Wired@Home.blog

Atlona PC to HDTV, Projector or Monitor Wireless Adapter with 1080p

New Product Announcement:

Atlona's all new AT-AiR3 is designed to connect any Windows or Mac Based computer to your HDTV, Projector or Computer Monitor wirelessly though HDMI or VGA Connections. The AiR3 is based on a powerful Ultra Wide Band technology, allowing users to extend high resolution content up to 30ft away from any computer’s USB port. Atlona wireless PC to TV transmitter is capable of supporting resolutions up to 1080p. The AT-AiR3 features dual video (HDMI and VGA) and dual Audio (HDMI-Audio and 1/8" mini stereo) outputs which are active simultaneously.

The versatile AiR3 serves both in commercial and home applications, giving users an easy way to connect projectors in meeting rooms or HDTV’s in living rooms to any computer or laptop. The Atlona AiR3 gives users the flexibility of being able to conveniently extend their computer’s visual workspace to a larger screen. The AiR3 features the two most common interfaces for both TV and computer displays, HDMI and VGA interface. Both HDMI and VGA output connections are active at the same time, allowing the AiR3 receiver supply content to both a digital and an analog display, such as an HDTV and a projector in a conference room.

Applications:

1. Education: Many K-12 and higher education schools and Universities utilize the Atlona AiR3 wireless PC to Projector solution for their class rooms. The lack of cables allows instructors the mobility needed to move around the class room, while maintaining connection to their display. The “USB stick” can be transferred from computer to computer like a USB flash drive, accommodating learning environments where multiple instructors use the same classroom. The AiR3 also serves as a way to take traditionally single user education software, such as language learning programs like Rosetta Stone, to a more communal learning setup where multiple users can learn at the same time.

2. Conference Room: The Atlona AT-AiR3 is the perfect device to allow a simple PC to TV conference room environment. Each presenter can connect the small USB dongle to their laptop to and see their presentation in seconds on a shared screen for everyone to see. Using Microsoft’s Power Point or Apples Keynote extended monitor mode, presenters can control and modify their presentation, while displaying slides to their audience.

3. Home use: So much digital content is available online such as video, books, music and more, home users are doing more and more with their computers. The AT-AiR3 allows user an ability to move the small laptop screen to a Large HDTV or a Projector to enjoy Netflix, Youtube, Showing their Picassa Photos or viewing any other content on the big screen. The AiR3 is a no-wire solution to enlarge your computer screen to the size of your HDTV and move it to a living room.

Atlona says the AT-AiR3 will be available February 8th, 2011 and will retail for $199. We're taking pre-orders right now at Wired@Home.com for only $179 so check it out!

ZeeVee - Send HD Video Over Your Existing Coax Wiring

Why Send HD Over Coax? Because it's there!

Based on the same technology used by TV stations and cable companies,ZvBox^® turns the output of a VGA or HD source into an HDTV cable channel and broadcasts it over coax cabling to all connected HDTVs. To view the HD source, simply tune in your new Zv channel at any of the HDTVs.

The Key Benefits of Coax:

• Coax already in place in vast majority of homes- reduces or eliminates the need to cut holes in walls or run new wires.
• Proven method: cable companies light up entire cities with coax
• Easy to deploy and expand coax systems using simple hand tools
• System parts (splitters, amps, etc.) inexpensive and widely available
• Connects to off-the-shelf HDTVs without additional set top boxes at each TV
• Handles up to 135 simultaneous channels

An ideal retrofit solution: Distribute HD video sources over existing coaxial cabling‐‐no set top boxes required.

Existing solutions Existing HD video distribution solutions are often labor intensive, requiring new cabling to each display.To share an HD source with 3 HDTVs in remote locations, you might pull new component cables to each HDTV, or CAT5 cabling (with baluns to provide the appropriate connection at each end), or perhaps HDMI cabling. Each represents substantial installation effort, and the expense of a hub of some sort. A new (old) way in contrast, distributing HD over coaxial cabling often allows the use of existing cabling, substantially reducing labor. This is accomplished using RF modulation of the source‐ a technique that’s been around for some time, but has recently made the leap to HD.

HD Encoder/RF Modulator

RF Modulator Basics

An RF Modulator turns an AV source into a TV channel, which is then broadcast over coaxial cabling. At the TV, tuning in that channel displays the source connected to the modulator. All that's required is an "empty" or unused channel that the modulator can "take over" for broadcasting it's source. 

Standard Definition (analog) RF Modulators are common, and fairly simple; they turn the input source into an NTSC (analog) TV channel. If you've ever tuned in channel 3 or 4 to watch a VCR, cable box, or play a video game, then you've used an analog RF modulator, it was built into the device you were watching.

HD Modulators, which convert AV sources into HDTV channels, are more complex. When they receive an HD analog input, they must first encode the video as an MPEG2 stream (the DTV video format standard) and convert the audio to the DTV audio standard. Because the HD source contains many times more data than SD sources, this real-time conversion requires serious processing power. Finally, the encoded stream is modulated onto an RF channel for broadcast. The modulator may create an ATSC channel, which is the standard for over-the-air broadcasts, or it may create a QAM channel, the standard for digital cable broadcast. The new channel can share coaxial cabling with other existing NTSC, ATSC or QAM channels. Finally, the channel is tuned in at the HDTV in true HD, so picture and sound quality are far superior to SD modulation techniques. 

Killer apps

With an HD RF modulator, you can share an HD DVR, cable box, media server, or Blu ray player with all the HDTVs in a home using existing coaxial cabling. Or, connect the Zone 2 output of an AV receiver to the modulator, and all sources connected to the AV receiver will be available on all of the HDTVs via coax. Or connect the VGA output of a computer to a modulator, and distribute digital signage to all connected HDTVs in a corporate setting, using simple to deploy coax cabling. 

Here's a comparison of the 3 ZeeVee HD Encoder/Modulators available:

 

Features	ZvBox® 150	ZvBox® 170	ZvPro® 250
1080p / 1080i
720p 60fps
720p 30fps
480p, 480i
VGA Video input
Component Video input
Broadcast two HD channels in different languages
Front panel configuration
PC configuration via USB connection
Analog audio inputs
Assignable Coax and Optical Digital Audio Inputs
Closed Captioning Ready (with optional ZVCC1)
IR control for switching inputs via direct IR input
IR control for switching inputs via IR window
RS 232 for switching inputs and configuration
Broadcast on any digital cable channel 2-135
Spectrum Analyzer to find open channels
Firmware updatable
Integral power supply and fan cooling
Rack mountable/Includes rack ears
Warranty	1 Year Parts and Labor	1 Year Parts and Labor*	3 Year Parts and Labor

DIRECTV Begins Public Beta of Multi-Room HD DVR Service

DIRECTV has started the public beta of it's much anticipated Multi-Room HD DVR Service. I don't know about you but I've been waiting for this new service for quite some time.

Here's some details from DIRECTV:

Watch what you want, when you want, in any room you want. With just one HD DVR, you can watch your recorded shows on any TV in your house that's connected to an HD receiver. But that's just the beginning. You can also:

• Start watching a recorded show in one room and continue watching it where you left off in another room
• Record and delete shows from any TV connected to an HD receiver, not just the one connected to the HD DVR
• Record two shows at once, while watching two different shows in separate rooms
• Set separate parental controls for each TV

If you have more than one HD DVR, the DIRECTV Multi-Room HD DVR service keeps things simple by showing you a single, combined playlist of all your recorded programs on any connected TV.

You need an HD DVR* (models HR20-23) and at least one compatible HD receiver (models H21-23) that are already networked, along with HD Access and DVR service.

Visit DIRECTV for more information or check out the DIRECTV MRV Beta Technical Forum.

CES 2008: CES - It's a Wrap

Well, another CES has come and gone and I'm still recovering. The early numbers show the attendance was down from about 150,000 last year to about 140,000 this year. Really? I didn't notice, the show seemed more crowded and bigger than ever, covering over 8 football fields! There was so much to see and no matter how long you're there, it's still tough to see and touch everything. There really wasn't much this year that stood out and grabbed me. Yes, I laughed at Bill Gates final Keynote address, drooled over Panasonic's 150" Plasma TV that would require a crane to lift it into place, Kid Rock and the new Corvette ZR1, Comcast's new FREE VOD website Fancast, XStreamHD, Logitech's SqueezeBox Duet...actually, there was some cool stuff to see this year.

Here's some more great CES 2008 Wrap Ups:

About.com
Best of CES 2008

CNET CES 2008 Wrap Up
Home Audio Wrap Up
Home Video Wrap Up
HDTV Wrap Up
Computers Wrap Up
Emerging Technologies Wrap Up
Car Tech Wrap Up
Portable Wrap Up
Cell Phone & Smart Phone Wrap Up

DigitalCameraReview.com
CES 2008 Wrap-Up

Earth2Tech
CES Green Gadget Wrap Up

Engadget
CES 2008: Everything you must see
The Best of Crapgadget

Engadget HD
CES 2008: The Best and worst of HD
CES 2008: The Best of Set Top Boxes
CES 2008: The Best of LCD TV HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Plasma HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Blu-ray Players

GearLog
Best of CES 2008

Gizmodo
Best of CES 2008

Mahalo
Everything CES 2008
CES 2008 Videos

PC Magazine
Best of CES 2008

popgadget
CES - It's a wrap

Tech Digest
CES 2008: The 50 Hottest Products

CES 2008: CNET's Best of CES Awards

CNET has posted it's annual Best of CES Award winners. The winners range from a green eco friendly TV to DIY gadgets. Check it out...

Over 10,000 CNET members also voted on the People's Voice Award winners in each CE category.

You can also watch a video of the awards here.

How-To Video: WiFi sat dish, pudding cup capacitor and more... AmateurLogic.TV

"The Active Cantenna is Back! But this time we've added a DirecTV Satellite Dish to see what wifi improvements, if any, it makes. Jim finishes the Pudding Cup Capacitor in this episode.

DIY: Build a $300 HDTV Media Extender

ZDNet Blogs has an excellent DIY post on Building an HDTV Media Extender for only $300! Worth looking at no matter what your budget is.

HDTVs are getting cheaper especially when you're talking about older close out models that they're becoming very common in the home. Personal video storage on a home network is also getting very popular but getting that video to the HDTV isn't easy without paying for an expensive and extremely limited function HD media extender appliance. But with a little spare time and some cheap commodity PC hardware you can build a superior HDTV media extender that can easily be upgraded to a full fledged media center machine for $300.

[via Build Your Own PVR]

How-To: Run Your Own Network Cabling

This is a great and not to difficult How-To/DIY, especially if you need to run some network cabling in your home or office. Check out engadget's tutorial.

Sprint, Linksys Team To Offer EVDO Broadband Router

Sprint will start selling a Linksys router during the second half of this year which can turn any Sprint EV-DO card connection into an 802.11g local-area network, according to business marketing program manager Larry Sherrard. The router, which doesn't yet have a model number, will cost "slightly under $200" and won't require any changes in subscribers' service plans, which currently cost $59.99/month for unlimited high-speed access, or $79.99/month for people without a Sprint voice phone.

Several manufacturers, most notably Kyocera, have put EV-DO to Wi-Fi routers on the market. But up until now, those products were shunned by the biggest wireless carriers in the US, who frowned on people sharing out EV-DO connections. Sprint will be selling their Linksys router both online and through retail stores, Sherrard said.

[via PCMag.com]

Technorati Tags: home networking, linksys, router, sprint, ev-do

New Product: ESCIENT® FireBall DVDM-552

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, March 30, 2006– Escient, the pioneer in digital media management, has begun shipping its flagship Media Management System, the FireBall DVDM-552 (SRP:$5,999), as well as its performance-extending companion, the FireBall MP-200 Digital Media Player (SRP:$999). In combination, these two products offer an unprecedented solution for convenient multi-room entertainment networking, providing users with a host of advanced features and capabilities with easy access to vast DVD and music collections.

A New Era in Multi-Room Entertainment
The FireBall DVDM-552 is the industry’s first-ever 2,000-DVD library manager, offering a variety of never-before-available multiple room capabilities. Using Escient’s award-winning on-screen interface, users can browse and play huge DVD and music collections in five connected mega-disc changers, in addition to over 8,000 CDs stored on its 500GB internal hard drive.

When used with the MP-200, the FireBall DVDM-552 lets users literally watch any movie or listen to any song in their collection from a second room of their home. Music stored on the DVDM-552 hard drive can also be streamed and played in multiple rooms in the home simultaneously via multiple connected MP-200s or by using DLNA/UPnP compatible digital media adapters. In addition to being able to watch two different DVD movies in different rooms when connected to the MP-200, the DVDM-552 even lets viewers enjoy the same movie simultaneously in separate rooms.


For added flexibility, a web server built into the DVDM-552 allows users to browse, manage, and play their movies and music from any standard web browser, and integrated file-sharing features lets users transfer, backup, and play music files between the DVDM-552 and a PC or Mac. The DVDM-552 features a built-in CD-RW Player/Recorder for playing CDs, ripping CDs to the internal hard drive, and for creating custom mix CDs. It also plays MP3 and WMA Internet Radio stations.

All DVDs and CDs controlled by the DVDM-552 are automatically identified by the Escient MovieDB™ and the Gracenote™ CDDB disc recognition services via the user’s Internet connection. The metadata and cover art for each disc are automatically downloaded and stored on the DVDM-552. A built-in parental control feature allows parents to determine which movies can be displayed and played through the on-screen Movies Guide. Full press release

[via engadget]

Technorati Tags: home networking, media center pc, escient