Touchscreens and Media Server

Title: Touchscreens and Media Servers - The New Standard in Home
Entertainment Systems

Author: Steve Faber

Article:
Home entertainment systems have come a long way since you ooh'
ed and ahh'ed because your neighbor had a few pairs of speakers
that actually fit flush into his walls. That's old news now.
Even homes in comparatively modest new developments are being
outfitted with a full complement of audio, network, TV and
telephone wiring. In many developments the builder offers a
standard wiring package and various upgrades for additional
wiring, speakers, wiring enclosures and even full control
systems.

Systems have evolved to include sleek, wall-mounted touch
screens that allow simple access to your music and other house
functions such as security, lighting, HVAC, and motorized window
treatments. A talented programmer can make these systems
function with true "one touch" simplicity. It's almost as if
they're reading your mind.

The touch screen's advantage is that it can change the control
interface to only show what you need at any one time. This
affords tremendous flexibility while retaining the simplicity
people desire. The touch screen interface is extremely powerful
when combined with another technology that has come into
prominence recently; the hard disc based media server. Your CDs
are downloaded, or ripped, onto a hard drive. This combination
allows your entire music catalog to be displayed on the touch
screen for easy searching. You can typically search by artist,
song title, genre, or album. Once the desired selection is
located, you just touch it on the screen and it begins to play.

These hard drive servers use computer hard drives and modern
compression techniques to store phenomenal amounts of music in a
simple audio component less than half the size of a 200 disc CD
changer. They function just like a typical CD player, not your
computer, so they are reliable and easy to use.

Media servers have exploded in popularity recently because of
the enormous popularity of compressed music formats such as MP3
and the fantastic array of functionality a disc based system
allows. For those who have, or do, own CD mega changers, a hard
drive music server will be like a breath of fresh air.

Access to any song is typically less than a second away.
Contrast that to selecting disc 94 in your 300-disc CD changer
when you are playing disc 201. With a multi-room audio system,
you may be on the other side of your house trying to do this
with a keypad or remote control. The wait for your changer to
return the disc it was playing then trundle the carousel around
to your desired disc can seem like an eternity.

Another advantage is easy cataloging. Most hard drive systems
will recognize any CD you insert for ripping and if they don't,
they are connected to the internet for access to a giant
database. This they access automatically to gather artist, album
and track information. Gone are the days of using a keyboard or
remote to tediously enter the information about your CDs into a
CD changer. You can also stop worrying about which slot your
discs are in. "Let's see, was Led Zeppelin IV in slot 90 or
190?" Using a hard drive server frees up your CDs for use
elsewhere such as your car, boat or vacation home.

In addition, since your CDs are not locked up in a changer, your
collection is able to be enjoyed by many members of the family
at once. With a changer, if someone is listening to it, all of
the discs inside it are basically off limits. With a changer,
not only are your CDs free for use in other locations but many
hard drive servers provide multiple audio outputs.

Multiple outputs enable you to listen to different discs in
different areas of the house if your system is so configured.
For example, one person could be listening to Korn in the rec
room while Bach's Requiem is being played in the kitchen and
Dire Straights in the bedroom. With a conventional CD changer,
this is impossible.

You can also buy and store music from many online music services
and store those on your hard drive server. Hard drive servers
offer advantages over music files stored on a computer as well.
Because they function like a traditional audio component, they
are easier to use for many people. It is also easier to
integrate them with touch screen based home control systems.
This will begin to change as the popularity of multimedia PCs
such as those running Microsoft XP Media Center Edition 2005
increases.

These units are many steps closer to delivering the long
promised "convergence" between consumer electronics and
computers. Multimedia PCs, also known as HTPCs [Home Theater PC]
function as DVD players, personal video recorders (similar to a
TiVO), and hard drive media storage.

They allow storage of digital photos for easy display on your TV
or monitor. HTPCs can, of course, browse the net on your TV via
your broadband connection. As hard drive storage becomes more
economical and compression techniques become better, the storage
of HD movies and HDTV programming will become commonplace.

Soon these types of servers and interfaces will become the norm
rather than the exception. You'll think nothing of the amazing
array of features offered and the ability to easily access your
media collection throughout your home. Once a rarity, media
servers, in one form or another, will be found in almost every
home.

About the author:
Steve has 15 yrs in electronics. He is a CEDIA certified
designer with ISF and THX certificates. Experience includes:
installer and programmer; system designer; business unit
director for an a/v importer; sales rep for a CE distributor;
and principal of a $1.5M+ CEDIA firm. He's now senior sales
engineer for Digital Cinema Design in Redmond, WA. See him at <a
href="//www.1touchmovie.com">The Home Theater and Automation
Guide</a>