X10's
DVD Anywhere Kit can broadcast DVD movies to a television anywhere in a home, a boon for
those who don't want to watch Saving Private Ryan on a tiny computer screen.
The DVD hardware market has been a peculiar phenomenon. Despite the
existence of only a dozen or so DVD-ROM movie titles for computers compared to 2,000 for
home entertainment players, the outfits for PCs are far outselling the VCR-like models.
DataQuest
estimates 25 million DVD drives will be installed in PCs by the end of this year, compared
with around 3 to 4 million home-DVD video units.
"But who wants to gather the family around a 15-inch monitor to
watch a movie?" asked Alex Peder, president of the retail sales division of X10, the
Seattle-based developer of the ActiveHome home electrical system that allows PC users to
control lights, televisions, and other electronics via computer.
The $88 kit comes with a transmitter, receiver, and X10’s
MouseREMOTE, a wireless PC mouse that can control a PC or an ActiveHome kit. Instead of
functioning like home networking devices, which operate by routing packets of data, the
kit broadcasts a radio signal, giving it a much higher bandwidth. DVD Anywhere sends the
audio and video using 2.4-GHz wireless signals, the same wireless radio signal used in
consumer wireless devices like cordless phones.
Currently, DVD Anywhere transmits the audio in two-speaker stereo.
Support for Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, which offers true
surround-sound on a six-speaker setup, will be available in a future product, according to
Peder.
Although designed for DVD viewing, the kit can be used with other
video transmission products as well, said Peder. For example, it can be connected to a VCR
to transmit audio and video to other televisions in the house as well.
Giga Information Group vice
president Rob Enderle has been using DVD Anywhere around his house. While he acknowledged
that it works well, he warned that it’s not for the nontechnical user.
"It’s OK for me, but I’m technically oriented,"
he said. "The average user is better with a stand-alone player, given the fact that
DVD players are so inexpensive right now."
He also noted that the video quality isn’t quite as good as it
is with a actual wire between the PC and the TV, but he said that only a home theater buff
would be picky about the video degradation.
"It’s worked great.
For 90 bucks, it’s the cheapest way of getting DVD on your TV if you have the
drive."
