Phillips wanted MPEG-2 audio added. They are working on MPEG-2 audio encoders. It means they lost. But this Phillips is no loser.........................................
newmedia.com
(Published in NewMedia December 15, 1997 Contents)
Open Your Checkbooks... By Becky
Waring
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iServ<Picture: i>Philips Home-Theater
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The wait is over. Convergence is finally here -- really. And guess what? It's not coming from Microsoft, or Sony, or even Apple. It's brought to you by Philips and its Marantz division.
<Picture: Philips Home Theatre>ÿÿÿ<Picture>ÿÿ What is this wonder? It's the DVX8000 Multimedia Home Theater ($5,000). Unlike WebTV and other set-top boxes, which have wimped-out browsers and limited functionality, the DVX8000 has a full Pentium 233MHz computer inside. And unlike the PC/TV offerings from Compaq and Gateway 2000, which are basically just PCs with TV tuners and analog NTSC output, it functions as a full AV receiver -- the hub of your stereo and TV system. And its sleek black design is made to blend into the living room.
ÿÿÿ<Picture>ÿÿ As a computer, the DVX8000 has all the bells and whistles: 32MB of RAM (expandable to 128MB), a 3.1GB hard drive, a wavetable sound card, millions of colors at SVGA resolution (800 by 600), a 3D accelerator chip, a 33.6Kbps modem, a floppy drive, a wireless keyboard, and a DVD-ROM drive with MPEG-2 and Dolby Digital decoding. Two USB ports, two serial ports, a parallel port, a MIDI/Joystick port, mic and line inputs, an IR port and one half-length PCI slot offer standard connections for peripherals like printers and scanners.
ÿÿÿ<Picture>ÿÿ As a home-theater center, the Philips unit is also top-of-the-line, with video connections for TV, 2 VCRs, laserdisc, and DSS, and audio inputs for CD player (or turntable) and tape deck. It features TV and FM tuners, Dolby Digital (AC-3) and ProLogic, Lucasfilm Cinema Re-EQ, and a 5.1-channel pre-amp.
ÿÿÿ<Picture>ÿÿ But the whole is truly more than the sum of the parts, and this is where the convergence really takes place. If you're watching TV and a commercial break starts, you can instantly call up the computer (no boot-up time) and check your e-mail or write a letter while monitoring the video in a window on the computer display. End of commercial, click once more and the TV fills the monitor again. And what a display! If you have one of the new progressive-scan RGB monitors or front projectors, line-doubled video results in amazing quality -- digital sources like DVD and DSS are kept digital as long as possible, avoiding the image loss that comes with intermediate analog conversions. You can also use S-video connections; while this won't give you the highest possible quality, it's still very good, and better than conventional TV.
ÿÿÿ<Picture>ÿÿ The universal remote control covers everything, TV and computer, and lets you listen to any audio source while viewing a different video. So you can listen to the radio or CD while surfing the net, or monitor the sound on TV-in-a-window while checking e-mail.
ÿÿÿ<Picture>ÿÿ All this integrated functionality comes straight out of the box and works with your existing stereo and video equipment, For multimedia mavens, the feature with the most potential is probably that free PCI slot. I'd put an Iomega Buz card in it, which combines full-screen, full-motion video capture with an Ultra SCSI port. That way you can attach a CD recorder to take advantage of all the audio equipment in the vicinity. One of the difficulties in making your own CD mixes of old LPs, tapes, and other CDs is that your computer is not usually anywhere near all these devices, and cabling is a pain. Connecting the tape output on the DVX8000 to the adjacent sound card input makes those problems history. And capturing and editing home videos should be similarly easy with the Buz's breakout box hooked to one of the VCR connections. I can't wait to try this out. Look for a report on our real-world experience in a couple of months, along with news about other similar products that should star at January's Consumer Electronics Show.
Philips (888) 486-6272
First Lookÿ December 15, 1997 Contents |
