The Coming Digital Convergence - AV Tech For Work and Play

The biggest buzzword in the audio/visual (A/V)independent reviewers, to ensure that you
industries today is "digital convergence," which meansunderstand how the sets operate. Once you have
that we can do away with many of the buzzwordseverything you need, you can tune in, turn on and
of the past. They are all joining forces under a nice,drop out for some great viewing with those big,
new, umbrella term to bring you the future ofcolorful new TVs. And, being digital creatures, they
everything from home entertainment to nationalwill work nicely with your other digital gear, bringing
security. Essentially, everything "audio" and everythingthat long-awaited convergence ever closer.
"video" is going to place nice together now that theyVideo for work and play
all speak in 0's and 1's.From the 1970s through the early 1990s, "video
Well, that's the idea, anyway -- and it's a good onegame" meant either a Pong unit connected to a
that a lot of smart folks are working on. Ittelevision or a bulky arcade monstrosity. Watching "a
encompasses a whole lot more than A/V, includingvideo" meant popping a book-sized tape cassette
supercomputers, particle accelerators,into a player that connected to the TV. And "making
telecommunications, even rocket science. Oura video" meant lugging a 30-lb. VHS (or 20-lb. VHS-C)
concern in this article, though, is with those thingscamera around. There still are arcades, and there are
that most people would be likely to use most often.still people with VHS (even Betamax) tapes and
We will discuss digital convergence as it affectscameras, but with home theater audio and 60-inch
music, TV and video.LCD panels now available, you can have
Music systemsstate-of-the-art arcade gaming and movie watching in
Throughout the postwar years, home audioyour own living room, surround sound and all. And it's
components went through various evolutionaryall digital now, of course.
phases - from slate to vinyl records, from reel-to-reelToday, the game side of video is all about the
to cassette tapes, etc. - but they were all "analog""consoles" - meaning the Nintendo Wii, the Sony
technologies. The general idea didn't change muchPlayStation and the XBox 360 from Microsoft. They
until the late 1990s. Until then, it was a simple matterare all fairly small, have powerful CPUs, advanced
of hooking up a record player and/or tape deck tographics subsystems and the full range of CD and
an AM/FM receiver/amplifier combo, wiring theDVD compatibilities for music, audio, video and
speakers and cranking up the volume.compressed multimedia files. Hackers have even
In 1998, however, all that changed when a Koreanfound a way to install computer operating systems
company introduced the first device for playingon some of these devices, and use them as gaming
compressed digital music files. These files were calledmachines, word processors and even Web browsers.
"mp3" as they occupied the third "layer" of the MPEGOf course, video arcades are still around, too, and
file, whose standards are overseen by the Movingthe newest models have "feedback mechanisms"
Picture Experts Group. The actual developer of theinstalled so that, for instance, in a race-car game the
"codec" (for "compress/decompress") was"driver" feels engine vibration, hears the tuned
Fraunhofer, a German company that licenses theexhaust note and gets a nice, throaty squeal by
technology to others.stepping on the brakes. Enclosed game structures
Of course, "digital music" had been around since thepromise better and more realistic action all the time
introduction of the CD in the early 1980s. However,as the holy grail of "virtual reality" draws closer all the
later advances in computers, plus the advent of thetime through the march of technology.
Internet, created pressure for the creation of filesComputer gaming has matured, too, although
smaller than those of CD-Audio, which take up aentry-level computers are not up to the challenge.
hefty 10MB of space for every minute. With mp3Gamers either "soup up" their own computers or buy
files taking up one-tenth that much space, it becamefrom specialist PC builders, because the software
feasible to build devices with memory chips in themmakes tremendous demands on the CPU, the
to play the new music format. Smaller, downloadablegraphics processor and the display. Game
from the Internet and easily stored (and copied) withmanufacturers have the market covered, though, as
computers, mp3 files-and the players that followedtheir titles are usually released to all the major
their development-revolutionized home audio.platforms and computing environments.
Today, the question when shopping for a newVideo cameras have undergone a serious
component or whole new home audio system ismetamorphosis, too. From bulky, tape-based devices,
what generation of devices to get or keep. If yourecording-type cameras have evolved into small,
have a record player that still works, and you likepowerful, solid-state marvels that capture full-motion
vinyl, you can stick with them. If you have cassettesvideo onto flash memory or hard drives. The digital
and a decent tape deck, those will work too. If youfiles they create can be uploaded to computers for
want to upgrade but price is a consideration, you canediting and playback, then copied to VCD or DVD for
also buy any number of high-powered boomboxes orviewing in disc-based players. Compressed in the
"bookshelf size" mini-stereos.proper way, they can also be transferred to
But without a doubt, the buzzword for audio iswebsites such as YouTube.
"convergence," meaning that the new digital devicesThe new generation of "live" or broadcast cameras is
will work with your computer, and all your otheralso most impressive. Most people will have little
digital devices, to bring the "digital entertainmentcontact with the professional broadcast cameras
emporium" into your home. Not only can you buyused in television studios, but they can acquire the
commercial releases for download, and downloadsame technology in low-cost but high-tech webcams,
many "indie" bands' music for free, you can also go allminiature "spycams" and sophisticated surveillance
the way and install a wireless audio/video networksecurity video cameras. For very little money, one
for the ultimate in home A/V systems. For musiccan buy surveillance cameras that pan, tilt and zoom
lovers, the future is now.by remote control, or that detect and follow motion
Television grows upin their field of view.
Despite the speed of progress in audio technology,These new digital security cameras can be either
nothing has changed any faster in the past fewwired or wireless, and connected to TV monitors,
decades as television. Among the greatest changesvideo recording devices and/or computers. The
have been with various display technologies thatPC-based systems are perhaps the most impressive,
have made the old "tube TVs" obsolete. TVs nowas there are sophisticated software applications for
come in all sizes but mostly with one shape, the new,scheduling, controlling and recording input from one or
movie-theater-like 16:9 ratio. The people who boughta dozen cameras. The capabilities are astonishing,
the first televisions in the 1940s wouldn't evenespecially considering the ever-lower prices as time
recognize some of the new TV sets.goes on. Better technology for less money? Quite a
Today's most popular, most desirable TVs are thedeal.
flat panels, which can be based on a number ofConvergence is coming
different display technologies such as plasma, LCDsWe've been hearing this rallying cry for a few years
(Liquid Crystal Displays), rear projection and LEDsnow, and perhaps "is coming" is not the right way to
(Light Emitting Diodes). In just about five or sixput it. The digital data streams carrying music, TV,
years, the cost of a 42-inch plasma display, formovies and live action camera images can all
example, has fallen from about $5,000 to under $800."converge" today, right on your PC or Macintosh (or
Price reductions are just as common among theLinux-based computer), as well as in your home
other types of TVs, too.theater system. It is more accurate to say,
The main trouble with TVs today is the proliferation"Convergence keeps coming," just as technology
of special terms about the display resolution and thekeeps getting cheaper, better and more widespread.
type of programming that can be displayed. TermsThe road is not without speed bumps, of course, and
like "HD" and "hi-def" and "1080i" are tossed aroundthere will always be people who don't quite get it,
advertisements and commercials without so much ascan't understand the concepts and are unable (or
an explanation. Essentially, the numbers refer to theunwilling) to learn to use it. Unfortunately, these
horizontal lines of resolution and having 480 or morepeople will not be able to keep up with the rest of us
qualifies as "HD." But the fact is, the most importantwho are getting our news at lightspeed over the
features to understand are the ones you are buying.Internet, posting home videos on the family website,
In other words, when shopping, buying and installing"ripping" music CDs into mp3 files for a
new TVs, you need to study up on exactly thosematchbox-sized player, setting up a surveillance
options and features that are built in to the setscamera at the company warehouse or streaming an
you've selected. There may be special connectors,HD movie straight from the computer to the flat
cables, etc., that are required for your television.panel TV. There are an infinite number of possibilities,
Some TVs are actually just monitors and don't evennow that all these devices are speaking (pretty
have the channel tuners built-in - they have to bemuch) the same language.
added on as an option. There are also things to learnIt's the digital language, a robust and limitless range of
about integrating the new generation of TVs intoexpression that can be constructed, as stated
home theater systems, so do the appropriatepreviously, out of strings of 0's and 1's. It's an
research on Google (or at your local library) and getexciting thing to be a part of, this convergence. And
the information before you pull out your checkbook.just as that Energizer Bunny keeps going, and going,
It is important, when investing in any kind of newand going, the digital convergence just keeps coming,
technology such as plasma TVs, to read all theand coming, and coming.
literature, from the manufacturer as well as