate at 5GHz, which can be blocked by WiFi and mobile phone signals. Thankfully, most new wireless HDMI products use the frequency selection feature to automatically adjust the congested frequency, at least within the home.

But when it comes to wireless HDMI, latency is an inevitable hindrance. A video signal must be encoded, transmitted, received and decoded before it is displayed. Therefore, most wireless HDMI products have a bit of lag.

Products like J-Tech Digital HDbitT, with a range of 660 feet (183m), have a delay of several milliseconds. Products like Nyrius ARIES NPCS549 with a range of 30 feet (9m) have a delay of only a few microseconds (undetectable).

Until now, gamers may have realized that wireless HDMI solutions are not suitable for playing Xbox games around the house, but they can be used to replace HDMI cables in entertainment centers.

Why is wireless HDMI not the global standard?

If the wireless HDMI is so great, why not replace the HDMI cable? There are no standards for wireless HDMI and no expensive wireless HDMI products on the market are compatible. Manufacturers can combine and upgrade wireless HDMI as a new standard for home video, but to be honest, manufacturers don't have much incentive to develop technology to replace streaming formats. Super fast data like USB-C.

Right now, WHDI is the leading wireless HDMI option. WHDI operates at 5GHz, supports 1080p and 3D video. Sadly, WHDI does not support 4K and often interferes with routers and mobile phones. The push for global adoption of WHDI took place about a decade ago and many companies like Sharp and Philips actually integrated WHDI receivers into some TVs. Unfortunately, these products do not make a big sound.

Some other wireless HDMI formats are no longer used, including WiGig, support for 4K and WirelessHD videos, with fairly good data transfer rates. But there aren't any new products that support these wireless formats and they will eventually be forgotten.

Wireless HDMI is a unique product

Although wireless HDMI can be extremely useful for some people, it does not have much potential to be widely adopted or used in practice. There are many problems with wireless HDMI and unless you are trying to 'clean up' your entertainment center or broadcast cable signals to the basement, there is no reason to accept this format.

The biggest problem with wireless HDMI is the price. Most wireless HDMI sets cost about $ 200 (4,600,000 VND). They also have only one transmitter and receiver only.

The amount of money for wireless HDMI products is huge but they do not support 4K, so users may have to 'sacrifice' part of the video quality. Not to mention, most wireless HDMI products can only communicate with one transmitter or receiver at a time. Playing a single video source to multiple TV receivers is too expensive and difficult.

Latency is another concern. TV viewers do not need to worry about the delay of several milliseconds, but the delay due to wireless HDMI settings can make video games unplayable. There are some HDMI products that completely eliminate latency for gamers, but they only have a range of about 30 feet (more than 9m).

Of course, there are some situations where HDMI can play its role. Instead of paying for a cable TV company to have a set top box in each room, you can buy some wireless HDMI sets to play a single cable box. for the whole house. These wireless HDMI devices will last for a long time so users can use them for other applications in the future.

Wireless HDMI is also a great way to clean up the entertainment center. If you don't want to spend $ 1000 (23,000,000 VND), you can always pair the transmitter with the HDMI switch and remove most HDMI cables. In addition, wireless HDMI can make the use of home projectors much more convenient, since there are no longer any cables to hang on the ceiling.

Will wireless HDMI become the global standard for video transmission in the future? Nobody can say anything. But at least HDMI wireless can replace the indoor HDMI cable if there is an appropriate usage.