Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Dmitry Kutlayev

Amimon, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony today announced the formation of a special interest group (SIG) to develop a new industry standard for multi-room A/V connectivity using Amimon's Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology.

"WHDI sends uncompressed, high-definition video signals over the unlicensed 5 GHz band," explains Crave's Erica Ogg. "The backers of it say it's immune to obstructions like walls and can deliver a signal that covers an entire home - that means setting up a set-top box in a basement and connecting it wirelessly to a 1080p TV in an upstairs bedroom."

"The fact that a few heavies like Panasonic are still notably missing could mean another standards battle is on the horizon," warns Gizmodo's John Mahoney. "While WirelessHD already claims a published 1.0 spec, and Monster's UWB product should be out by the fall, the WHDI spec is due to be finalized at the end of the year."

"If WHDI manages to live up to its hype, it could potentially end the burgeoning standard war before it even begins," writes Ars Technica's Joel Hruska. "That, however, is a pretty big if."

"Just what the world needs," complains Reg Hardware's Tony Smith. "Another consortium promoting a wireless technology for the transmission of HD content in the home..."

More here from BetaNews ... more here from TechSpot ... more here from eFluxMedia ... more here from SPoNG ... and the press release is here.