DigitalDeck MX1000 Home Network DVR

Tuesday, February 08 - DigitalDeck has developed and is marketing an end-to-end platform for aggregating and managing entertainment content in the home. The result is the DigitalDeck Entertainment Network (DDEN) - an integrated audio-visual system which gives consumers access to audio and visual entertainment from anywhere in the house.

The DigitalDeck Entertainment Network consists of an entertainment center - the DigitalDeck MX1000 and supporting eDeck components - that combine to make the home into an audio-video network. The DDEN combines and integrates entertainment devices such as a media server/receiver, whole-home DVR, AV distribution, control systems, etc.

The DDEN is designed to be a unfied, user-friendly system with a simple and elegant TV-based electronic program guide that gives consumers access to their home theater system - cable and satellite boxes, DVD players, VCR, PC media, whole-home DVR - no matter where the devices are physically located in the house. The system distributes audio and video content from any source to any TV within the home and allows users to control all functions via a single remote.

Designed with flexibility in mind, DDEN is easy to install and use, according to DigitalDeck. DDEN also integrates with new and "legacy" consumer electronics, so old equipment can be preserved.

How It Works
The MX 1000 is a small and attractive unit that can be placed anywhere in your home. It requires an AC outlet, plugs into your home Ethernet network and functions as the "brains" of your DigitalDeck Entertainment Network. The unit's hard drive stores both your digital media (e.g., photos, music) and your recorded TV programming, which is to say it acts as both a "media server" and a DVR (Digital Video Recorder). The unit has a digital media storage capacity of up to 100 hours.

Via your home Ethernet network, the MX 1000 "talks" to the eDecks on your home entertainment network, sending appropriate instructions to each to enable sending and receiving entertainment content (e.g., television programming or music) and playing it on the TV or stereo receiver of your choice.

Each evening, the MX 1000 downloads television program listings via a live Internet connection to ensure that you always have the most up-to-date program information from DigitalDeck.

In consumer electronics parlance, the video that travels out of the "video output" jacks is in analog format. This is true of VCRs, cable boxes, satellite boxes and DVD players. Your home Ethernet network, on the other hand, carries digital content, such as data from your computer. In order to move entertainment content around your house via the Ethernet, the content has to be converted from analog to digital and vice versa. The eDeck makes this possible by performing several functions:

• It sends entertainment content from connected cable and/or satellite receivers, DVD players, VCRs or other devices to the MX 1000.
• It receives entertainment content distributed through the MX 1000.
• It communicates IR (infrared) codes to the MX 1000, which relays the IR codes to the connected devices. This enables you to control connected devices over your DigitalDeck Entertainment Network, regardless of where the devices are located.

In the process, the eDeck is busy converting content formats as required. Analog input from devices such as a DVD player or a cable/satellite receiver is converted into digital signals that are sent to the MX 1000. Conversely, digital signals from the MX 1000 are converted to analog for adaptation to your television and/or stereo receiver for your enjoyment.

For more information, please visit www.digitaldeck.com .