It won’t be long and we will have reason to replace our home entertainment systems again. That’s because there is a new revolution afoot that is merging the consumer electronics (CE) and PC worlds as one while making them communicable with embedded communications technologies.

It’s all about easy connectivity and instant access to all entertainment content from and to any location in our homes. Both software and PC companies have readied their components for easy media sharing over home networks while CE companies are busy enabling a wide range of entertainment components.

There is a story in this newsletter about the activities of DisplayLink to embed a variety of wireless technologies into displays so easy connectivity is made possible from content-laden PCs.

This caught my eye because I am aware that many companies are busy embedding a variety of communications technologies into TVs and monitors.

A friend of mine recently purchased a digital media adapter (DMA), the DSM-510, recently released by D-Link. The DMA is designed to bridge an ethernet port to HD video and audio outputs (HDMI). It also has an infrared port that receives signals from a remote control. The DMA works with your TV, a kind of set-top box, to select and stream content from your PC.

Wait until you hear what he did with the DMA. He actually removed the back from his 32” LCD TV and found room inside to insert the DMA. Then, he found still more room to install a 200 Mbps HomePlug AV PLC (Powerline Communications) wall adapter. He then connected the ethernet port on the DMA to the ethernet port on the wall adapter, which was also connected to the power cord coming into the TV. A second AV PLC wall adapter was used to connect his media PC’s Ethernet port to the powerline in his home computer room.

How did it work? Great – flawlessly streaming both SD and HD video and audio content from his PC/PVR to his LCD TV.

He had to bring the IR port on the DMA out to the front of his LCD TV by drilling a very small hole and mounting the IR detector in that hole. With the work all done, he simply uses the remote control that came with the DMA, points it at his LCD TV and commands a menu from his PC to appear. Remember, his PC is located away from the TV in his computer room. Both the IR commands and the streaming media transfer via the house wiring between his PC and his TV.

So, that’s what I am talking about - CE equipment that is communications-enabled. Manufacturers are busy doing this using a range of communications technologies from Wi-Fi to ultrawideband to wired broadband (MoCA, HPNA and HomePlug AV PLC).

I don’t think consumers will care very much about what communications technology is used – they just want it to work (period). Knowing this, manufacturers must choose carefully.

Stay connected!