Hey, All Those Wireless Naysayers, Say Yea!

Opinion: Page (1) of 1 - 10/09/03

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Hey, All Those Wireless Naysayers, Say Yea! Networked projectors are hot, get ready to cut the cord By Gary Kayye, CTS

Everyone knows that I have been a proponent of the integration and convergence of the IT and AV worlds. There's no question that networked systems are on the horizon for everyone, not just the university community who has quickly embraced it so far. In fact, the simple network monitoring features such as managing projector lamp hours, theft prevention and even controlling AV gear across a network, have caught on so rapidly that just about every projector manufacturer has jumped on the network bandwagon.

And, this time they've got something to brag about.

But, get ready to cut the cord as wireless networked AV stuff is just around the corner.

The current wireless network standard being used by every computer manufacturer is known as WiFi (or IEEE 802.11b, as it's officially termed). That WiFi standard is the same wireless standard that you see in Marriott's, American Airlines, Delta, Lufthansa, United and US Airways airline lounges. Although the data rate for wired networks is 100Mbps (megabits per second), the first generation wireless standard (802.11b) is only at 11Mbps and a frequency of 2.4GHz. But, projector and switcher manufacturers have still embraced it. More than 50 percent of the manufacturers have a wireless solution that, at minimum, allows simple control of the projector via a WLAN (wireless LAN), and a few of them actually have the capability to send XGA signals wirelessly using the WiFi standard. Nearly real-time, the systems from Sharp, InFocus and Katun (maker of the AirProjector, pictured at right) are the best that I have seen. All three send computer signals from a PC to a projector using nothing but air.

But, everything's on the verge of a major change; thanks to an upgrade to the wireless standard known as 802.11g. The "g" WiFi standard is five times that (in bandwidth) of the "b" standard at 54Mbps, and significantly expands the capabilities of wireless projection, signal routing, systems applications and even videoconferencing. And the best part about "g" is that it is cross-compatible with "b" in that you can add an 802.11g device on an 802.11b network and they can co-exist together. No need to replace all the current networking gear!

Although all this is impressive, it's nothing compared to what's on the horizon. WiMAX is a follow-up standard to 802.11g known as 802.16a. The WiMAX standard will raise the wireless bar to new heights and literally give the world enough bandwidth for virtually any wireless application, including the ProAV market, and solve the signal collision and distance limitations that exist with WiFi at somewhere around 350' - 500'. WiMAX raises the bandwidth to 154Mbps, but it's most significant feature is that signals can travel up to 30 miles (yes, you read that right, 30 MILES). Imagine being able to send XGA, XGA and even video and audio signals up to 30 miles away with out a single piece of wire!

The WiMAX standard was approved in January of this year and is expected to produce a number of products that are capable of sending all sorts of electronic signals up to 30-miles by the middle of 2004.

In the meantime, look for a number of WiFi 802.11b product manufacturers to jump of the 802.11g standard very quickly and that means that we will likely see more wireless touch panels, projectors, plasmas, LCDs and switchers between now and the middle of next year.

And, if we're lucky, all this wireless stuff will eventually solve the biggest unsolved mystery in the ProAV market -- how to make videoconferencing work reliably.

Gary Kayye photo

Gary Kayye, CTS, is Chief Visionary at Kayye Consulting, Inc., a Chapel Hill, NC-based marketing consulting firm that serves the ProAV and Home Theater markets. In addition to strategic marketing consulting, Kayye Consulting, Inc. is also a training development company. Gary can be reached via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com or through his Web site at www.kayye.com.

Reprinted from Sound & Communications magazine August 2003 issue.

Page: 1

Gary Kayye, CTS is Chief Visionary at Kayye Consulting, Inc., a Chapel Hill, NC-based marketing consulting firm that serves the ProAV and Home Theater markets. In addition to strategic marketing consulting, Kayye Consulting, Inc. is also a training development company. Gary can be reached via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com or through his Web site at www.kayye.com.

Related Keywords:integration, convergence, IT, AV, networked systems, university community, network monitoring features, managing projector lamp hours, theft prevention, controlling AV gear, across a network, projector manufacturer
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