You point, you click; you drag and you drop. Files open and close in separate windows. Movies play, pop-ups pop, and video games fill the screen, immersing you in a world of 3-D graphics. This is the stuff we're used to seeing on our computers.


It all started in 1973, when Xerox completed the Alto, the first computer to use a graphical user interface. This innovation forever changed the way the people work with their computers.
Today, every aspect of computing, from creating animation to simple tasks such as word processing and e-mail, uses lots of graphics to create a more intuitive work environment for the user. The hardware to support these graphics is called a graphics card. The way this card connects to your computer is key in your computer's ability to render graphics. In this article, you will learn about AGP, or Accelerated Graphics Port. AGP enables your computer to have a dedicated way to communicate with the graphics card, enhancing both the look and speed of your computer's graphics.


In 1996, Intel introduced AGP as a more efficient way to deliver the streaming video and real-time-rendered 3-D graphics that were becoming more prevalent in all aspects of computing. Previously, the standard method of delivery was the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. The PCI bus is a path used to deliver information from the graphics card to the central processing unit (CPU). A bus allows multiple packets of information from different sources to travel down one path simultaneously. Information from the graphics card travels through the bus along with any other information that is coming from a device connected to the PCI. When all the information arrives at the CPU, it has to wait in line to get time with the CPU.

Photo courtesy PCI slots on a motherboard

This system worked well for many years, but eventually the PCI bus became a little long in the tooth. The Internet and most software were more and more graphically oriented, and the demands of the graphics card needed priority over all other PCI devices.

Typical example of an AGP-based graphics card

AGP is based on the design of the PCI bus; but unlike a bus, it provides a dedicated point-to-point connection from the graphics card to the CPU. With a clear path to the CPU and system memory, AGP provides a much faster, more efficient way for your computer to get the information it needs to render complex graphics. In the next section, we'll see how this is done.


AGP is built on the idea of improving the ways that PCI transports data to the CPU. Intel achieved this by addressing all of the areas where PCI transfers were causing data bottlenecks in the system. By clearing the traffic jams of data, AGP increases the speed at which machines can render graphics while using the system's resources more efficiently to reduce overall drag. Here's how:

• Dedicated Port - There are no other devices connected to the AGP other than the graphics card. With a dedicated path to the CPU, the graphics card can always operate at the maximum capacity of the connection.
• Pipelining - This method of data organization allows the graphics card to receive and respond to multiple packets of data in a single request. Here's a simplified example of this:
  
  With AGP, the graphics card can receive a request for all of the information needed to render a particular image and send it out all at once. With PCI, the graphics card would receive information on the height of the image and wait... then the length of the image, and wait... then the width of the image, and wait... combine the data, and then send it out.
• Sideband addressing - Like a letter, all requests and information sent from one part of your computer to the next must have an address containing "To" and "From." The problem with PCI is that this "To" and "From" information is sent with the working data all together in one packet. This is the equivalent of including an address card inside the envelope when you send a letter to a friend: Now the post office has to open the envelope to see the address in order to know where to send it. This takes up the post office's time. In addition, the address card itself takes up room in the envelope, reducing the total amount of stuff you can send to your friend. With sideband addressing, the AGP issues eight additional lines on the data packet just for addressing. This puts the address on the outside of the envelope, so to speak, freeing up the total bandwidth of the data path used to transfer information back and forth. In addition, it unclogs system resources that were previously used to open the packet to read the addresses.

Speed is not the only area where AGP has bested its predecessor. It also streamlines the process of rendering graphics by using system memory more efficiently. Any 3-D graphic you see on your computer is built by a texture map. Texture maps are like wrapping paper. Your computer takes a flat, 2-D image and wraps it around a set of parameters dictated by the graphics card to create the appearance of a 3-D image. Think of this as wrapping an invisible box with wrapping paper to show the size of the box. It is important to understand this because the creation and storage of texture maps is the main thing that drains the memory from both the graphics card and the system overall.
With a PCI-based graphics card, every texture map has to be stored twice. First, the texture map is loaded from the hard drive to the system memory (RAM) until it has to be used. Once it is needed, it is pulled from memory and sent to the CPU to be processed. Once processed, it is sent through the PCI bus to the graphics card, where it is stored again in the card's framebuffer. The framebuffer is where the graphics card holds the image in storage once it has been rendered so that it can be refreshed every time it is needed. All of this storing and sending between the system and the card is very draining to the overall performance of the computer.

Photo courtesy Intel Corporation With PCI, texture maps are loaded from the hard drive to system memory, processed by the CPU and then loaded into the framebuffer of the graphics card.

AGP improves the process of storing texture maps by allowing the operating system to designate RAM for use by the graphics card on the fly. This type of memory is called AGP memory or non-local video memory. Using the much more abundant and faster RAM used by the operating system to store texture maps reduces the number of maps that have to be stored on the graphics card's memory. In addition, the size of the texture map your computer is capable of processing is no longer limited to the amount of RAM on the graphics card. The other way AGP saves RAM is by only storing texture maps once. It does this with a little trickery. This trickery takes the form of a chipset called the Graphics Address Remapping Table (GART). GART takes the portion of the system memory that the AGP borrows to store texture maps for the graphics card and re-addresses it. The new address provided by GART makes the CPU think that the texture map is being stored in the card's framebuffer. GART may be putting bits and pieces of the map all over the system RAM; but when the CPU needs it, as far as it's concerned the texture map is right where it should be.

Photo courtesy Intel Corporation Diagram of the standard architecture of a Pentium III-based system using AGP

AGP and AGP graphics cards are now the standard for processing graphics on computers. Like all hardware, the technology and specifications are constantly improving. To learn about the current standards for AGP and prices for AGP graphics cards, click on the links below. Specifications:

• Intel: Accelerated Graphics Port Technical Information
  http://www.intel.com/technology/agp/info.htm
  Features tons of design info, specs, and technical implementation of AGP 2.0 and 3.0, including a nice tutorial.
• nVidia: AGP 8X
  http://www.nvidia.com/object/feature_agp8x.html
  Click on Technical Brief: AGP 8X in left-hand column for tons of info and specs on the new AGP version 3.0 and its evolution.

Imagine having a high-definition TV that is 80 inches wide and less than a quarter-inch thick, consumes less power than most TVs on the market today and can be rolled up when you're not using it. What if you could have a "heads up" display in your car? How about a display monitor built into your clothing? These devices may be possible in the near future with the help of a technology called organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).
OLEDs are solid-state devices composed of thin films of organic molecules that create light with the application of electricity. OLEDs can provide brighter, crisper displays on electronic devices and use less power than conventional light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used today.
In this article, you will learn how OLED technology works, what types of OLEDs are possible, how OLEDs compare to other lighting technologies and what problems OLEDs need to overcome.

­
Like an LED, an OLED is a solid-state semiconductor device that is 100 to 500 nanometers thick or about 200 times smaller than a human hair. OLEDs can have either two layers or three layers of organic material; in the latter design, the third layer helps transport electrons from the cathode to the emissive layer. In this article, we'll be focusing on the two-layer design.
An OLED consists of the following parts:

• Substrate (clear plastic, glass, foil) - The substrate supports the OLED.
• Anode (transparent) - The anode removes electrons (adds electron "holes") when a current flows through the device.
• Organic layers - These layers are made of organic molecules or polymers.
  • Conducting layer - This layer is made of organic plastic molecules that transport "holes" from the anode. One conducting polymer used in OLEDs is polyaniline.
  • Emissive layer - This layer is made of organic plastic molecules (different ones from the conducting layer) that transport electrons from the cathode; this is where light is made. One polymer used in the emissive layer is polyfluorene.
• Cathode (may or may not be transparent depending on the type of OLED) - The cathode injects electrons when a current flows through the device.

Making OLEDs Photo courtesy Philips Laboratory set up of a high-precision inkjet printer for making polymer OLED displays The biggest part of manufacturing OLEDs is applying the organic layers to the substrate. This can be done in three ways: Vacuum deposition or vacuum thermal evaporation (VTE) - In a vacuum chamber, the organic molecules are gently heated (evaporated) and allowed to condense as thin films onto cooled substrates. This process is expensive and inefficient.  Organic vapor phase deposition (OVPD) - In a low-pressure, hot-walled reactor chamber, a carrier gas transports evaporated organic molecules onto cooled substrates, where they condense into thin films. Using a carrier gas increases the efficiency and reduces the cost of making OLEDs.  Inkjet printing - With inkjet technology, OLEDs are sprayed onto substrates just like inks are sprayed onto paper during printing. Inkjet technology greatly reduces the cost of OLED manufacturing and allows OLEDs to be printed onto very large films for large displays like 80-inch TV screens or electronic billboards.

OLEDs emit light in a similar manner to LEDs, through a process called electrophosphorescence.
The process is as follows:

1. The battery or power supply of the device containing the OLED applies a voltage across the OLED.
2. An electrical current flows from the cathode to the anode through the organic layers (an electrical current is a flow of electrons).
   • The cathode gives electrons to the emissive layer of organic molecules.
   • The anode removes electrons from the conductive layer of organic molecules. (This is the equivalent to giving electron holes to the conductive layer.)
3. At the boundary between the emissive and the conductive layers, electrons find electron holes.
   • When an electron finds an electron hole, the electron fills the hole (it falls into an energy level of the atom that's missing an electron).
   • When this happens, the electron gives up energy in the form of a photon of light (see How Light Works).
4. The OLED emits light.
5. The color of the light depends on the type of organic molecule in the emissive layer. Manufacturers place several types of organic films on the same OLED to make color displays.
6. The intensity or brightness of the light depends on the amount of electrical current applied: the more current, the brighter the light.

Small Molecule OLED vs. Polymer OLEDThe types of molecules used by Kodak scientists in 1987 in the first OLEDs were small organic molecules. Although small molecules emitted bright light, scientists had to deposit them onto the substrates in a vacuum (an expensive manufacturing process called vacuum deposition -- see previous section). Since 1990, researchers have been using large polymer molecules to emit light. Polymers can be made less expensively and in large sheets, so they are more suitable for large-screen displays.

There are several types of OLEDs:

• Passive-matrix OLED
• Active-matrix OLED
• Transparent OLED
• Top-emitting OLED
• Foldable OLED
• White OLED

Each type has different uses. In the following sections, we'll discuss each type of OLED. Let's start with passive-matrix and active-matrix OLEDs. Passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED)
PMOLEDs have strips of cathode, organic layers and strips of anode. The anode strips are arranged perpendicular to the cathode strips. The intersections of the cathode and anode make up the pixels where light is emitted. External circuitry applies current to selected strips of anode and cathode, determining which pixels get turned on and which pixels remain off. Again, the brightness of each pixel is proportional to the amount of applied current.
PMOLEDs are easy to make, but they consume more power than other types of OLED, mainly due to the power needed for the external circuitry. PMOLEDs are most efficient for text and icons and are best suited for small screens (2- to 3-inch diagonal) such as those you find in cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players. Even with the external circuitry, passive-matrix OLEDs consume less battery power than the LCDs that currently power these devices.
Active-matrix OLED (AMOLED)
AMOLEDs have full layers of cathode, organic molecules and anode, but the anode layer overlays a thin film transistor (TFT) array that forms a matrix. The TFT array itself is the circuitry that determines which pixels get turned on to form an image.
AMOLEDs consume less power than PMOLEDs because the TFT array requires less power than external circuitry, so they are efficient for large displays. AMOLEDs also have faster refresh rates suitable for video. The best uses for AMOLEDs are computer monitors, large-screen TVs and electronic signs or billboards.
Transparent OLED
Transparent OLEDs have only transparent components (substrate, cathode and anode) and, when turned off, are up to 85 percent as transparent as their substrate. When a transparent OLED display is turned on, it allows light to pass in both directions. A transparent OLED display can be either active- or passive-matrix. This technology can be used for heads-up displays.

Top-emitting OLED
Top-emitting OLEDs have a substrate that is either opaque or reflective. They are best suited to active-matrix design. Manufacturers may use top-emitting OLED displays in smart cards.
Foldable OLED
Foldable OLEDs have substrates made of very flexible metallic foils or plastics. Foldable OLEDs are very lightweight and durable. Their use in devices such as cell phones and PDAs can reduce breakage, a major cause for return or repair. Potentially, foldable OLED displays can be attached to fabrics to create "smart" clothing, such as outdoor survival clothing with an integrated computer chip, cell phone, GPS receiver and OLED display sewn into it.
White OLED
White OLEDs emit white light that is brighter, more uniform and more energy efficient than that emitted by fluorescent lights. White OLEDs also have the true-color qualities of incandescent lighting. Because OLEDs can be made in large sheets, they can replace fluorescent lights that are currently used in homes and buildings. Their use could potentially reduce energy costs for lighting.
In the next section, we'll discuss the pros and cons of OLED technology and how it compares to regular LED and LCD technology.
The LCD is currently the display of choice in small devices and is also popular in large-screen TVs. Regular LEDs often form the digits on digital clocks and other electronic devices. OLEDs offer many advantages over both LCDs and LEDs:

• The plastic, organic layers of an OLED are thinner, lighter and more flexible than the crystalline layers in an LED or LCD.
• Because the light-emitting layers of an OLED are lighter, the substrate of an OLED can be flexible instead of rigid. OLED substrates can be plastic rather than the glass used for LEDs and LCDs.
• OLEDs are brighter than LEDs. Because the organic layers of an OLED are much thinner than the corresponding inorganic crystal layers of an LED, the conductive and emissive layers of an OLED can be multi-layered. Also, LEDs and LCDs require glass for support, and glass absorbs some light. OLEDs do not require glass.
• OLEDs do not require backlighting like LCDs (see How LCDs Work). LCDs work by selectively blocking areas of the backlight to make the images that you see, while OLEDs generate light themselves. Because OLEDs do not require backlighting, they consume much less power than LCDs (most of the LCD power goes to the backlighting). This is especially important for battery-operated devices such as cell phones.
• OLEDs are easier to produce and can be made to larger sizes. Because OLEDs are essentially plastics, they can be made into large, thin sheets. It is much more difficult to grow and lay down so many liquid crystals.
• OLEDs have large fields of view, about 170 degrees. Because LCDs work by blocking light, they have an inherent viewing obstacle from certain angles. OLEDs produce their own light, so they have a much wider viewing range.

Problems with OLED
OLED seems to be the perfect technology for all types of displays, but it also has some problems:

• Lifetime - While red and green OLED films have longer lifetimes (46,000 to 230,000 hours), blue organics currently have much shorter lifetimes (up to around 14,000 hours[source: OLED-Info.com]).
• Manufacturing - Manufacturing processes are expensive right now.
• Water - Water can easily damage OLEDs.

In the next section, we'll talk about some current and future uses of OLEDs.
Currently, OLEDs are used in small-screen devices such as cell phones, PDAs and digital cameras. In September 2004, Sony Corporation announced that it was beginning mass production of OLED screens for its CLIE PEG-VZ90 model of personal-entertainment handhelds.

Photo courtesy Sony Corporation OLED display for Sony Clie

Kodak was the first to release a digital camera with an OLED display in March 2003, the EasyShare LS633 [source:Kodak press release].

Photo Courtesy HowStuffWorks Shopper Kodak LS633 EasyShare with OLED display

Several companies have already built prototype computer monitors and large-screen TVs that use OLED technology. In May 2005, Samsung Electronics announced that it had developed a prototype 40-inch, OLED-based, ultra-slim TV, the first of its size [source: Kanellos]. And in October 2007, Sony announced that it would be the first to market with an OLED television. The XEL-1 will be available in December 2007 for customers in Japan. It lists for 200,000 Yen -- or about $1,700 U.S. [source: Sony].

Photo Courtesy Sony The Sony 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TV.

Research and development in the field of OLEDs is proceeding rapidly and may lead to future applications in heads-up displays, automotive dashboards, billboard-type displays, home and office lighting and flexible displays. Because OLEDs refresh faster than LCDs -- almost 1,000 times faster -- a device with an OLED display could change information almost in real time. Video images could be much more realistic and constantly updated. The newspaper of the future might be an OLED display that refreshes with breaking news (think "Minority Report") -- and like a regular newspaper, you could fold it up when you're done reading it and stick it in your backpack or briefcase.

There's a major movement going on in the electronics and computer industries to develop wearable devices for what's being called the post-PC era. We are now at the dawn of that era, and some of these devices are already making their way to the consumer market. Despite the small size and portability of these devices, they are still noticeable and aren't always very aesthetically pleasing. The next phase of this post-PC era will be to integrate computers and other devices directly into our clothing, so that they are virtually invisible.

Photo courtesy MIT Media Lab researchers Josh Strickon, Rehmi Post, Josh Smith, Emily Cooper and Maggie Orth Using conductive fibers, MIT Media Lab created the Musical Jacket, which is being marketed by Levi in Europe.

In the next few years, we might be filling our closets with smart shirts that can read our heart rate and breathing, and musical jackets with built in all-fabric keypads. Thin light-emitting diode (LED) monitors could even be integrated into this apparel to display text and images. Computerized clothes will be the next step in making computers and devices portable without having to strap electronics to our bodies or fill our pockets with a plethora of gadgets. These new digital clothes aren't necessarily designed to replace your PC, but they will be able to perform some of the same functions.
Computerized clothes are the ultimate in portable high-tech gadgetry. In this edition of How Stuff WILL Work, you will learn just what these clothes are made of, who is making them and what kind of products we might be wearing in the coming decade.



­
As with all clothes, computerized apparel starts with the proper thread. Cotton, polyester or rayon don't have the needed properties to carry the electrical current needed for digital clothing. However, metallic yarns aren't new to the clothing industry. We have seen these metallic fabrics worn to make fashion statements for years. Researchers at MIT's Media Lab are using silk organza, a unique fabric that has been used to make clothes in India for at least a century.

Photo courtesy MIT Media Lab A micrograph of silk organza. You can see the copper foil that is wrapped around the horizontal threads.

Silk organza is ideal for computerized clothing because it is made with two fibers that make it conducive to electricity. The first fiber is just an ordinary silk thread, but running in the opposite direction of the fiber is silk thread that is wrapped in a thin copper foil. It's this copper foil that gives silk organza the ability to conduct electricity. Copper is a very good conductor of electricity and some microprocessor manufacturers are beginning to use copper to speed up microprocessors.
The metallic yarn is prepared just like cloth-core telephone wire, according to the MIT researchers. If you cut open a coiled telephone cable, there's usually a conductor that is made out of a sheet of copper wrapped round a core of nylon or polyester threads. Because metallic yarn can withstand high temperatures, the yarn can be sewn or embroidered using industrial machinery. This property makes it very promising for mass producing computerized clothing.
Not only is silk organza a good electrical conductor, but it's fiber's are spaced with the right amount of space, so that the fibers can be individually addressed. A strip of the fabric would basically function like a ribbon cable. Ribbon cables are used in computers to connect disk drives to controllers. One problem with using silk organza would result if the circuits were to touch each other, therefore MIT scientists use an insulating material to coat or support the fabric.
Once the fabric is cut into a desirable shape, other components need to be attached to the fabric, like resistors, capacitors and coils. These components are sewn directly to the fabric. Additional components, such as LEDs, crystals, piezo transducers and other surface mount components, if needed, are soldered directly onto the metallic yarn, which the developers say is an easy process. Other electronic devices, can be snapped into the fabric by using some kind of gripper snaps, which pierce the yarn to create an electrical contact. These devices can then be easily removed in order to clean the fabric.

Photo courtesy MIT Media Lab A circuit fabricated on silk organza fabric

At Georgia Tech, researchers have developed another kind of thread to make smart clothes. Their smart shirt, which we will look at in the next section, is made of plastic optical fibers and other specialty fibers woven into the fabric. These optical and electrical conductive fibers will allow the shirt to wirelessly communicate with other devices, transferring data from the sensors embedded in the shirt.


The development of digital yarn opens up the opportunity for an entire computerized clothing industry. In the next decade, we will likely see a wide range of digital apparel enter the consumer market. Several companies are already exploring the possibility of putting us in designer computerized clothing, including IBM, Levi, Philips, Nike and SensaTex. In Europe, Levi is already test marketing the musical jacket developed by the MIT Media Lab. Levi's musical jacket is made with the silk organza and is controlled with an all-fabric capacitive keyboard. This keyboard has been mass-produced using ordinary embroidery techniques and conductive thread. The keypad is flexible, durable and responsive to touch. A printed circuit is used to give the keypad a sensing ability, so that the controls react when pressed. The keypad can sense touch due to the increase in capacitance of the electrode when touched. The keypads are connected to a miniature MIDI synthesizer that plays music. Power could be supplied by a parasitic power source such as solar power, wind, temperature or mechanical energy from turning wrists or walking. Further out, researchers are looking for fabrics capable of generating power as they flex.

Photo courtesy MIT Media Lab This keypad controls Levi's musical jacket and is made completely with fabric, even the wiring.

Another all-fabric keyboard being developed by the MIT Media Lab uses conductive and non-conductive material sewn together in a row- and column-addressable structure. The final product looks like a quilt that's been pieced together in a square pattern. The quilted conductive columns are insulated and form the conductive rows with soft, thick fabric, like felt or velvet. Holes in the insulating fabric allow the row and column conductors to make contact when a user presses down on the keyboard. Shirts and other clothes using this keyboard can be thrown in the washing machine just like an ordinary piece of clothing.

Photo courtesy MIT Media Lab MIT Media Lab's all-fabric, switching-contact keyboard is washable.

While the musical jacket is an example of how computerized clothing could be used for entertainment, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a practical, medical purpose for this technology. The smart shirt can monitor both heart and breathing rates by using optical and electric conductive fibers that are woven into the fabric of the shirt.
The smart shirt project at Georgia Tech was originally financed by the U.S. Navy, beginning in 1996. At that time, the shirt was being designed for soldiers in combat, so that medical personnel could find the exact location of a bullet wound. To pinpoint the location of bullet penetration, a light signal is continually sent from one end of the optical fiber to a receiver on the other end. This fiber is also connected to a personal status monitor worn on the hip. If the light from the emitter does not reach the receiver inside the monitor, this signals that the soldier has been shot. The light signal then bounces back to the point of penetration, which helps doctors find the exact location of the bullet wound.

Photo courtesy SensaTex Inc. An early prototype of the smart shirt developed at Georgia Tech

Wearers of the device attach sensors to their body, pull the shirt on and attach sensor to the smart shirt. The shirt also tracks vital signs, such as heart rate, body temperature and respiration rate. These measurements are monitored in two ways -- through the sensors integrated into the shirt and the sensors on the wearer's body, both of which are connected to the monitor on the hip. Because of it's capability to monitor these vital signs, the shirt is being marketed as a way to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Athletes may also be interested in it to track their body's performance during training and competition.

Sponsored by

The excitement around digital television (DTV) has been growing steadily for several years. If you have been to any of the major electronics stores recently, you have probably noticed shelves filled with digital television sets.
At the same time, television stations have been quietly launching their digital transmitters. The stations and the networks have been outfitting their studios and trucks with the equipment they need to shoot, record and edit with purely digital signals. Almost all prime-time shows and sporting events are now digital.
In most major cities, you can receive digital broadcasts. For example, in San Jose, CA, you can receive about a dozen DTV broadcasts. Even in a relatively small city like Raleigh, NC, you can receive four stations. More than 100 million Americans are able to receive at least one digital broadcast, but far fewer than a million currently do. The main barrier has been the price and complexity of home DTV equipment.
In this article, we will talk about the inexpensive PCI card for your computer that allows you to instantly start experiencing everything that DTV has to offer on your computer monitor.


The accessDTV card has a number of interesting features:

• It allows you to receive all of the DTV stations in your area on your PC.
• It allows you to display the picture you receive in a window on your computer monitor's screen, full on your computer monitor's screen or externally on a DTV display.
• It provides personal video recording that allows you to record DTV broadcasts onto your hard disk for later viewing.
• It provides a service that gives you a program guide, listings for digital broadcasts in your area and links to content-related Web sites.

DTV technology and programming is advancing quickly, and this card lets you experience it all.

If you have read How Digital Television Works, then you are familiar with the world of DTV. Here is a quick summary of the important points:

• Broadcasters in your area have each been allocated a new channel for their DTV broadcasts.
• The broadcasters each transmit a 19.39-Mbps stream of digital data. This signal contains television programs compressed using the MPEG-2 compression system.
• DTV shows can be broadcast at several different resolutions:
  • 480p - The picture is 704x480 scan lines sent at 60 complete frames per second.
  • 720p - The picture is 1280x720 scan lines sent at 60 complete frames per second.
  • 1080i - The picture is 1920x1080 scan lines sent at 60 interlaced frames per second (30 complete frames per second).
• Broadcasters can transmit either a single 1080i high-definition channel that consumes the entire 19.39-Mbps stream, or several different sub-channels by encoding multiple programs at 480p resolution and lower bit rates. For example, the DTV station 53 can have sub-channels named 53.1, 53.2 and 53.3. accessDTV can record and play back the sub-channels.

The accessDTV Digital­ Media Receiver Solution consists of hardware and software. The hardware is a PCI card that you install inside your PC. The software controls the card and allows you to tune in and view DTV broadcasts in your area, using either your computer monitor or an external HDTV display.


The following figure shows you a block diagram of the components on the accessDTV PCI card:

Components on the accessDTV board

The tuner receives the signal from the antenna and tunes in a single channel. The demodulator retrieves the 19.39-Mbps digital stream from the channel. The MPEG decoder decompresses the MPEG encoding and separates subchannels. The signal then goes to either the connectors on the board that connect to a DTV monitor, or to the computer's video card directly. MPEG signals and sound information can go through the PCI bus to the hard disk and sound card, respectively.
The two most important components on the accessDTV card are:

• The digital tuner
• The MPEG-2 decoding system

By connecting a standard UHF/VHF antenna to the accessDTV card, you can tune in any of the 69 DTV channels. (In a typical city, there will be from three to 10 DTV channels on the air.) The tuner pulls the 19.39-Mbps data stream off the channel you choose.
The MPEG-2 decoder circuit decodes this data stream and separates any sub-channels so that you can view them. This is the most important part of the card because it offloads all of the MPEG-2 decoding from your CPU.
The 19.39-Mbps stream is so complex that it would totally consume a Pentium 4 processor running at 1.5 gigahertz (GHz). The accessDTV card contains a custom processor specifically tuned for MPEG-2 decoding. With the accessDTV card handling decompression, only about 5 percent of your computer's CPU power is spent displaying the digital image on the screen. From your computer monitor, you can watch a DTV broadcast in one window and do anything you want in other windows without even knowing that the card is running.
The card also contains a cable-ready and NTSC off-the-air-ready analog tuner. You can connect the coax from your cable system or a standard TV antenna and receive analog channels 2 through 83 as you would on any normal TV. You can also view these channels in a window on your computer screen.


The accessDTV card comes with a collection of connectors that you use to accept video input and generate audio/video output. This diagram shows you the connectors:
Here's what these connectors do:

• Analog in - This accepts analog video input. The input can be an analog-TV antenna, a feed from the cable company, or a channel-3 input from something like a VCR or DVD player.
• Digital in - This accepts digital video input. Typically, this would be the Yagi antenna collecting the digital broadcasts in your community, but it could also be a cable from a digital satellite receiver.
• Dolby Digital Surround Sound (AC-3) output - This is the output for digital sound. Typically, you would connect this to your 5.1-channel home-theater sound system (see How Home Theater Works).
• PC Video passthru in
• Video output - This looks like a standard VGA connector. You can use a cable to connect this to the component video input of any supported digital display, including DTV sets. In this case, the card acts as the display's digital receiver.

There are two typical ways that you might connect the card in your home: for computer-only viewing or for HDTV-display viewing.


Computer-only Viewing
Let's say that you do not own an HDTV display right now, and you simply want to watch HDTV broadcasts on your computer's monitor. You would do the following:

1. Connect a standard UHF/VHF antenna to the digital video input on the accessDTV card.
2. Connect the cable that comes with the accessDTV card between the card and your normal video card.
3. Run the accessDTV application, choose your channel and enjoy the broadcast. You can watch DTV in a window or full-screen on your computer monitor.

HDTV-display Viewing
Let's say that you own an HDTV display and a home-theater sound system, and you want to watch HDTV broadcasts on your HDTV display. This means that you want to use your accessDTV card as the digital receiver for your HDTV display. You would do the following:

1. Connect a standard DTV antenna to the digital video input on the accessDTV card.
2. Connect the cable that comes with the accessDTV card between the card and your normal video card.
3. Connect the external HDTV display to the XVGA connector on the accessDTV card using a standard XVGA-to-RGB cable.
4. Connect the home-theater sound system to the serial-digital output on the accessDTV card.
5. Run the accessDTV application, choose your channel and enjoy the broadcast. You can watch DTV on the external HDTV display, or in a window or full screen on your computer monitor.

The accessDTV card is a very interesting product because, when combined with its software, it can do many different things.

A typical screen shot when using the accessDTV board

The Basic Idea
The basic idea behind the accessDTV card/software combination is that, once installed in your computer, it allows you to watch DTV on your computer's monitor. There is nothing else to buy, so this is definitely the least expensive way ever to watch DTV in your home. And, it turns out that in full-screen mode, this is a good way to watch DTV -- standard computer monitors create a high-quality display that really shows off the clarity of DTV.
Because the card does all the heavy lifting when it comes to decoding both digital- and analog-TV streams, the card has almost no impact on the performance of your machine. You can have a DTV broadcast displaying in a window on your screen and do anything else you would normally do with your computer.
In a sense, the DTV window on your monitor is just like watching a streaming video on a Web site. The difference is that the DTV window is:

• Incredibly clear - It is receiving data at 19.39 Mbps. The maximum speed you can get off the Web is perhaps a 300-kilobit per second (Kbps) streaming connection, and 100 Kbps is much more typical. The HDTV signal is about 200 times faster than a typical streaming connection, and it is never interrupted by network delays.
• Non-disruptive - When you watch a streaming media presentation off the Web, the act of streaming the data into your machine consumes your entire Internet connection. It also consumes a lot of CPU power decoding the signal. Your HDTV window consumes zero network bandwidth. The card does all the digital decoding, so your computer is free of this task and able to do other things.

In other words, the accessDTV card gives you the best streaming media you have ever seen! It also gives you a new way to use your computer. Typically, you use your computer and watch TV in different rooms. Now, the two activities are integrated on your computer -- you can watch DTV in one window while browsing the Internet or working on a presentation in another window.


An additional benefit to viewing DTV on your computer is that some broadcasters are sending Web pages alongside shows. Some DTV stations broadcast Web content on a 1- or 2-Mbps sub-channel, and you can view it in a browser on your computer screen. This is a new idea that is waiting for clear standards and patterns, but some broadcasters are trying it now.
DTV Receiver
The accessDTV in your computer can turn your computer into a great DTV receiver. You can plug your HDTV display and home-theater sound system into the card, and the card will send out exactly the same signals that any other DTV receiver does. This can save you the cost of purchasing a separate DTV receiver. This receiver will also be more versatile than other receivers on the market today because...
Video Recorder
One of the most interesting parts of the accessDTV software is the Personal Video Recording, or digital video recorder, that comes with it. You can program the recorder to record any channel, and the card will stream an entire 19.39-Mbps channel to your hard disk. Because it is the entire channel, this means that all sub-channels and any data streams within the channel are all recorded, and the card can later play them back as though it were receiving the broadcast signal. The video recorder consumes about 9 gigabytes (GB) of disk space every hour, so an inexpensive 60-GB hard disk holds about seven hours of video.
Personal Program Guide
The accessDTV card comes with a program guide service that lets you see all of the programs in your area and tune them in. The service lets you:

• Change channels
• Sort program listings
• Search the listings
• Save searches
• Schedule recordings
• Link to content-related sites

Other Features
The software also makes it easy to communicate with other viewers over the Web. You can:

• Select a default chat location
• Select default instant messaging services
• Easily access chat and instant messaging

In the screen shot below, you can see four features provided by the accessDTV software.

A typical screen shot when using the accessDTV board

Clockwise from upper right:

• DTV program in a window - The window can also be displayed full-screen or minimized.
• Personal Program Guide showing you all available programming in your area
• Regular Web site in a browser - You can run any applications you like while accessDTV is on the screen.
• accessDTV Virtual Remote Control that lets you select channels, set the volume, change modes, record, pause, fast-forward and rewind

Installing the accessDTV card and software takes 10 to 15 minutes. You can install it in any machine that has a Pentium II processor running at 400 megahertz (MHz) or better as long as the machine has a free PCI slot -- see the bottom of this page for details on the minimum system requirements.
Here is a brief description of the installation process:

1. Shut down your computer.
2. Unplug the computer from the power source, and unplug the keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, etc. from the back of the computer.
3. Remove the computer's cover.
4. Install the accessDTV card in an empty PCI slot.

5. Replace the cover and plug everything back in.
6. Attach the supplied cable between the accessDTV card and your video card.
7. Connect a DTV antenna to the accessDTV card.
8. Insert the CD in your CD drive and install accessDTV software.
9. Reboot your machine.
10. Run the newly installed software.
11. Tune in a channel and enjoy the broadcast.

You will be able to watch DTV programs in a window or full screen on your computer monitor. If you additionally connect an HDTV display and home-theater sound system to the accessDTV card, you can use your computer as the display's HDTV receiver and save the cost of purchasing an external receiver for the display.
Things to Know Before Installing
You should know about the accessDTV product specifications and minimum system requirements before installing it on your computer.


Product Specifications

• PCI Bus Mastering DTV Video/Audio Card - accessDTV products sold in North America are compatible with all 18 ATSC digital formats and NTSC video/audio format.
• ATSC/NTSC TV tuner
• 125-channel, cable-ready analog TV tuner
• 69-channel DTV tuner
• Inputs:
  • digital and analog antenna
  • cable/satellite coax
• Outputs:
  • DTV
  • AC/3 surround sound audio
• DTV video-loopback cable to graphics board
• Internal stereo audio via PCI bus to compatible sound card

Minimum System Requirements
To operate accessDTV, you will need the following:

• Pentium II CPU 400 MHz or faster
• Windows 98SE, 2000 or ME
• 64 MB RAM for Windows 98SE and ME
• 128 MB RAM for Windows 2000
• Open, full-length PCI slot
• DirectX-compatible sound & graphics card
• 50 MB of disk space for software installation
• 4.5 GB recommended per half hour of program content for PVCR functions
• CD-ROM drive
• Mouse

Video games have been entertaining us for nearly 30 years, ever since Pong was introduced to arcades in the early 1970s. Computer graphics have become much more sophisticated since then, and soon, game graphics will seem all too real. In the next decade, researchers plan to pull graphics out of your television screen or computer display and integrate them into real-world environments. This new technology, called augmented reality, will further blur the line between what's real and what's computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell.

Augmented-reality displays will overlay computer-generated graphics onto the real world.

On the spectrum between virtual reality, which creates immersible, computer-generated environments, and the real world, augmented reality is closer to the real world. Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds, haptics and smell to the natural world as it exists. You can expect video games to drive the development of augmented reality, but this technology will have countless applications. Everyone from tourists to military troops will benefit from the ability to place computer-generated graphics in their field of vision.
Augmented reality will truly change the way we view the world. Picture yourself walking or driving down the street. With augmented-reality displays, which will eventually look much like a normal pair of glasses, informative graphics will appear in your field of view, and audio will coincide with whatever you see. These enhancements will be refreshed continually to reflect the movements of your head. In this article, we will take a look at this future technology, its components and how it will be used.


The basic idea of augmented reality is to superimpose graphics, audio and other sense enhancements over a real-world environment in real-time. Sounds pretty simple. Besides, haven't television networks been doing that with graphics for decades? Well, sure -- but all television networks do is display a static graphic that does not adjust with camera movement. Augmented reality is far more advanced than any technology you've seen in television broadcasts, although early versions of augmented reality are starting to appear in televised races and football games, such as Racef/x and the super-imposed first down line, both created by SporTVision. These systems display graphics for only one point of view. Next-generation augmented-reality systems will display graphics for each viewer's perspective. Augmented reality is still in an early stage of research and development at various universities and high-tech companies. Eventually, possibly by the end of this decade, we will see the first mass-marketed augmented-reality system, which one researcher calls "the Walkman of the 21st century." What augmented reality attempts to do is not only superimpose graphics over a real environment in real-time, but also change those graphics to accommodate a user's head- and eye- movements, so that the graphics always fit the perspective. Here are the three components needed to make an augmented-reality system work:

• head-mounted display
• tracking system
• mobile computing power

Photo courtesy Columbia University Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Lab Early prototype of a mobile augmented-reality system

The goal of augmented-reality developers is to incorporate these three components into one unit, housed in a belt-worn device that wirelessly relays information to a display that resembles an ordinary pair of eyeglasses. Let's take a look at each of the components of this system.


Just as monitors allow us to see text and graphics generated by computers, head-mounted displays (HMDs) will enable us to view graphics and text created by augmented-reality systems. So far, there haven't been many HMDs created specifically with augmented reality in mind. Most of the displays, which resemble some type of skiing goggles, were originally created for virtual reality. There are two basic types of HMDS:

• video see-through
• optical see-through

Video see-through displays block out the wearer's surrounding environment, using small video cameras attached to the outside of the goggles to capture images. On the inside of the display, the video image is played in real-time and the graphics are superimposed on the video. One problem with the use of video cameras is that there is more lag, meaning that there is a delay in image-adjustment when the viewer moves his or her head.

Photo courtesy Columbia University Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Lab Augmented-reality displays are still pretty bulky; but developers believe that they can create a display that resembles a pair of eyeglasses.

Most companies who have made optical see-through displays have gone out of business. Sony makes a see-through display that some researchers use, called the Glasstron. Blair MacIntyre, director of the Augmented Environments Lab at Georgia Tech, believes that the Microvision's Virtual Retinal Display holds the most promise for an augmented-reality system. This device actually uses light to paint images onto the retina by rapidly moving the light source across and down the retina. The problem with the Microvision display is that it currently costs about $10,000. MacIntyre says that the retinal-scanning display is promising because it has the potential to be small. He imagines an ordinary-looking pair of glasses that will have a light source on the side to project images on to the retina.


The biggest challenge facing developers of augmented reality is the need to know where the user is located in reference to his or her surroundings. There's also the additional problem of tracking the movement of users' eyes and heads. A tracking system has to recognize these movements and project the graphics related to the real-world environment the user is seeing at any given moment. Currently, both video see-through and optical see-through displays typically have lag in the overlaid material due to the tracking technologies currently available. For augmented reality to reach its full potential, it must be usable both outdoors and indoors. Currently, the best tracking technology available for large open areas is the Global Positioning System. However, GPS receivers have an accuracy of about 10 to 30 meters, which is not bad in the grand scheme of things, but isn't good enough for augmented reality, which needs accuracy measured in millimeters or smaller. An augmented-reality system would be worthless if the graphics projected were of something 10 to 30 meters away from what you were actually looking at.
There are ways to increase tracking accuracy. For instance, the military uses multiple GPS signals. There is also differential GPS, which involves using an area that has already been surveyed. Then the system would use a GPS receiver with an antenna that's location is known very precisely to track your location within that area. This will allow users to know exactly how inaccurate their GPS receivers are, and can adjust an augmented-reality system accordingly. Differential GPS allows for submeter accuracy. A more accurate system being developed, known as real-time kinematic GPS, can achieve centimeter-level accuracy.
Tracking is easier in small spaces than in large spaces. Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have developed a very precise system that works within 500 square feet. The HiBall Tracking System is an optoelectronic tracking system made of two parts:

• six user-mounted, optical sensors
• infrared-light-emitting diodes (LEDs) embedded in special ceiling panels

Photo courtesy Tracking Project at UNC-Chapel Hill The Hiball Tracking System uses an optical sensing device and LED-embedded ceiling tiles to track movements over a short range.

The system uses the known location of the LEDs, the known geometry of the user-mounted optical sensors and a special algorithm to compute and report the user's position and orientation. The system resolves linear motion of less than .2 millimeters, and angular motions less than .03 degrees. It has an update rate of more than 1500 Hz, and latency is kept at about one millisecond.


For a wearable augmented reality system, there is still not enough computing power to create stereo 3-D graphics. So researchers are using whatever they can get out of laptops and personal computers, for now. Laptops are just now starting to be equipped with graphics processing units (GPUs). Toshiba just added an NVidia GPU to their notebooks that is able to process more than 17-million triangles per second and 286-million pixels per second, which can enable CPU-intensive programs, such as 3-D games. But still, notebooks lag far behind -- NVidia has developed a custom 300-MHz 3-D graphics processor for Microsoft's upcoming Xbox game console that can produce 150 million polygons per second -- and polygons are more complicated than triangles. So you can see how far mobile graphics chips have to go before they can create smooth graphics like the ones you see on your home video-game system.
Practical portable 3-D systems won't be available until at least 2005, said MacIntyre. His research lab is currently using a ThinkPad to power their mobile augmented-reality system. The top ThinkPads use an ATI Mobility 128, 16-MB graphics chip.


Once researchers overcome the challenges that face them, augmented reality will likely pervade every corner of our lives. It has the potential to be used in almost every industry, including:

• Maintenance and construction - This will likely be one of the first uses for augmented reality. Markers can be attached to a particular object that a person is working on, and the augmented-reality system can draw graphics on top of it. This is a more simple form of augmented reality, since the system only has to know where the user is in reference to the object that he or she is looking at. It's not necessary to track the person's exact physical location.
• Military - The military has been devising uses for augmented reality for decades. In fact, the Office of Naval Research has sponsored some augmented-reality research. And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has funded an HMD project to develop a display that can be coupled with a portable information system. The idea here is that an augmented-reality system could provide troops with vital information about their surroundings, such as showing where entrances are on the opposite end of a building, somewhat like X-ray vision. Augmented reality displays could also highlight troop movements, and give soldiers the ability to move to where the enemy can't see them.
• Instant information - Tourists and students could use these systems to learn more about a certain historical event. Imagine walking onto a Civil War battlefield and seeing a re-creation of historical events on a head-mounted, augmented-reality display. It would immerse you in the event, and the view would be panoramic.
• Gaming - How cool would it be to take video games outside? The game could be projected onto the real world around you, and you could, literally, be in it as one of the characters. One Australian researcher has created a prototype game that combines Quake, a popular video game, with augmented reality. He put a model of a university campus into the game's software. Now, when he uses this system, the game surrounds him as he walks across campus.

There are hundreds of potential applications for such a technology, gaming and entertainment being the most obvious ones. Any system that gives people instant information, requiring no research on their part, is bound to be a valuable to anyone in pretty much any field. Augmented-reality systems will instantly recognize what someone is looking at, and retrieve and display the data related to that view.

By now, you've probably heard of the "$100 laptop," a product five years in the making. The XO laptop, as it's officially called, is produced by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Nicholas Negroponte, who also founded the MIT Media Lab. The OLPC Foundation aims to provide these laptops to millions of children throughout the developing world in order to improve their education and their quality of life. Let's take a look at the XO laptop to find why it's generating so much buzz.

Image courtesy Mike McGregor The OLPC Foundation hopes to sell millions of its laptops to governments around the world to provide educational opportunities for children.

The XO laptop was designed to be lightweight, cheap and adaptable to the conditions of the developing world. While a $100 laptop is the goal, as of September 2007, the laptop costs about $188. Originally the OLPC Foundation said that governments must buy the laptop in batches of 25,000 to distribute to their citizens, but a new program will soon allow private citizens to purchase an XO.
As of Nov. 12, 2007, the Give 1 Get 1 (G1G1) program allowed U.S. residents to pay $399 to buy two XO laptops -- one for the purchaser and one for a child in need in a foreign country. The program's initial run lasted two weeks. To start, laptops purchased through this program were given to children in Afghanistan, Haiti, Rwanda and Cambodia. More laptops should be available for sale in the future, and more developing nations will be able to apply to join the G1G1 plan.
As of September 2007, about 7,000 laptops were being tested by children around the world. Many governments have expressed interest in the laptop or verbally committed to buying it, but Negroponte said that some haven't followed through on their promises. Still, enough computers were ordered -- observers estimated more than three million -- that full-scale production began in July 2007.
The OLPC Foundation faces some challenges and criticism besides getting governments to commit to buying the XO. A common question is: Why give a child a laptop when he might need food, water, electricity or other basic amenities? To that, the OLPC says that the XO laptop offers children a sense of ownership and ensures that they're no longer dependent on a corrupt or inept government to provide educational opportunities. The computer is a powerful tool for learning and collaboration, exposing children to a wealth of knowledge and providing opportunities that they would not normally have. It also replaces the need for textbooks, which are expensive, easily damaged and less interactive.
In many parts of the developing world, people live in large family groupings. The XO laptop allows children, parents, grandparents and cousins to teach each other. In some communities with limited electricity, children have used the laptop's bright screen as a light.
The OLPC Foundation faces some competitors, even among nonprofit organizations. Also, Michael Dell and Bill Gates have questioned aspects of the computer's design. Other companies have launched competing low-cost laptops, though none with the scale or publicity of the OLPC Foundation project. Intel initially criticized the device, then started selling its own low-cost laptop, and finally decided to join the OLPC project.
Next, we'll take a look at the remarkable technology behind the XO.

Video Gallery: One Laptop Per ChildNicholas Negroponte is the founder of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child Foundation. Watch this video to learn why he thinks the XO laptop could save the developing world.

The XO laptop's design emphasizes cheap, durable construction that can survive a variety of climates and the rigors of the developing world. The machine can withstand dirt, scratches, impact and water while also providing long battery life. Every feature is carefully engineered to conform to these standards and to minimize the need for maintenance. To that end, the XO laptop has no moving parts -- no hard drive with spinning platters, no cooling fans, no optical drive.

Image courtesy Mike McGregor As seen here, the XO laptop's screen can be twisted and laid flat, transforming the laptop into an e-book.

Unlike most commercially available laptops, the XO's display is readable in full sunlight. Users can switch between color and black-and-white viewing modes to save energy. The screen "swivels" around, making the computer into a tablet or e-book.
The 433 Mhz AMD processor and 256 megabytes of SDRAM are unimpressive by today's standards, but the XO has ample speed to run its lightweight, no-frills software. The XO's processor is designed to be energy efficient, and several devices are available to recharge the battery, including an electrical adapter, hand crank, foot-pedal and solar-powered charger.
Rather than a traditional hard drive, the XO has a 1 gigabyte flash drive, similar to what's used in USB thumb drives, the iPod nano and digital camera memory. Google will provide online storage services, and some communities or schools will have servers with large amounts of hard drive space. The computer also has an SD memory slot to add more storage.
Like most new computers, the XO has an integrated WiFi card. But it does have something most computers don't have. The XO's green "rabbit ear" antennae boost the wireless card's range up to 1.2 miles [source: BBC News]. The computer isn't dependent on a router being nearby either. Instead, XO laptops can form a mesh network; any computers within WiFi range can connect to one another and share Internet access through a computer that's within range of a wireless connection. Think of it like a line of people, with each person touching the shoulder in front of him. The person in front may be the only one closest enough to a router to access the Internet, but that Internet access can filter throughout the mesh network.
The XO's durable, waterproof plastic shell has an integrated video camera, microphone, three USB ports and speakers. Its keyboard can be adapted for different countries and alphabets.
The Red Hat software company supplies a version of the popular open-source Linux operating system. Other software includes a Web browser (Mozilla Firefox), a word processor compatible with Microsoft Word, a PDF reader, a music program, games and a drawing program.
Whether the XO laptop changes education and community life in developing countries remains to be seen. World leaders such as Kofi Annan have praised the device. The XO has the potential to be an incredibly useful and empowering educational tool, changing how children and communities learn, interact and relate to one another. But it will take years to gauge the project's success. If nothing else, elements of the XO's award-winning design will surely find their way into commercial laptops. And since the OLPC project's inception, the passion and ingenuity of Negroponte and his team have reinvigorated the discussion about how to best serve the developing world and to bridge the digital divide.

In September 2007, an Australia-based company called Fairlight introduced a new digital audio production device named Xynergi. Gadget blogs covered the story and called Xynergi a $28,000 keyboard. Such labels are misleading. In reality, identifying Xynergi as a $28,000 keyboard is like saying the audio system inside a Bentley is a $250,000 radio -- it misses the big picture.
The Xynergi keyboard is part of a desktop media production center package. Fairlight designed Xynergi to meet the needs of small, professional media editing studios. With Xynergi, engineers can capture audio, manipulate individual tracks, add effects, mix multiple tracks together and edit video files. While the device's complexity and price tag mean the average consumer isn't going to buy it, Xynergi might be a good choice for someone with a small recording studio or media companies that need an interface that will let them edit audio and video quickly.

Photo courtesy Fairlight The Xynergi Keyboard and CC-1 Card. See more pictures of computer keyboards.

The Xynergi keyboard looks like a large computer keyboard with several extra keys, a few knobs, a dial called a jog wheel and a rectangular color monitor above the main array of keys. Fairlight calls the monitor and the surrounding controls the pad. Xynergi's main key array is in the standard QWERTY layout with a number pad on the right. Engineers use the knobs, keys and jog wheel to manipulate digital audio and video files.
If you've ever seen a professional audio mixing console or video editing control system, you know that there are many more switches, knobs and toggles than you'll find on the Xynergi keyboard. In order to replicate the functions that these large consoles have, Fairlight came up with a clever idea -- self-labeling keys. These are keys that can change functions and key labels depending on what you're trying to do. Each key is a small computer monitor that can display different characters, including letters, symbols and words. Xynergi has an "animate" feature that makes keys flash on and off or change colors during specific tasks. The keys can even display video. As engineers switch from one operating mode to another (for example, moving from a word processing mode to an audio mixing mode), the key labels change and the keys themselves map to new functions.
In this article, we'll take a look at what makes Xynergi tick, examine some of Xynergi's functions and learn more about Fairlight's market strategy for Xynergi, including where you can pick one up and how much it'll set you back.

Video Gallery: Keyboard Solution One complaint about PDAs is that their keyboards are simply too small. The "Foleo" is the world's smallest laptop -- bigger than a handheld computer or smartphone, but smaller than the average laptop. The $599 device may bring relief to those tired of typing on those little keyboards. See how the Foleo works in this news video from Reuters.

In the next section, we'll take a closer look at the technology behind Xynergi.
The real source of Xynergi's amazing functionality is Fairlight's CC-1 card. "CC" stands for Crystal Core, Fairlight's processing platform for its audio production hardware. The CC-1 is both a microprocessor and a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCI-Express) card. To use a Xynergi device, an engineer has to first connect it to a PC using the CC-1 card. He or she would need to install the card in one of the computer's expansion slots, which connects the card to the computer's motherboard.

It's Easy Being GreenComputer Processing Units (CPUs) coupled with FPGA devices are much faster and more efficient than a CPU working alone. FPGA devices have a much lower power requirement than a CPU. Fairlight claims that the CC-1 generates 98 percent less heat than a normal digital signal processor (DSP) and requires only 12 watts of electricity (as opposed to 600 watts for a DSP). Engineers can reduce their studios' carbon footprint by using more efficient electronics like the Xynergi system.

The CC-1 is a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device. An FPGA device can contain thousands of logic gates, which are the basic building blocks of digital circuits (to learn more about logic gates, head to our article on How Boolean Logic Works). Fairlight designed the CC-1 to act as a processor. All audio production functions run through the CC-1, not the host computer's CPU. This means that the PC's processing power is available for other programming tasks. In the past, PC-based audio editing devices required a computer almost entirely dedicated to audio production, because audio processing demands are so high. Since the CC-1 handles this load on its own, you can install it on a PC and still run other processes while you edit and mix audio and video tracks.

Photo courtesy Fairlight The Xynergi Keyboard in three different application modes.

Fairlight offers four different configurations for the Xynergi system -- every version can perform the same basic tasks, but the higher-end versions have more processing capability. The top-of-the-line system is the Xynergi MPC-230F, which has 230 processing channels, 96 concurrent recording tracks and 192 concurrent playback tracks. In other words, Xynergi engineers can record, edit, mix and play back dozens of individual audio tracks to make rich, complex master recordings.
Xynergi systems also include an I/O toolbox called an SX-20. The SX-20 has two preamps, which are outputs that boost the power of a signal before sending the signal to another component (to learn more, read our article on How Amplifiers Work). The system also has two analog inputs, 12 analog outputs, four digital inputs and eight digital outputs, which allow the engineer to connect the system to other components, including microphones, instruments and speakers.
The Xynergi media production center runs on proprietary Fairlight production software. Xynergi can create and edit most media file formats, but its interactive keyboard isn't designed to work with other video and audio production software.
Xynergi's hardware and software give the system amazing capabilities. In the next section, we'll learn more about some of Xynergi's functions.
Xynergi's interactive keyboard has application awareness, which means the keys display only the symbols and commands appropriate for the application currently in use. If an engineer needs to jot some notes down in Microsoft Word, for example, he or she can push a key on the Xynergi keyboard to activate Word. The Xynergi's keyboard then switches to a QWERTY keyboard. When finished, the engineer can push the Edit key to return to Xynergi's editing software, and the keys will change again.

Photo courtesy Fairlight An audio engineer uses Xynergi to manipulate tracks.

Because every key is actually a small color monitor, keys change colors to indicate active functions. For example, if an engineer wants to work on a specific track, he or she can push a button mapped to that track. The key will change from blue to red, indicating the track is active and ready for mixing or editing applications. If the engineer assigns a name to a specific track, the name will appear on the key mapped to that track.
Engineers use the jog wheel whenever they need to scan through an audio track quickly. Rotating the jog wheel clockwise or counterclockwise advances or reverses the track, respectively. This feature also allows engineers to designate specific sections of a track for editing -- the engineer uses the wheel to mark the beginning and end of a range within a track. The engineer can then add effects to the marked range without affecting the rest of the recording.
Fairlight calls the area that includes the color screen and the surrounding buttons and knobs the pad. The screen displays information about audio tracks, giving users a visual representation of the digital file. It can show the name of an audio track, bars that indicate the distribution of the track's sound across different speaker channels, an equalizer and a time code display. The buttons and knobs surrounding the screen allow an engineer to manipulate the track or set Xynergi in its automated editor mode.

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?Engineers can adjust eight bands of frequencies in each audio channel using Xynergi's equalizer. Lower frequencies, measured in units called hertz, correspond to sounds with a lower pitch. The equalizer lets engineers adjust the tone of an audio track by increasing or decreasing the amplitude of each band of frequencies. To learn more about sound frequencies, read our article on How Analog and Digital Recording Works.

Here are just a few of Xynergi's functions:

• Recording tracks: Xynergi can record incoming audio. Audio can come from other digital devices or straight from an instrument or microphone feed.
• Editing tracks: Engineers can edit audio tracks extensively, adding in effects like echo or reverberation, looping sections of track and adjusting frequency equalization.
• Mixing tracks: Once an engineer has his or her audio tracks adjusted just right, he or she can mix it with other tracks, eventually creating a complex master track. Xynergi can even take over mixing duties with an automated mixing program.
• Playback: Xynergi can play audio tracks, sending the signal to speakers connected to the media center. Engineers can isolate a specific speaker to make sure the right level of sound is reaching it, or listen to all the speakers together to create a surround sound effect.

The Xynergi system includes the same functions you'd find on a large audio or video editing console, but has a price tag that's only a fraction of what those systems cost. In the next section, we'll find out just how much the Xynergi system costs and where you can find one.
While Fairlight estimated Xynergi's retail price at 20,000 euros, which converts to more than $29,000, its actual retail price isn't quite so high. Guitar Center Pro is North America's only distributor of the Xynergi Media Production Center, and its price is only $22,973. For this price, you get the keyboard, a CC-1 card, an SX-20 I/O toolbox and the Xynergi software toolkit. You'll still need a PC (Xynergi is not Mac compatible), monitors, speakers and other input and output devices -- the Xynergi Media Production Center doesn't include them.

David Ellis, morgueFile A Xynergi system might seem expensive, but compared to the cost of equipment in this traditional audio engineering studio, it's a real bargain.

After purchasing a Xynergi system, you might find yourself overwhelmed with its functions. Fortunately, Fairlight foresaw this very problem and included an interactive help system called Xplain. To use the Xplain system, you hold down the Xplain button on the keyboard and then press any other key to find out what it does and how to use it. A corresponding help message appears on the pad's screen. You can do this with any button, and the system will helpfully tell you what the function does.
Some buttons map to shortcuts to other programs. For example, there's a button for Internet Explorer. Pushing that button will launch IE and the keyboard will switch to the QWERTY layout. Users can map keys to specific functions not included in Xynergi's package, though the system may not be able to use its application awareness feature for every program.
Fairlight first began to ship the Xynergi platform out to customers and retailers in September 2007. The first business in the United States to purchase the system was Buzzy's Recording, a studio based in Los Angeles. The company plans on using Xynergi for voice overs and automated dialogue replacement (ADR) [source: Fairlight]. Fairlight expects the system to gain popularity quickly within the audio and video editing industry.

The System that Goes Up to 11A tricked-out Xynergi Media Production Center includes:

• Two 12-Fader Sidecars, devices that give you more control over digital tracks
• Four SX-48 Signal Exchange consoles, which would expand your system's I/O capacity to 192 channels
• A four-channel microphone preamplifier
• Sound effects management software
• HD video support