Which to choose AppleTV, “Smart Server,” and other Digital Media Adapters
in search of simple convergence...
In search of the meaning of Digital Media Adapters or “DMA”s--what they are, how they work, which are best. DMAs make convergence of PC media and your home theater a reality. But everyone has a different idea of how to make that happen. The only thing the myriad of solutions seem to jointly point to is that they make it possible to show pictures and video and play music, in formats usually reserved for your computer.
Some of the devices simply create menus and convert the pictures and sound that live on your computer to be seen or heard in your home entertainment system. Xbox 360’s media bridge, Tivo Series 2 are a couple of examples of devices that bridge home theaters and your computer. Others, like the Apple TV™ and other media centers like the upcoming “Smart Server” from HP and the VAIO® TP1 Living Room PC Digital Living System™ mentioned yesterday, are actually stand-alone media servers. These have hard drives that hold your audio and video media. You can even load your DVDs and CDs onto (some of) them. Though they have hard drives, and are basically like a computer, you won’t be writing letters on it.
These media servers will store your music collections (music media servers have been around for a few years), and now your video collections so you can browse through and find the music or video you want (and often pictures too.) Fancy installations will allow you to listen or watch throughout your home.
What’s different today, is that fancy installations are no longer required for media servers. A wired home can use your ethernet home network cables to distribute the information. Other solutions use existing coaxial cable (like that from your cable TV) or even send information through your electrical power lines by plugging sending and receiving devices into your outlet wall sockets. And most conveniently, some servers will transfer information wirelessly between devices around the home. The Philips Streamium music centers is an example of wireless devices talking from room to room. Learn more about Streamium music delivery.
But these media servers require you to load the media onto a hard drive which can be time consuming unless you can easily download it from the computer.
Until I get my grubby li’l hands on a few devices, I won’t recommend which is easier to use. I’m suspecting that the Pioneer Plasma I mentioned yesterday has got the right idea. Just plug your TV into your network and go to a menu to view or listen. The thing is, I don’t want to have to reload all the music and video when I’ve spent so much time putting it on my computer already.
I do know one thing. The “Squeezebox” promised to feed my music to my receiver and speakers in the living room. It was incredibly easy to install for streaming music from Pandora® ‘s personalized “radio stations”, but I’ve yet to go through the headaches of setting it up to see my iTunes®.
I want convergence. I want to be able to see my photos on my TV with music, to play my music in my living room and to be able to bring video streaming down in real time from the internet. I’ve been looking forward to it for 10 years. But I want it to be simple. I DON’T want it to be a geeky nightmare every time I try to make it happen. Any suggestions?
I’ll let you know what I find as I find it.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Sony’s VAIO® TP1 Living Room PC Digital Living System™ with TV (does it remind you of a “Mac-mini” or is it just me?..)
Apple TV™ has a 40 GB hard drive dedicated to your media that plays on your TV