Sony G90 manual Panasonic DVD-L50D PalmTheater, ViaTV VC 105 Videophone, M M a R T I N

O U T O F T H E B O X

Video Travels

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certain fascination tags along with any complex technology Awhen it penetrates a new area of our lives. This is true in part because we get to see familiar things in unfamiliar places. And in part because of the sheer amazement that these new forms of tech-

nology work at all. Making a technology portable frequently triggers this sense of awe. I recall when Sony introduced its first portable CD player, not long after the introduction of CDs to the market, and it was only slightly larger than a jewel case. While this seems trivial now that you can purchase such a machine in a blister pack at Walgreens, at the time it seemed miraculous. Similarly, when a technology can be deliv- ered remotely, it seems quite special. In the mid-Sixties, my father took me to his office to see a new accessory attached to the corporate mainframe computer: the facsimile machine. It wasn’t just surprising; it seemed almost impossible.

cable) should make a huge difference

to this technology.

Panasonic DVD-L50D

PalmTheater

With the advent of DVD, truly portable

video solutions suddenly abound. I’ve

been using a notebook computer with

built in DVD for about a year, and have

found it very useful for watching movies

when traveling. At the roughly 24” view-

ing distance that feels comfortable with

a computer, my 14.1” screen is actually

quite large (and the latest 15” screens

are even better). At this distance, I esti-

mate that a notebook-based video sys-

tem is equivalent in viewing angle to an

ViaTV VC 105 Videophone

At about the same time, during the

1963-64 New York World’s Fair, AT&T

demonstrated videophones to the gen-

eral public. In the early years of the

space age, you couldn’t help but feel

that videophones were right around the

corner. Yet somehow this dream never

materialized, even as the PC era pro-

gressed. In the mid-90s videophones

re-emerged, but were rather expensive

(over $2,000/pair). This has changed

with agreement on the H.324 protocol

and the advent of consumer video-

phone adapters such as the ViaTV VC

105 from 8x8 Corporation.

Using low-cost video compression

and modem chips, the VC 105 brings

the cost of a pair (obviously you need

two to make the video element work)

of videophones under $500. The VC 105

is a small box containing a video cam-

era as well as the compression and

communications electronics needed to

make video work over conventional

phone lines. Operation is straightfor-

ward: You connect the VC 105 to your

TV and a phone, dial an owner of anoth-

er H.324-compatible device (which

could be a PC-based system or a set-up

like the VC 105), and press a button to

start the video call. After about 30 sec-

onds, an image of the scene at the loca-

tion you’ve called shows up. You talk

through the phone and listen through

the phone and TV speakers.

Every time I used the VC 105, I had

the feeling of using a technology one

generation away from being really use-

ful. At this stage, the technology is

okay, but every session involves a set of

distracting compromises. First of all,

you have to choose between moderate

resolution and the ability to follow

motion. Most of the time, you’ll proba-

bly set up the VC 105 so that the picture

is relatively clear and live with an

update of the picture every few sec-

onds (sort of like sending still pictures

regularly). Second, no matter what you

do, the picture is pretty fuzzy (maxi-

mum 352x288 pixels, but in practice

more often 176x144). This might seem

like a minor factor, but it decreases the

sense of “thereness” in the interaction.

Third, and maybe the biggest factor

in my experience, the effort needed to

set up a call is a problem. The steps

don’t seem that cumbersome on paper,

but in practice you have to make at least

two phone calls to get a video call going.

Even with these limitations, I found

that the VC105 significantly lengthened

calls (we would stay on the line longer).

As I’ve said before, discussing down-

loadable music: Higher bandwidth

communications (whether xDSL or

84” wide front-projection system.

If you don’t have a notebook com-

puter, or think a notebook is too large

to carry where you are going, Panason-

ic has a solution. The DVD-L50D is a

DVD drive with a footprint slightly larg-

er than typical portable CD players. It is

a bit thicker than these CD players are,

too, because it has a 16.9, 5” TFT LCD

display and a pair of speakers above

the disc lid. But at around 1/3 the size of

a notebook computer, it is still quite

portable.

I found that the DVD-L50D worked

well. The picture was bright and clear,

though on occasion the LCD produced

edge artifacts (because LCDs are rela-

tively slow). The headphone sound was

solid, and even through the mini-speak-

ers, was usable (my kids and I watched

a DVD one night on vacation and the

sound was adequate for a three-listener

situation). The screen size might seem

tiny, but with a normal viewing dis-

tance, my calculation is that it is equiv-

alent to a 20” screen. Maybe not home

theater, but completely usable. And, the

DVD-L50D can play CDs (like all DVD

players). It has a full set of audio and S-

Video outputs so that you can use it as

a conventional DVD player, whether

you are at home or in a hotel room.

Sometimes new technologies just

work right from the beginning.

T O M M A R T I N