Convergence

The world has gone digital, and it's now available in high definition.  The idea of tying it all together is now more than just wishful thinking.  Sure if you are ridiculously wealthy, the option of having someone rewire your home, and building you a very nice custom solution was always available.  For the rest of us, there have been attempts in the past to bring things from different communication mediums and make them work together, some of these attempts have been short lived (answering your phone with your TV), others have hung around, like WEBTV, which allows you to bring the web, e-mail, streaming music and video to your TV.

We have all grown comfortable with the integration of once distinct mediums working together; cameras with the web, and even cameras with our cell phones.   We are even comfortable with companies entering into new lines of business; Sony making computers and Apple making Walkmans (I-Pod).  But Dell Computer Corporation and Hewlett-Packard making and selling high definition big screen TVs?  Cisco Systems Inc. making a Wi-Fi boombox?  Long-time high end Audio component manufacturers Onkyo and Yamaha putting Ethernet and RS-232 ports on AV receivers.  What’s next ?

In the world of home entertainment, convergence is here, and it doesn’t require you to buy everything from one manufacturer to have all of your AV equipment work together.  You can choose the type of high definition television (HDTV) you prefer; DLP, LCoS, LCD, Plasma, or a Projector.  Choose one of the two new high definition DVD formats (HD DVD or Blu-ray).  Get high definition television programming via digital cable, DirecTV, Dish Network and other providers.  Hook up your HD XBox 360, Playstation 3, or Nintendo Wii gaming console to you AV Receiver so you can enjoy the Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD surround sound of your game.  Or maybe you just prefer to kick back and and enjoy a little HD Radio.  Yes, even radio is available in high definition; everyone and everything is now available in HD.

You don't have to subscribe to anyone else's vision of convergence, you can build it the way you want; use a HDTV from one company, a HD DVD from another, an AV Receiver from a third and a set-top-box from your satellite or cable company, without a table full of remotes, and a PhD in remote controls.  You don’t even have to remember an 8 button sequence to push, to go from watching TV to watching a DVD.  Remote controls are smarter, and with the introduction and growing adoption of the HDMI 1.3 standard, even the interconnecting wiring is smarter.