Home Broadcast Studio: Multimedia Network Players

Many Roads To Content

At first glance the solution approaches seem as disparate as the fields they come from, but in fact they not only share common goals, but a common denominator as well: the home network. This is basically a normal TCP/IP-based network that uses various transmission technologies (W-LAN, Bluetooth, Home-Plug, (Fast Ethernet/Giganet) to handle the connection between the computer and communication and entertainment equipment and other electronic devices, thereby enabling the user to control the system and access information from anywhere in the house.

So far, three clear product strains have emerged:

• Network media players: with these products, data remain on the "normal" computer and are played back on a TV or stereo via a home network using a special player.
• Multimedia servers: these are both PC-based and non-PC-based hi-fi devices that can play back, produce and record common PC formats while functioning at the same time as a media archive and content server for the home network.
• Media center PCs: these are multimedia PCs that serve as media centers and digital video recorders, optimized for low noise emission with improved performance control, quieter and more efficient cooling and ease of operation thanks to new types of interfaces.

Now, the first devices of this kind to hit the market are overwhelmingly network media players. While media-center PCs are starting to be more readily available, why get a new PC when the right adapter is cheaper and easier to use? This market overview gives you an up-to-date look at all of the media players currently available as well as those set to be released soon.

Around for a while already: the Fast TV-Server 200 . It's a central media archive, multimedia player and digital recorder all in one.