Wireless Home Theater:Dream or reality?

True wireless home theater is still the unattained ideal many home theater owners would love to achieve.However, thanks to advancement in new wireless technology, things are changing fast, and wireless systems are becoming better, cheaper, faster, and easier to use and install.However...As things stand today, the term 'wireless' in the audio and video world does not mean 'wireless' - rather all it means is less wires. And this applies to anywireless speaker systempresently available on the market.Still, this in itself can turn out to be a great advantage. Home theater systems are synonymous with a huge mass of home theater cables that are not only unsightly, but also difficult to troubleshoot should problems arise.Concealing this mass of cables is surely not a straightforward job. This being especially so if you do not have pre-wired walls and ceilings for an in-wall home entertainment wiring solution.Professionals can do the job for you but it will surely turn out to be expensive to retrofit a house, or in that case even a single room with an in-wall wiring solution for your audio and video systems. And this apart from that fact that such projects are often difficult to mange.Unfortunately, eliminating the mass of cables and interconnects between system components is still not a completely viable option, but...reducing the clutter, yes... especially when it comes to home audio and surround sound.Inparticular, today's wireless home theater systems focus mainly around the use ofwireless speakers systemsto eliminate trailing speaker wires around the room perimeter when installing rear speakers in a surround sound setup.Sending audio across rooms in the home through a wireless link is also starting to emerge as a do-able inexpensive and straightforward option for most consumers....but this is as far as today's mass-market wireless solutions go.Mind you, the technology is there and relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf solutions are readily available to help you expand say your wireless networking from a simple home office to a fully integrated home entertainment system.Yet, even though there are already several products on the market with wireless support -including set-top boxes, wireless speakers systems, media players, and the like -a full wireless home entertainment solution is still not a true mass-market proposition. In particular, replacing HDMI cables so common with today's AV systems, with a wireless alternative to carry your HD video is still relatively expensive with respect to a wired option.Admittedly, things are changing fast, and what was unattainable and unaffordable up to the recent past, is becoming attainable, affordable and better than ever.Of particular interest in wireless home entertainment is the effort by a few manufacturers likeLinksys, D-Link, Creative Labs, etc., with theirWireless Digital Media Players.Wireless digital media players represent a great solution in home entertainment. For less than $300, it is possible to get access to video, photo and music files from anywhere within the home network, whether it being your home PC, internet, etc. Just set up a wireless digital media player and you will be able to use your existing TV or home entertainment system to play digital audio and video files. Media players come with a remote control and an intuitive on-screen menu for easy access of digital content through your TV screen.But even if you have a computer with Windows XP Media Center, Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate edition, you can use yourXbox 360or aMedia Center Extenderto stream TV, digital audio and video, photos, and more.Yet...while it is true that wireless media players provide ease of integration of audio and video data accessible via your home network, there is still no complete wireless home theater solution many dream of where all audio and video systems are interlinked through a wireless setup.