Articles and whitepapers

The A/V Server Revolution (1/8/2005)

By Steve Croft, Imerge

In this technological age where everything is available 'here and now', people are expecting more from their home entertainment systems than ever before. Coupled with this is the desire of installers to constantly simplify the installation process, provide more compelling solutions for their end users, find systems that are more reliable to install and use, install more systems more quickly and make higher profits. Welcome to the A/V home server!

A/V servers are becoming more widespread and desirable due to advances in hard disk storage and home networking technology, allowing users to store all of their digital media, such as music, DVDs, videos and photos, in one central location, and to access it from any room in the house.

An A/V server is typically a self-contained unit comprising a computer motherboard, DVD-ROM, central hard disk storage, an array of audio/video inputs and outputs for connection to external devices, and an Ethernet socket for connection to the home network and broadband Internet.

The home media PC

A range of servers is available. At one end of the scale is the home media PC (or media centre), which is a standard PC, usually in an attractive case, running Windows Media Centre XP edition or similar software. This is typically connected to the main living room TV, plasma or home theatre and allows the user to browse and listen to music, video and photos that are stored on the server's hard disk drive. Music can be selected by album, artist, or genre, or from a pre-generated playlist. Video that has either been recorded from terrestrial TV, satellite or cable, or downloaded from the Internet, can be catalogued and accessed via an intuitive sit-back TV-centric interface. The user can even browse and view digital photos in the form of a slideshow. This is all achieved through one rich unified interface on the TV/display itself, and an IR remote control.

A typical media centre PC

The dedicated A/V server

The more typical solution is an integrated multiroom A/V system comprising a dedicated central A/V server, such as those available from Imerge, AMX, Kaleidescape, Experinet, and Meda Systems, and A/V network players connected over an IP-based home network. The A/V network player will 'see' all the music, video photos and home video on the A/V server and even on the web. This type of system is typically connected to IP-based control systems such as those available from AMX, Crestron and Netstreams, which offer rich and intuitive control of the media via in-wall or table-top video touchpanels.

The Imerge S2000 dedicated A/V server

The Netstreams Touch Linx IP-based in-wall video touchpanel controller

This is a true multiuser, multiroom experience. Because it is hard disk based, users can listen to multiple streams of music and watch different movies in multiple rooms all from one device - jazz in the living room, rock in the bedroom, classical in the kitchen, Rambo in the home theatre, and a slideshow of the recent holiday in Hawaii in the study - all at the same time! Even better, all the control, video and audio signals are carried over one single CAT 5 cable. No separate cable runs for audio, video and control that are typical of existing A/V installations. Which means that the whole planning and installation exercise becomes simpler as well.

System installation

This simple installation can be achieved by connecting the server to a standard 10/100 baseT Ethernet switch/router, such as those offered by Linksys, D-Link or Belkin, and then running a CAT 5 cable around the home with a feed to each room that requires access to the centrally-stored A/V content. With an IP-based controller it could not be simpler. The control system plugs into the same router, and the video touchpanels are all connected via CAT 5 back to one central hub. Take a Wi-Fi-enabled device such as a pocket PC and a webpad, load the relevant software application, and you have full control of all of your digital media from the palm of your hand.

Practical considerations

It is important to choose the right A/V server when planning your client's multiroom A/V system. The first consideration is hard disk storage capacity, i.e. how many CDs, DVDs, home movies etc., does the client want to store? The more movies and CDs, the higher the hard disk capacity required. A typical rule of thumb is 6GB per DVD or 0.6GB per CD in uncompressed format, although music and video may optionally be compressed using MP3 and MPEG-2 respectively for example, to maximise available storage.

It is also important to look at what bulk loading solutions are available for each manufacturer's device. If the client has a large CD or DVD collection, it can take literally days or weeks to load the media, especially if CDs or DVDs have to be individually recorded to the hard disk drive, one at a time. The more common methods currently available are DVD carousels, such as the Powerfile R200, which can load up to 200 CDs or DVDs at a time. Also look out for what types of PC-based tools are available for transferring digital content from the client's PC directly to the server. In fact it is fairly common for most server manufacturers to offer ancillary software packages to do this.

Maintenance

Once the server is installed and running it is usually maintenance free, apart from loading additional content, which you may choose to offer as an add on service. The most common point of failure is usually the hard disk drive itself. It is best to be prepared for this by backing up a user's media collection upon completion of the installation, or opting for the RAID 5 hard disk array-based solutions available with some of the higher-end A/V servers. These offer hot-swappable drives and have built-in redundancy to protect against disk failure.

Future developments

The A/V server is Internet-enabled, which means that music can be effortlessly purchased or streamed from the web in a sit-back, TV-centric environment. The same goes for movies which can be streamed 'on demand' on a 24/7 basis to any room in the house. The server can even 'learn' listening and viewing habits. It will playback your top 100 favourite tracks, or group together your favourite movie scenes, so that you get what you want, when you are in the mood for it.

In addition, given the fast progress in wireless IP bearer technologies, fuelled by the rapid growth in home networking, future A/V server installations could become predominantly wireless, especially to rooms where audio/video quality is less of an issue. Indeed wireless IP-based in-wall control panels, wireless network media players and in-room amplifiers are already available.

Entertainment extends beyond the home, with the possibility of wireless download of content from the A/V server to a suitable in-car networked player, mobile phone, PDA or laptop PC. From anywhere in the world you can access your media collection resident on your home A/V server. Show your friends the latest holiday snaps on your mobile phone, or listen to your 70's rock collection from a broadband connection in your hotel room half way across the world. The possibilities are endless.

Conclusion

The advent of the A/V server has revolutionised access to video, music and photos in the networked home. No end user, who has seen and used a server-based system, would consider moving back to a traditional single CD or DVD system. Convenience, speed and the flexibility to instantly play anything in any room, are the key benefits of the high-end A/V server.

Steve Croft is Head of Technology Licensing for Imerge Ltd, manufacturer of hard disk-based audio servers and creator of XiVA technology that powers the next generation of Internet-connected media appliances.

www.imerge.co.uk