|
|
Flat-panel TVs look lovely on a wall - the cords hanging from them, less so.
挂在墙上的平板电视看上去很可爱，但是那些垂下来的线缆可不那么美观。
After a few years of false starts, the industry finally seems close to tackling that problem. At least three dueling wireless technologies for high-definition TVs will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which starts Monday. Manufacturers promise that sets incorporating these technologies will be in stores before the next holiday season.
经过几年的尝试，现在工业界已经快要解决这个问题了。至少3种高清电视的无线技术将在拉斯维加斯消费电子展上亮相。制造商承诺，这些产品将在明年的假日季到来之前投入销售。
The heavyweight entry in the field is WirelessHD, a consortium that includes the biggest Asian names in electronics, including Sony and Toshiba.
It's an unusual group, in that the home entertainment industry hasn't generally been a leader in wireless technologies - most of them have been pioneered by makers of cell phones or computer networking gear.
But the consortium is set to announce today that Intel is joining the group, which could broaden the reach of the technology from home entertainment applications to computers. Intel has been a champion of wireless technologies including WiFi, and more recently, WiMax, a longer-range cousin.
无线高清电视的一个重头行业组织是WirelessHD。索尼，东芝，还有刚刚进入的Intel，都是其中的重要会员。Intel目前在无线技术领域是当之无愧的技术领头人，它在WiFi，WiMax方面都非常领先。
The WirelessHD group is also announcing that it has completed the blueprints for chips that can beam HD audio and video from set-top boxes, DVD players and digital cameras to TV sets. The chips can be made small, and the intention is to have them built into devices, rather than be supplied in add-on adapters.
WirelessHD工作组宣布，它已经完成了一项芯片路线图的计划。这种芯片可以从数字机顶盒、DVD播放机和数字相机中把高清音视频信号同步到电视上。这种芯片尺寸很小，因此可以内置在电子设备之中，而不需要额外添加一个适配器。
The technology uses a virgin band of the radio spectrum, around 60 gigahertz. That lets it avoid interference from other wireless networking gear and allows for extremely high data transfer rates, according to John Marshall, chairman of WirelessHD. Unlike other wireless TV solutions, WirelessHD won't need to compress the signal, which can result in a loss of quality.
据称，这种技术利用了60兆赫的空白频谱资源，因此不会和其他无线网络设备发生串扰，也能保证很高的数据传输速度。和其他的无线电视解决方案不同，WilrelessHD技术不需要压缩信号，因此就不存在信号的失真问题。
To satisfy concerns by the Motion Picture Association of America, the organization of Hollywood studios, WirelessHD has intentionally limited the range of the technology.
"What WirelessHD has done is that we've made sure that the technology can cover a whole room - even a large room, up to 10 meters (30 feet) - but we've used techniques that make sure that it can't leak into the apartment next door," Marshall said.
That also means the signal won't reach from the living room into other rooms in the same home.
另外，为了让美国电影协会的人满意，WirelessHD工作组还有意限制了信号传输技术的可用范围。也就是说，它能够在一个100平米见方的房间里面正常工作，但是你的邻居却无法和你分享这些信号。这也意味着，你如果在起居室里通过高清电视看电影，就无法同时在卧室里面欣赏。
The chip maker that is best positioned to take advantage of the specification and supply transmitting and receiving chips is SiBEAM, a privately held Sunnyvale startup that has been part of the WirelessHD group since its founding in 2006.
一家位于美国加州Sunnyvale的高科技公司，SiBEAM，目前是最适宜制造此种芯片的公司。它自成立之初就加入了WirelessHD工作组。
The other big electronics companies in the group are Matsushita Electric Industrial (known for its Panasonic brand), NEC, LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.
LG Electronics of South Korea will be at CES demonstrating LCD and plasma sets that will use run-of-the-mill WiFi as the wireless link. WiFi is a tried and true technology for data networking, but is less than ideal for streaming video. It's the slowest of the three wireless alternatives, and requires the most compression when used for HD video.
同样属于这个组织的，还有松下，NEC，LG，三星。LG将在即将开展的CES上展示基于WiFi的无线LCD和等离子电视。WiFi适合于数据的无线传播，但是人们认为它并不适合用于传输视频。它不仅在三种候选的无线技术中速度最慢，同时对信号的压缩率也最大。
Hewlett-Packard already makes two models of WiFi-enabled HDTVs, but the wireless link only connects them to home PCs, not with set-top boxes or the rest of the entertainment center.
惠普公司已经做出了两款基于WiFi的高清电视，但是它们只能连接到PC上，无法连接机顶盒或者其他娱乐中心设备。
Starting early this year, LG will be selling two WiFi enabled LCD models, at 47 inches and 52 inches, and two plasma models, at 50 inches and 60 inches. The LCD models will include a wireless transmitter with a 50-foot range. The transmitter will be optional for the plasma models.
LG今年1月就要推出它的WiFi高清LCD电视机模型，分别为47英寸和52英寸，此外它还要推出50英寸和60英寸的等离子电视机，可以覆盖16米左右的距离。
|
|
发表于 2008-1-3 18:52:03
/4 
