Hooked on the digital lifestyle

During the last century, popular entertainment moved from the stage to the motion picture screen, from the radio to television and to media technology such as the VCR, CD-ROM, DVD and the Internet.

This trend set the stage for the gradual convergence of entertainment with emerging digital communication technology - and the birth of the digital lifestyle.

A key characteristic of today`s digital lifestyle is the increasingly personal nature of the digital content - music, videos, photographs and other media - that we view, listen to or experience.

One of the driving factors behind the popularity of the digital lifestyle is the way in which multimedia content - particularly on-line content - is readily available and accessible in the home.

In fact, the explosion in digital technology in recent years has persuaded many consumers to stay at home and amuse themselves rather than going out in search of entertainment.

They have discovered the fun and satisfaction associated with enjoying entertainment through devices such as PCs, audio systems, TVs, DVD players, digital cameras, mobile phones and others.

Technology is available that allows us to simultaneously watch and record a TV programme wirelessly on a notebook PC, for example, or use the TV in an upstairs bedroom to access music files stored on the PC in the study.

Up to now, the management of data content necessary for this scenario has been very difficult to achieve, as the typical home network has been characterised by three islands of information that have not readily communicated with one another.

These are:
* The PC/Internet world in which only the PC and its peripherals communicate
* The consumer electronics island populated by TV, DVD, CD and MP3 players
* The "mobile" island which includes multimedia phones, PDAs and notebook PCs

However, companies are now working on products that adhere to the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) open standards guidelines which facilitate communication between these islands to give users a seamless communication experience on any device in the home.

DNLA represents a fusion of industry leaders who share the common vision of a wired and wireless interoperable network of PCs, consumer electronic and mobile devices.

The DNLA aims to define a framework of interoperability that will help consumers to easily and conveniently enjoy ubiquitous digital media content delivery on any device and on any location within the home.

Central to the DNLA concept are PCs that combine the benefits of portable computing and high-end audio-visual entertainment.

These new-generation PCs encourage users to be creative with digital images and audio content in ways that weren`t possible before, taking tasks such as photo-editing and movie-making to new levels that border on the professional.

They achieve this by integrating powerful hardware and software solutions, including video and audio technologies, to realise high-grade image reproduction.

These PCs offer consumers the opportunity to enjoy diverse digital AV content on the move, and at leisure.

DNLA protagonists have welcomed these advances in digitisation, including facilities to receive digital TV signals.

The digital lifestyle is being further enhanced by research into sound quality and the introduction of `Xtreme Fidelity` - an entirely new standard for music, movies and games.

Important features of the new technology give the user greater functionality, including the capacity to digitally manipulate the sound to which they listen.

Speakers too have come under the microscope and developments focus on four key elements: portability, compact design, light weight and versatility.

One of the industries which is set to be impacted most by the digital lifestyle revolution is the movie industry.

There are already at least two fledgling online movie stores in existence: Movielink, a venture of five major Hollywood studios and CinemaNow, jointly owned by Microsoft and several other firms.

These organisations will soon make movies available on next-generation high-definition HD DVD technology.

Universal Studios, a unit of NBC Universal, and Warner Bros Studios have all endorsed the new format, while vendors such as Toshiba are developing products for HD DVD.

All players recognise the fact that consumers will soon want access to the highest quality audio and video content within a truly portable, yet appropriately optimised environment.

Already Toshiba`s proprietary Qosmio Engine - which is incorporated into its latest notebook PC range - combines eleven image processing technologies for diverse image sources, including TV and DVD. It features a video enhancer dedicated to producing superb images.

This image enhancing technology covers de-blocking, de-ringing, digital sharpness, digital overdrive, interlace to progressive conversion, black and white level enhancement, colour correction, edge enhancement, digital noise and image blur reduction, and enhanced analogue to digital conversion, where required.

There is no doubt that with leading vendors developing products such as this, while working on resolving all the issues surrounding convergence in the digital home network, enjoying a digital lifestyle will be viable for most consumers in the very near future.