Summit Wireless and THX have partnered to bring high-resolution wireless sound to games, esports, and home entertainment.
The companies are bringing their specialties together in hopes of raising the adoption of world-class sound technology in homes.
San Jose, California-based Summit Wireless is a publicly traded company that makes wireless sound technology, including chips that are used in consumer products from the likes of Harman Kardon and Bang & Olufsen.
THX, now owned by Razer, is an audio pioneer started by filmmaker George Lucas. It has been developing audio-visual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, and more since 1983.
A billion units of speakers are sold each year in the U.S., but most of them are wired. Summit Wireless, a founding member of the Wireless Speaker Audio Association (WiSA), is enabling a generation of home theater wireless speakers with an entry price of $600, significantly less than similar products on the market.
THX and Summit will develop and release modules that are “Approved By THX” and certifications for Summit customers and partners with an emphasis on gaming and esports. With this partnership, THX joins the WiSA member network with its first WiSA-Certified products slated for launch later this year.
“The audience for esports alone is massive — attracting upwards of 200 million viewers for a single event, and rivaling traditional spectator sports like the Superbowl,” said Brett Moyer, president and CEO of Summit Wireless Technologies, in a statement. “THX has been a leader in enabling best-in-class entertainment experiences for over 35 years, and our combined technology can deliver the ultimate shared home entertainment experience for these kinds of live events, with full multi-channel, wireless, stadium-quality sound.”
He added, “Equally exciting is the opportunity in the $40 billion gaming hardware business, where we have already cultivated a growing ecosystem of WiSA Certified speakers, systems and intelligent devices from the world’s top manufacturers.”
Combining efforts with THX, Summit Wireless Technology and WiSA Certification provides gamers the opportunity to easily create premium audio environments with up to eight tightly synchronized audio channels of low-latency and high-definition sound, which provides precise feedback for gaming.
The Approved By THX program helps product manufacturers and brands deliver premium entertainment experiences by approving key components used to build complete electronic devices or systems.
Components that are Approved By THX can endure application-specific THX laboratory testing to predict their performance when used in actual consumer products. Using Approved By THX components accelerates product development and time to market while minimizing the testing costs and engineering cycles necessary to achieve products that meet THX standards.
“Summit Wireless has developed some of the best technology in the world for low-latency, hi-fidelity multi-channel audio, which far surpasses the capability of standard wireless technologies like bluetooth and wifi,” said Peter Vasay, senior vice president of home at THX, in a statement. “With a like-minded vision and innovative approach, Summit and THX will deliver solutions that provide what gamers and entertainment enthusiasts demand – a superior, consumer-friendly, immersive experience backed by the most advanced technology available.”
THX joins a roster of WiSA members that includes almost 60 consumer electronics brands and manufacturers such as Harman International, a division of Samsung, LG Electronics, Klipsch, Bang & Olufsen, Xbox, and others who are also delivering WiSA Ready and WiSA Certified products. WiSA Certified products from THX will also work together seamlessly and provide low-latency, wireless audio for a wide range of home entertainment.
All WiSA Ready and WiSA Certified components work together seamlessly to deliver wireless, multi-channel audio capabilities and authentic concert and stadium-quality sound that dramatically increases the enjoyment of movies and video, music, sports, gaming/esports, and more.
Summit’s WiSA technology capabilities include up to eight channels of uncompressed 24-bit audio capable of supporting the latest audio decode formats, including Dolby ATMOS and DTS X for an immersive sound experience. Summit’s tech also includes network performance that reduces latency to a negligible 5 milliseconds that doesn’t vary with network loading, up to 20 times better than standard Bluetooth and WiFi technologies.
