Marking the emergence of the latest generation of Wi-Fi, an accelerant to mass adoption of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 is on its way. Developed by the global network of companies behind our current version of Wi-Fi (the aptly named Wi-Fi Alliance) has announced that this new Wi-Fi 7 is indeed on its way and set to provide better performance and connectivity for everyone across the globe.
Most notably, those who happen to work in film and video might be some of the biggest winners here as better Wi-Fi will undoubtedly lead to faster download and upload speeds, as well as more sophisticated systems for camera-to-clould workflows.
Let’s take a look at this new Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 and explore what it could mean for the future of film and video workflows as it's rolled out in the future.
Introducing Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7
Designed to boost Wi-Fi performance and connectivity pretty much across the board, this new version of Wi-Fi is set to be based on IEEE 802.11 high rate technology that should enhance Wi-Fi performance in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands.
“The introduction of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 marks the emergence of the latest generation of Wi-Fi and will be an accelerant to mass adoption of Wi-Fi 7. This certification underscores our relentless commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology that redefines the way users experience Wi-Fi, providing faster speeds, improved efficiency, and increased reliability, which expand the horizons of what is possible through Wi-Fi.” — Kevin Robinson, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance
Some notable benefits of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 should include improved support for deterministic latency, better efficiency in dense networks and less power consumption — making it more reliable overall for everyone.
What Will Wi-Fi 7 Do for Film and Video?
As mentioned above, a better Wi-Fi would mean a lot for the future of connected film and video workflows. In particular remote productions have been on the rise since the days of COVID-19 restrictions and camera-to-cloud technology has vastly improved itself. But these C2C workflows are very reliant on internet connectivity, so improved Wi-Fi could push this remote production flow further into the mainstream.
There’s also quite a lot to be said about AR and VR and other immersive 3D content styles that will also require better Wi-Fi performance and connectivity, especially if AR/VR headset users decide to take their devices with them out in their day-to-day lives.
Overall, Wi-Fi has already become a major part of most film and video production workflows, so improving performance and connectivity should help the industry in a myriad of ways.
What to expect from Wi-Fi 7
When is Wi-Fi 7 Coming Out?
From the news shared by the Wi-Fi Alliance itself, it sounds like Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 will begin to be rolled out immediately with more than 233 million new devices expected to be connected here in 2024. Those projections increase to 2.1 billion devices by 2028 as its worldwide roll out will continue on for the next few years.
The Wi-Fi Alliance also shares that they will be connecting Wi-Fi 7 to our common, everyday devices like smartphones, tablets and PCs first and foremost, and that the first Wi-Fi 7 devices will come from all of the major Wi-Fi players like Intel, Broadcom, Qualcomm, etc… here in the next few years.
