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IFA 2005: Home networking for all (27/6/2005)

Look on the back of a modern hifi system or AV receiver and you are likely to see a rectangular socket that was previously only found on computers, known as an ethernet connection. This is the key to audio and video enjoyment throughout the house, because it enables consumer electronics equipment to be connected to any PC. The computer in one's study can then be used as a media server, sending digital pictures of a recent Caribbean holiday to the television in the living rooms, or MP-3 music to a mini-player in the kitchen. At the IFA, which takes place from 2 to 7 September 2005 in Berlin, manufacturers will be demonstrating that home networking is no longer a luxury affordable only by the more affluent among us.

Networking via streaming

In order to transmit sound and pictures by means of the streaming process to other rooms within the home the consumer electronics industry makes use of low-priced PC standards. Streaming is the term used by the experts in referring to the process by which media files are distributed from a central server to so-called Òstreaming clientsÓ. The media server does not even have to be located in one's own house, which also makes streaming an ideal system for distributing music and videos over the internet. A hifi system with a network connection can be used, for example, to receive web radio stations, and a media receiver can access movies on demand via the internet. It is only necessary to have a receiver which is compatible with the supplier's digital rights management system. As a rule this restriction does not apply to recordings that one makes oneself from the television, along with camcorder videos and MP3 files, which are not subject to protection against copying.

Transmission of digital audio and video signals

Media receivers are now much easier to connect up and operate. Thanks to technologies such as UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) devices can recognise one another and then carry out the necessary configuration. As a consequence even those who are totally unfamiliar with the workings of computers soon become enthusiastic users of these networked systems. All that remains for them to do is to install the cables, always assuming that they do not already have a wireless home network. Almost all manufacturers now offer not only the traditional cable system but also devices that transmit the signals via radio waves. These mainly use the current WLAN standard 802.11g, giving them a theoretical data rate of 54 megabits per second. By way of comparison: up to 100 MB/sec. is possible on cable networks, and it should also be remembered that thick walls and interference from other sources such as cordless telephones will tend to reduce radio data rates. In practice a rate of 54 megabits may be lowered to as little as 6 MB or even less if someone else in the house is connected to the internet or using the hard disc to access the latest MP3 hits. This is simply not enough to ensure perfectly steady video images in DVD quality. The answer is to install the necessary cables to ensure constant, high data rates.

Users of home networks do not even have to carry out the work themselves if they avail themselves of the solution offered by a number of suppliers, who use existing cables in the home to carry digital audio and video signals. Pictures and sound are transmitted along the electrical network or the antenna leads. The advantages are obvious: all that needs to be done is to remove the media receiver from the wall socket in the living room, plug it in again in the bedroom, and it will immediately be able to access the media library on the central server. There could not be an easier way of setting up a network of audio and video devices.

www.ifa-berlin.de