The DVD player is the fastest-selling consumer device of all time, and the increasing consumer acceptance of DVD technology is paving the way toward the integration of computers, communications and consumer electronics. That convergence of technologies is setting the stage for a new era of consumer entertainment electronics that will see the home entertainment media center emerge as the household gateway to a rich and growing spectrum of content.

But the convergence of disparate consumer electronics technologies into a unified consumer electronics device has been hampered to date by at least three factors: analog-coded media, analog/hard-coded processing and little commonality among systems.

Until recently, the various consumer electronics device types have required very different media (tape or disk) and analog/digital processing. And they have involved very little general-purpose processing. For example, a CD player or a VCR has little need for a 32-bit microprocessor. With no general-purpose processing power, there has been little common firmware and no common software elements.

Many pieces of consumer equipment now have large, functionally identical portions of silicon that will open the way to convergence. The major functional blocks used in consumer entertainment equipment include an MP3 player, CD audio player and DVD player, as well as a personal video recorder (PVR), a digital cable decoder and/or a satellite receiver. That requires the typical AV receiver or DVD player to incorporate such functions as MPEG video decode, MPEG video encode, audio DSP, Internet communications and cable/satellite receiver decoding. A minimum hardware implementation would include a microprocessor, hard drive and CD/DVD loader. Hybrid media devices could replace the VCR with DVD-R using an MPEG encoder; a DVD player with a satellite television receiver could replace the separate pieces of equipment.

Parts like Cirrus' CS98000 media processor are geared toward converged systems. Dual RISC microprocessors allow a highly tailored real-time operating system running on one CPU to provide time-critical video and audio services, while the second CPU is free to run more general-purpose applications, such as the human interface or network connectivity. An ATAPI/IDE interface provides connectivity for both a high-performance DVD loader and a hard disk drive. A digital video signal can be fed into the digital video input and can be mixed or implemented "picture-in-picture" with the DVD video.

Integrated media

Incorporating all of the functional blocks in one unit converts a DVD player, set-top box or AV receiver into an integrated media center. This piece of equipment includes the functionality of a DVD player along with the features of a set-top box or personal video recorder. Already, DVD players have assumed the functionality of CD players.

However, the technical hurdles and protocols required by the added functional blocks complicate the addition of other functional blocks. For example, to incorporate cable or satellite receiver functionality, the system architect must understand and implement security protocols for restricted or pay-per-view channels.

By adding a cable or satellite receiver to a DVD player, the DVD player gains the functionality of a set-top box. The receiver retrieves the proper channel from the cable or satellite feed, selects the desired MPEG stream from among the streams encapsulated in the channel and decompresses the MPEG video data. As mentioned above, the unit must also implement the satellite or cable provider's security protocol and channel guides.

A hard disk drive can also be added for the storage of persistent user data such as e-mail, new programs, compressed audio and Internet-quality video. The hard drive would also be used to store the system software and operating system. Adding a hard disk drive and an MPEG encoder to DVD drives implements personal video recorder functionality. Although satellites and digital cable transmit MPEG compressed video, the PVR will likely need an MPEG encoder and/or transcoder to compress analog video signals.

The DVD player appears to be a catalyst for the convergence of disparate consumer electronics technologies into a unified consumer electronics device. The race to create the first fully converged DVD device is on, and the ultimate winner will be the consumer.

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