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Inside the Digital Den
November 2000
Nerve center
Souped-up PC serves media streams.
Maury Wright
I've always been willing to overlook the PC's faults, and I continue to think it has a place as the central hub of the connected home. I know all about the blue screen of death and the lengthy boot process, but there's not a consumer appliance out there that offers the PC's flexibility. Going forward, I believe that the wired home needs a network resource that can act as a central store for audio and video, that can stream content to other devices throughout the home, and that affords the horsepower necessary to encode not just audio, but video as well.
These beliefs about the PC come from my experiences with digital-audio and -video technologies, many of which I've chronicled in these pages. I acknowledge that the arguments I will make here rely on the presence of a home LAN, but I believe the connected home will include that LAN.
My experience with digital audio convinced me of the need for a single storage resource for music files. Encoding music doesn't require nearly as much horsepower as video; almost any PC can perform the feat quickly. But storing those files presents a tremendous logistical problem when the music is spread across my family's two PCs, my office system, and even my notebook. Music eats disk space in any case, but storing files in multiple locations consumes even more. Moreover, the presence of files on multiple systems creates fragmentation and partitioning issues. The answer is one PC with a disk partition dedicated to music.
Video presents quite a different problem. TV- or higher-quality video, even when compressed, requires far too much disk space for a hard disk to serve as permanent storage. With any luck, DVD-RAM will emerge in that role and become an integral part of the central server (see "Too many flavors" for more DVD info). Still, in my view, the PC processor and hard disk have vital video-related jobs, including encoding/decoding and temporary storage, respectively.
The wrong path
While working on the PVR (personal video recorder) article for the October issue (see "Big Brother"), it struck me that early adopters are being led along a terribly inefficient storage path. Both the Replay and TiVo PVRs have their own hard disks. The TiVo-enabled DirecTV receiver that Sony has announced will have its own disk. You'll find a hard disk in ZapMedia's ZapStation—an Internet-connected, living-room audio and video player. And many other products slated for the home have disks as well.
I appreciate that hard disks have attained incredibly high capacity levels at incredibly low prices (check our December issue for a feature on storage devices). Still, in the home, it makes sense to have multiple audio and video devices share a central storage resource. On the current path, the disk space in any given device may go wasted. If my PVR is using only 20 percent of its capacity, I can't allocate the rest to store MP3 files. Moreover, these isolated appliances offer no means for backup, something a central server could provide.
Given all these feelings, I decided to build a state-of-the-art PC and test it in what's likely the most demanding role a central server might face—acting as a PVR. Because the PVR application requires simultaneous encoding and decoding of video, it provides a good test of the capabilities of an advanced PC. What's more, many PC owners will shortly have low-cost access to such an application.
 TRUMP CARD: ATI Technology’s All-In-Wonder Radeon card provides the horsepower needed to perform PC-based PVR functions. |
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Like the software-based DVD decoders that emerged a few years back, software-based live-video encoders will shortly ship with graphics cards from multiple vendors. ATI Technologies will offer PVR software with its All-In-Wonder Radeon card, which could be on store shelves by the time you read this. Like other All-In-Wonder products, the Radeon integrates a TV tuner and can drive not only PC monitors, but also TVs. ATI also offers a Radeon chip, which PC makers can build into systems. Likewise, Nvidia has stated that its chips will support PVR functions. What's more, you can now buy stand-alone PVR software in the form of Cyberlink's PowerVCR II, which works with TV tuner cards from a number of companies.
Fact is, many users might get their first exposure to PVR capabilities via a PC, rather than shelling out for a living-room unit. And the PC-based application isn't just a novelty. A PVR in a central server could ultimately be an essential resource in a wired home. Home LAN and other technologies are emerging to distribute a stream from the server to any computer or entertainment node in the home (see sidebar, "Air waves," for an example of such a product). And today, more and more consumers have a living-room PC, which sits near a TV and could display the recorded shows.
Build time
With the PC-based PVR goal in mind, I began gathering equipment that could enable the video-encoding task. I hoped to get an All-In-Wonder Radeon card, but because the card wasn't yet shipping, I got no promises from ATI.
Starting with its Rage chip set about five years ago, ATI has led the way in providing on-chip DSP (digital signal processing) features that accelerate MPEG-2 decoding. These features, with names like IDCT (indirect discrete cosine transform) and motion compensation, are important because MPEG-2 decoding is the central operation in playing both DVDs and video stored on disk. When such features are built into the graphics chip/card, the industry calls it "hardware acceleration." Hardware acceleration means that you can get by with a slower PC and still run DVD or PVR applications or that you can free the PC processor to perform other operations, such as video encoding.
According to ATI, in order to use the Radeon card for PVR functions (which ATI calls TV-on-Demand), you'll need a 300-MHz Pentium II or better. You'll also need a relatively new motherboard that supports 2X or 4X AGP (accelerated graphics port) data transfers.
Without Radeon-like hardware acceleration, you'll need much more power. For instance, Cyberlink recommends a 650-MHz Pentium III or better to handle MPEG-2 encoding at 720-by-480-pixel resolution. You can get by with a slower system if you're willing to settle for lower resolution or less-intensive (lower quality) MPEG-1 encoding. Realistically, however, to perform full PVR functions (simultaneous encoding and decoding) without hardware acceleration, you'll need an 850-MHz or faster processor.
Turbocharged
I was hoping to test PVR functions at different processor speeds, but I wasn't sure I'd get the Radeon. So I decided to build a 1-GHz system, which would have plenty of horsepower regardless of the graphics card.
The details: I chose an Intel Socket 370 Pentium III processor and a Soyo SY-7ISA motherboard that's based on Intel's 815e core-logic chip set. An Intel representative recommended Crucial Technology's PC-133 CAS2 latency memory for the 815e chip set, and Crucial supplied two 128-Mbyte modules of PC-133 synchronous DRAM.
I also decided to make sure that disk performance wouldn't be an issue. The living-room PVRs ship with 7200-rpm ATA drives, as opposed to the low-cost 5400-rpm models common in PCs. The faster rotation increases data-transfer rate and decreases latency. Maxtor (now merged with Quantum) supplied the 45-Gbyte member of its 7200-rpm DiamondMax Plus family.
Then, lo and behold, a Radeon All-In-Wonder also arrived, albeit with a warning that it was a preproduction sample with beta software. Fearless, I set out to assemble my system (see sidebar, "PC handyman").
Configuring a complex system can be trying. But I got a display on my first power-up, despite the potential conflict between the Radeon card and the graphics controller that's embedded in the 815e chip set.
Out of luck
I should have known better than to get overconfident. And indeed, my luck quickly took a turn for the worse. ATI's preliminary documentation advised that I obtain the latest core-logic drivers for my motherboard. Intel's site advised me to get the drivers from my motherboard vendor, although the drivers are accessible from Intel's site. Presumably, that's because the motherboard vendor may have customized or modified the software.
I headed to the Soyo site, only to be directed back to the Intel site, where three sets of 815e drivers awaited—a chip set driver, a driver to support the faster Ultra-ATA disk interface, and drivers for the integrated graphics controller. I doubted that I needed the graphics drivers, because I intended to use the Radeon board for graphics. Still, the ATI instructions seemed to imply that in some cases the necessary AGP drivers might be included in the graphics drivers. The Intel site, however, made it pretty clear that you shouldn't install the graphics drivers if you planned to also install an AGP or PCI graphics board.
I downloaded the chip-set and ATA drivers and immediately installed the chip-set driver over the top of the one supplied with the Soyo CD-ROM. When the inevitable message asking to restart the computer came up, I figured I was almost home. After restart, I saw the BIOS self-test display, but the monitor went blank when it came time for Windows to load.
Eventually, I remembered the on-chip graphics controller. I was a little confused as to why the display worked during self-test but not under Windows, but after swapping the monitor to the VGA connector integrated on the motherboard, the system worked.
Graphics duel
I've dealt with motherboards that include a dedicated graphics chip before. In most cases, you can disable the chip using a jumper. There was no jumper, however, for the controller buried in the 815e chip set. Moreover, only a single setting in the BIOS configuration seemed to apply. That setting, called "Init Display First," offers the choice of "PCI slot" or "Onboard/AGP." I've yet to make sense of those options, and neither setting seems to have any effect on system operation.
Despite only minor hints gathered from the Intel, Microsoft, Soyo, and ATI Web sites, I ultimately used Device Manager within the Windows Control Panel to create a hardware configuration for the Radeon board. I removed the onboard VGA controller from the Radeon-specific configuration. Then I could boot the system with the Radeon board driving the display.
I then turned my attention to installing the Radeon software. Things began normally, but after the installation routine had copied files to the system, it delivered a strange message that indicated the software didn't support the system's graphics controller. I suspected that the on-chip controller was again meddling where it was unwanted. But I also wondered if ATI might have some upgraded drivers. I downloaded the newest version from ATI's support site, but still got the error message.
I called ATI tech support and got a technician who—once he got over the fact that I actually had a Radeon board—agreed to help. We monkeyed with the "Init Display First" setting again, to no avail, and I assured the tech that there were no jumpers. Ultimately, he instructed me to boot the system in Safe Mode, in which the Radeon board drove the monitor. I used Device Manager to remove all graphics boards and monitors. Upon reboot, Windows found the Radeon board, and I was able to delete the Radeon-specific hardware configuration. Still, before the ATI drivers would install properly, I had to change the graphics driver from a "PCI VGA Controller" to a "Standard VGA Controller."
And I wasn't home free yet. I had installed the latest drivers for the Radeon, so I couldn't run the normal installation program from the ATI disc. I tried to install the multimedia center, which includes the PVR and DVD facilities, separately from the driver-install program, but got some errors. The DVD decoder worked, but the TV programs reported no video hardware.
For my next session, I went back and let the ATI install routine run from the start, even though I knew it would replace the latest drivers with earlier ones. This time the installation, including the multimedia center, seemed to be error-free. I then reinstalled the latest drivers, and, surprise surprise, the TV application opened with a configuration wizard.
Fatal error
Up to this point, I'd been able to solve all my numerous problems. But during the configuration wizard, the computer froze for the first of many times.
After several hard resets and even a couple of forced power downs, I finally completed the wizard and was able to watch cable TV in a resizable window. Unfortunately, I've been unable to run the TV applications for long without hanging the system. I can watch TV in a small window and change channels without problems. Several actions, however, inevitably invoke a crash, including blowing the video up to full screen, starting the digital VCR in record mode, or starting the TV-on-Demand (PVR) mode, which, like TiVo and Replay, lets you pause and rewind live TV.
I want to make it clear that you shouldn't take my experiences here too negatively. ATI warned me that the Radeon board was a preproduction unit. ATI has successfully pioneered the TV-tuner and PC/DVD markets successfully, and I'm confident the company will get the Radeon right. Unfortunately, ATI couldn't help me or supply another Radeon prior to my deadline.
To me, the conflicts with the 815e graphics controller were more troubling than my problems with the TV features. That conflict isn't an ATI problem, but one that Intel, Microsoft, and motherboard and graphics-card vendors must address immediately.
Despite not getting as far as I'd hoped, I can report that the PVR application has some compelling features that exceed the user experience with TiVo and Replay. You get the same type of programming guide—Gemstar Guide Plus+—that you get with the living-room products. However, the guide is much easier to operate with a mouse and keyboard than with a remote control. Moreover, during the short intervals I used TV-on-Demand prior to a system freeze, the Windows interface proved far more flexible than that offered by the consumer PVRs.
Changing horses
With my Radeon experiment suspended and deadline looming, I decided to try one other thing. As mentioned previously, Cyberlink offers the PowerVCR II program, and I had plenty of horsepower to run it. But I was certain I'd experience the same problems that had plagued the Radeon PVR application.
So, over the howls of my son, I removed an ATI All-In-Wonder 128 PRO from his computer. Although this older card lacks digital-encoding capabilities, my son is rather taken with its TV tuner and DVD player. I knew the PowerVCR program would be able to use the tuner on this older card, which is based on ATI's Rage graphics chip.
In a snap, I had the Rage card installed and playing TV and DVD programs. I suspect, however, that the 815e graphics controller would have presented problems here too, had I not already solved them while installing the Radeon.
I downloaded the $100 PowerVCR II program, which also includes the company's PowerDVD player. Installation went off without a hitch, and the software automatically found the ATI tuner. The first time I launched PowerVCR, I saw live video in a window.
Alas, I ran into more problems, which in this case I believe were strictly software-related. I could record video with no problem. However, a green box that obscured almost the entire video window invariably hampered playback. I also found PowerVCR's interface cumbersome, although it provided vast options in terms of video formats. I could not figure out how to use the touted program guide.
You might conclude from my experiences that PC-based PVR functions aren't ready for prime time. I would argue, however, that the forecast isn't nearly so bleak. I expect the shipping version of Radeon to deliver on the PVR promise. At just over $300, the price is on the high side, but not outrageous for the latest-and-greatest graphics hardware. As for PowerVCR II, I'll reserve judgment; I simply ran out of time to chase down the root of my playback problem.
For now, I think the average user should choose a PC that comes pre-equipped with advanced video facilities. I hope I can report more seamless installations down the road. I intend to work through the issues I've encountered and provide updates. Moreover, I hope to build upon this work early next year, perhaps by addressing video editing for home users. After all, both the ATI and Cyberlink software include editing support. Moreover, the Cyberlink software even supports FireWire-based video sources. Sounds like fun.
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Air waves
One prerequisite for my view of the PC as a central server is a viable means to get data from that server to places like the living-room TV and stereo. At some point, a LAN may do the job, moving the bits digitally. Of course that implies that the TV or stereo can decode those bits. Today, we're perhaps better off moving analog signals. So let me tell you about my favorite new convergence product.
Akoo.com just started shipping Kima, a product that wirelessly transmits music from PC to stereo over a range as lengthy as 1000 feet. The $150 product includes two small, stylish modules with antennas (see a picture in this month's GEAR section). The transmitter connects to the PC's speaker output, and an auxiliary output on the transmitter means you can still use PC speakers for local listening. The receiver unit connects to the standard RCA analog inputs of a TV or stereo system.
Kima uses the 900-MHz band to transmit the analog audio. When I piped MP3 music across the wireless link to my stereo, I found the quality to be as good, or perhaps better, than what I experienced directly from the PC. I assume that's due to the quality of my stereo's amplifier and speakers, but it clearly demonstrates that the Kima wireless channel doesn't degrade the music.
Even more compelling, to me, is the ability to play Internet radio broadcasts, say, athletic events, through my stereo. In fact, I prefer Kima to the emerging dedicated living-room appliances that play digital music or streaming audio off the Internet. These players must connect to the Internet via a home LAN. Down the road, when CD players and stereo receivers ship with integrated digital audio codecs and support for streaming media via the Internet, I may rethink my stance. But for now, I'll stick with Kima to get digital sound to the living room, albeit in a very analog manner.
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PC handyman
A number of times over the past decade or so, I've figured that the era of build-it-yourself PCs was about to end. Higher-speed processors with special cooling needs, varied memory options, confusing processor packaging options, and other complexities have complicated the process of building a custom PC. Today, however, it may just be easier to build your own PC than it was a decade ago. And you can save money building that new PC yourself, although the savings are far less than they were a decade ago. You also can choose a precise configuration in terms of functions such as graphics, audio, and video that may be key to specific applications. I went through this exact scenario in building a PC to use in a series of video-related articles for "Inside the Digital Den."
A number of recent developments have simplified the process of building a custom PC. Fortunately, Intel has gone away from the downright goofy Slot 1 and 2 architecture. The PC-100/133 memory standard has simplified memory choices. And thankfully, Intel finally concluded that Rambus doesn't fit in the PC, so a stable memory standard should persevere for some time.
Perhaps most significantly, however, today's motherboards integrate a complete system. The Soyo motherboard in my system includes a graphics controller integrated in the Intel 815e core logic, an AC-97-based audio subsystem, a 100-Mbyte/sec ATA storage interface, and USB support. Moreover, the ATX motherboard standard developed by Intel makes installing a board in a case straightforward. ATX cases have pre-cut holes on the back panel for onboard featured such as audio jacks, mouse and keyboard connectors, and the VGA graphics connector. Gone are the days of ribbon cables that connect to serial, parallel, and USB connectors. Many users would be perfectly happy with a PC based on a board like the Soyo SY-7ISA with no need to add any expansion boards.
In my SY-7ISA-based system, I did add two expansion boards. I added an Ethernet board to link the system to my LAN and shared broadband Internet connection. I also added, at different times, two different ATI All-In-Wonder AGP video cards. I needed the ATI cards for two reasons. The ATI All-In-Wonder family sports TV tuners that would allow me to test a PC in video encoding applications. In addition, ATI's graphics controllers lead the market in integrating DSP-like features that provide a hardware assist in video applications.
It turns out that adding a video card caused one of the few problems I had in my recent work. I installed the ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder before I ever powered the system. I had no problem with the configuration until I upgraded the Intel core-logic software drivers. Somehow that upgrade convinced the system that it should use the graphics controller integrated in the core logic rather than the one on the ATI card. It took a lengthy sequence of operations in the Windows Control Panel to once again have Windows 98 recognize the ATI controller.
Overall, however, my recent experience in building a PC went smoothly. Mechanically, the most difficult task came when I had to install the heat sink on the 1-GHz Pentium III. As processor speeds have increased we've seen any number of chip-cooling schemes, including the fans that clipped to the original 60-MHz Pentium. And of course proper cooling on these chips is a must. My first experience with a 60-MHz Pentium system from Micro revealed just how critical cooling can be. The system began performing erratically at times. A Micron tech support person immediately identified a fan failure as the problem.
Still I wasn't prepared for the complexity of the heat sink that Intel sent with the Pentium III. The kit included a rather large aluminum heat sink and a relatively complex plastic clip to secure the heat sink to the processor socket. Moreover, it included a fan to mount to the top of the heat sink. It also included a less than clearly written and illustrated set of instructions.
The motherboard scarcely had room around the processor socket for the heat sink. Once I figured out how to orient the heat sink I had to nudge a few capacitors to make it fit. The plastic clip attaches to opposite sides of the processor socket and the different sides of the clip are slightly offset. A plastic lever allows you secure the heat sink tightly. Throwing the lever from one side to the other, however, proved problematic. The fit is so tight that it takes quite a bit of force to move the lever on a pivot point into the locked position. In fact, I ended up using a touch of Vaseline on the bottom of the lever that slides along the heat sink. I'm not sure I could have secured the lever in place without breaking something had I not used the lubricant.
Mounting the fan on top of the heat sync also proved a challenge. Some large capacitors were blocking one of the four legs of the fan from reaching latch-like indentations on the processor socket. I ended up using a utility knife to trim away more than half of the width of that one plastic fan leg.
With the mechanical challenges past, installing Windows was simple. Like most new systems, the Soyo board and Award BIOS supports a CD-ROM as a boot device. I configured the BIOS to boot from CD-ROM and the Windows 98 Second Edition CD booted with no problem. Moreover, the installation process recognized all of my peripherals, with the exception of the graphics card. In fact, the install process configured the IP networking section to look for a DHCP server, and I had Internet access the first time the system booted from the hard drive.
I realize that building a PC isn't for everyone. You do have to make sure you get a matching motherboard and processor, although that situation is much improved over the Slot 1 and 2 days. New motherboards have very few jumpers you need to set. The few on the Soyo board came preset correctly, but I did check them. The number of BIOS settings has grown significantly over the last decade, but again most of these choices are set automatically.
I would caution prospective builders to take a careful look at cases. The ones that are advertised at low prices invariably have problems such as poor structural design or a lack of space for storage devices. Don't underestimate your storage needs. Down the road you may need to add a Zip drive or a CD burner. I think you'll find an extra $20 or $30 pays big dividends when it comes to cases.
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Author information
Maury Wright (maury-wright@home.com) is the editor-in-chief of CommVerge.
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