Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wireless Monitors?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the step-in-the-right-direction dept.

antiopus writes "I didn't think it was possible anytime soon due to bandwidth considerations, but ViewSonic has announced a wireless monitor. At only 10 inches and 800x600, I don't know if it'll be replacing my CRT anytime soon, but I can certainly foresee some interesting applications for wearable/portable computing."

16 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. This isn't a wireless monitor by Hulver · · Score: 5, Informative
    It's a MS tablet PC, running WinCE. Looking at the site will show you that.

    Sheesh.

    --
    -- Hulver's site
    1. Re:This isn't a wireless monitor by TheGreenLantern · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But Viewsonic is marketing this as a "Wireless Monitor", even if it is just a tablet PC doing some remote access.

      --

      It hurts when I pee.
    2. Re:This isn't a wireless monitor by TheGreenLantern · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Cause no one's going to spend $900 on a "large format PDA"? Seriously, it's all in how you market your product.

      --

      It hurts when I pee.
    3. Re:This isn't a wireless monitor by madenosine · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, but it proves that the editor did not even take the time to read the first paragraph. If he did, he would have added a note on.

  2. Good... by Meefan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now I can pump even MORE radiation into my brain. My cell phone, pager, laptop, computer, wireless mouse/keyboard and CB radio aren't enough... Must... have... cancer...

    Dave
    --

    ------
    http://cooltech.org
    If it ain't cool, it ain't coolt
  3. Just love that marketing-speak by sacremon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Under 'Liberate yourself from your desktop'

    "Establish a one-to-one relationship with your PC."

    Sorry, I prefer to be a slut and have relationships with lots of PCs.

    --
    If you can't beat them, embrace and extend them.
  4. Re:What's the point? by MouseR · · Score: 3, Informative

    Shoot.. no:

    Rechargeable 1800 mAh Lithium Ion Battery Pack

    This is no monitor. it's a remote tablet for your PC.

  5. Wireless Monitor? Not happening... by jgore26785 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I work in the RF industry as a software engineer... I'm by no means an RF engineer, but I have to comment.

    First of all, this is not a wireless monitor. It is a portable PC that communicates with other PCs via a network card. The video signal is NOT sent over the air.

    The bandwidth requirements for a wireless monitor are impractical. It's certainly possible, but the amount of RF bandwidth and/or power required to do it would either kill you, cook your intestines or give you a nice bout of cancer, depending on how you implement it.

    Just a quick estimation (please don't criticize this, I have other work to do):

    800 x 600 = 480,000 pixels
    480 pixels x 16-bit = 7.68 Mb = 960 kB
    960 kB x 60 Hz = 57.6 MB / s!

    Given that 802.11b provides 11 Mb as a MAXIMUM (yes, that's bits, which translates to 1.4 MB / s), we'd only have about 1/50th the bandwidth necessary. And that doesn't account for automatic rate switching, interference, and other nodes on the network.

  6. I always find myself needed a wireless monitor by automatic_jack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm an MIS Manager at a small company, and I very often find myself wishing that I had a portable wireless monitor. We run a lot of machines headless, and when they have problems, dragging a monitor over to them can be a real pain. What if all I had to do was get within range, turn on my display, and diagnose the problem? Man, that'd be sweet.

    --

    -- Have you ever noticed that at trade shows, Microsoft is always the company that is handing out stress balls?

  7. Sounds like an Audrey to me. by cisco_rob · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sheesh - just get one of these and a wireless card. Save yourself $100's. ..plus it runs Linux, use it as a wireless remote, mp3 player, etc..

    --
    "I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them." -Isaac Asimov
  8. Re:Compression, compression, compression by cobbaut · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Caching is important here...except for playing video's, your computermonitor is 99% the same as it was 1/50th of a second before that.


    Just look at RDP over IP, works fine, even over a 56Kb modem connection.

    --
    European Linux user, living in Antwerp
  9. Someday, I'll have... by mblase · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...of course, in a house where we can't even keep the cordless phone on its recharger for more than five minutes and stash the remote control in a new location every day, this will probably be less of a boon than some people think.

  10. Odd, I've seen this before someplace. by Pyrosz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why is having a wireless monitor so hard to fathom? I'm watching a wireless "monitor" now in fact. Its called my television. Seems to get channels fine from "thin" air. These images are transmitted by a remote "base station".... they even have a high resolution model available in some places. I think that we have the tech but its not being looked at correctly. Just my thoughts.

    --

    An optimist believes we live in the best world possible; a pessimist fears this is true.
  11. Re:Compression, compression, compression by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Latency, schmatency. Build it into the hardware. You get an video card with your standard VGA out, and a transmitter. The card also has some image compression software built in; say, just for arugment sake, PNG. Your wireless reciever, with an LCD screen, has a hardware PNG decoder. Boom. So long as you're not doing full scream video or motion graphics, you're MORE than covered. But even that's overkill. Use something like X, or RDP, where you're not transmitting the screen, you're transmitting the drawing instructions, and the HID coords and actions. Suddenly, instead of transmitting several thousand grey pixels to make your task bar, you're sending 'draw a grey rectangle from here to here.' and being done with it.

    --
    Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  12. Yeah, that's a good idea by gouldtj · · Score: 3, Funny

    All I need to have is a few of these on my desk: "Damn it! Where did I put that desktop!?!?!?"

  13. Re:What's the point? by Bandman · · Score: 3, Funny

    hah. was i the only one that read that and thought:

    That's no moon. That's a space station.

    maybe I'm just odd....

    --
    Check out my sysadmin blog!