A 2.4 GHz wireless audio signal is a signal that functions to transmit audio information between two devices. Generally, the wireless audio transmitters that use this signal allow a home entertainment system the capacity to broadcast to other devices within a house. Another example of this is the wireless telephone, which uses such signals to transmit sound between the base and the handset and back.
A radio station will transmit a signal from its radio towers over a particular broadcasting range. Stations identify themselves with numbers such as 103.3. These numbers are their bands, or the section of the electromagnetic spectrum over which they transmit their signal.
Think of the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of the spectrum of colors of a rainbow. In a rainbow, the appearing light waves or rays shift through the seven identifiable colors, with each color occurring in a certain order. Of course, there are also colors made of waves of light that are undetectable to the eye, such as ultraviolet light or infrared light.
Radio signals are like rainbows in that there is a particular order in which the sound waves move. A radio station broadcasts its sound waves between 88 and 108 megahertz (MHz). A hertz is a scientific measurement that indicates how quickly a wave of energy cycles through its motion.
A 2.4 GHz wireless audio signal is similar to the color spectrum and radio stations in that a 2.4 GHz wireless audio signal is broadcast on a particular wave length from a transmitting station to a wireless audio receiver. Devices that use 2.4 GHz wireless audio signals are common because the U.S. government regulates a significant portion of the frequencies available. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), among other things, allocates the available bandwidth to cell phone providers, Internet providers, television stations, radio stations and others. The FCC does not regulate all possible signals, though, and some bandwidths are left open for use by any device, such as 2.4 GHZ wireless audio devices.
Devices such as microwaves, X-rays and light naturally fill the electromagnetic spectrum. One reason the FCC maintains a list of bandwidths and their acceptable uses is the existence of naturally occurring signals. If two devices use the same signal band, there is possible interference that would render the signals useless.
The 2.4 GHz bandwidth has been left open specifically for wireless audio transmitters and wireless audio receivers. Newer systems allow signals to be broadcast from one device to another from anywhere within a fixed location, such as a house. For instance, a transmitter that is wired to a digital video recorder (DVR) can play the recorded program on any linked television. What’s more, the remote control functions from anywhere in the house.
When video is broadcast, the audio is also transmitted. This seems obvious, but there is a greater application, because the audio can also be transmitted to wireless speakers. Sound systems using a 2.4 GHz wireless audio transmitter can exist both inside and outside the home and be controlled from anywhere within the range of the remote control.
