Digital Trends
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been testing three new home servers, two from HP and a potential revolutionary concept called a nano-plug server. This last one uses Marvell technology, comes from a company called CloudEngines, and it is called the Pogoplug. Let’s talk about home servers today, why you may want one, and what makes these particular models stand out.
What Is A Home Server?
This is marking a 136 percent increase in unit sales over October 2003 and a 102 percent rise in dollar sales.
“We expected DTV sales to be strong in the final months of the year, but to see the numbers in print is an exhilarating affirmation of DTV’s success,” said CEA Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo. “Year-to-date DTV sales total 5.4 million units and are on track to meet CEA’s initial forecast of 6.9 million units.”
“DTV sales have now reached a total of 11.7 million units since market introduction in 1998 and most of those sales have occurred during the past two years,” said Sean Wargo, senior industry analyst for CEA. “With high definition (HDTV) products constituting the vast majority of total sales, these figures show how quickly consumers are responding to the continued increase in the amount of quality HDTV programming, such as the Summer Olympics. In fact, 1 out of 4 televisions purchased this year will be an HDTV.”
The Advanced Television Systems Committee Inc. said Tuesday (June 22) that the voluntary industry guidelines cover receiver sensitivity, multiple signal overload, phase noise, selectivity and multipath interference.
The guidelines, known as “recommended practices,” also suggest that DTV receiver manufacturers use an antenna control interface specified by the Consumer Electronics Association (Arlington, Va.) to automatically control antenna parameters.
ATSC President Mark Richer said the guidelines meet a commitment to the Federal Communications Commission, which has been urging receiver manufacturers, broadcasters and cable TV operators to forge voluntary industry standards. The slow deployment of digital TV broadcasts prompted Congress over the last several years to threaten action unless rival industries worked out their differences on DTV deployment issues, including whether cable operators are obligated to carry HDTV broadcasts.
January and February manufacturer-to-dealer sales of digital television (DTV) products totaled 853,443 units representing dollar sales of more than $1.3 billion, the Consumer Electronics Association(CEA) announced today. Compared to the same period in 2003, the 2004 sales represent a 124 percent unit increase and a 100 percent increase in dollar sales. CEA defines DTV products as integratedsets and monitors displaying active vertical scanning lines of at least 480p and, in the case of integrated sets, receiving and decoding ATSC terrestrial digital transmissions.
“Consumer interest and demand have skyrocketed to the point that we’ve already sold nearly 1 million DTV units in just the first two months of the year,” said CEA Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo. “The DTV transition is no longer theoretical – it is a reality. Every day, more and more consumers are embracing digital television.”
The extension, called Dolby Digital Plus, has also been proposed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) as an optional backup to the current Dolby Digital codec for over-air DTV transmissions. In future DTV sets, the lower bit-rate Dolby Digital Plus format would kick in to deliver uninterrupted audio even if the picture freezes or blocks up during temporary dips in signal strength, which can be caused by multipath, rain or other atmospheric conditions.
North American customers will be able to tune in and watch high-definition television (HDTV) programs on the PC without having to purchase an expensive TV that could cost more than $2,000. HDTV inNorth America offers up to 5.5 times the pixels (dots that comprise the screen) as standard TV resolution resulting in amazing picture quality.
In addition to supporting analog NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) cable, the HDTV WONDER add-in video card allows consumers to experience the new ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) digital, free-to-air HDTV broadcasts without having to subscribe to cable or satellite subscription services. HDTV WONDER offers the best advanced personal video recorder (PVR) on the PC today enabling consumers to watch, pause and record both analog and HDTV programs — powerful features beyond the capabilities of most current consumer and PC-based appliances. Additionally, HDTV WONDER leverages the PC’s capabilities by offering the ability to archive content directly to DVD for personal use. HDTV WONDER complements ATI’s RADEONâ„¢ line of video cards that deliver the industry’s only full HDTV decoder and display capabilities.
From ATI’s press release:
Crystal clear HDTV broadcasts can be enjoyed on the PC with the new HDTV WONDER announced today by ATI Technologies Inc.. North American customers will be able to tune in and watch high-definition television (HDTV) programs on the PC without having to purchase an expensive TV that could cost more than $2,000. HDTV in North America offers up to 5.5 times the pixels (dots that comprise the screen) as standard TV resolution resulting in amazing picture quality.
ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT) today introduced XILLEONâ„¢ 210VC, the world’s first digital terrestrial and Cable Plug-and-Play Television-on-Chipâ„¢. All the essential technology that goesinto making a North American or Korean digital TV – the reception front-end and the video decode and display back-end – are available from ATI in the industry’s first one-chip solution.
XILLEON 210VC supports the terrestrial broadcast standard mandated by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as well as the Cable Plug-and-Play (digital cable ready) standard that was recently approved by industry and by the FCC. In addition, XILLEON 210VC supports the highest quality high-definition (HD) video decode and display and graphical user interfaces for the ultimate television viewing experience.
ATI Technologies Inc. introduced the THEATER 313 — a simple and cost-effective way for television manufacturers to meet United States Federal Communications Commission requirements and “Plug andPlay†agreement. The new receiver chip will be attractive to manufacturers of set-top boxes, ITDs (integrated tuner demodulator), PC-DTVs (personal computer-digital television) and datacastequipment.
Designed to operate in Digital Cable Ready, analog NTSC (National Television Standards Committee), and ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) terrestrial broadcast environments, ATI’s THEATER 313 offers a high level of integration that allows manufacturers to develop high performance, high functionality products in a space- and cost-effective manner.
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