Sony, along with other industry leaders, helped develop the IEEE 1394 standard. IEEE 1394 is an industry standard serial communications common interface protocol as published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Designed to provide a high level of connectivity and ease of use between audio-video components and personal computers and their peripheral devices, not only is IEEE 1394 exciting from a technical viewpoint, it is a relatively inexpensive technology which means many types of IEEE 1394 devices should be available in the near future at reasonable prices.

The Future of IEEE 1394

There are a great many devices either already existing or being developed with i.LINK technology:

•Computers and their peripheral devices – DVD-ROM, CD-RW, CD- R, CD-ROM, Magneto Optical, high capacity tape drives, AV hard disks, printers and scanners.

•Audio devices such as digital audio tape (DAT) decks, synthesizer units, and other MIDI devices such as keyboards.

•Digital Video products such as digital still cameras, digital camcorders, antennas, digital monitors and digital editing decks.

•Even digital analog converters that allow users to connect analog video devices to i.LINK ports. These converters can convert component YUV signals to the DV signal (digital video signal format which i.LINK uses). This means users may use the analog camcorders they already own with i.LINK technology.

Features and Benefits of IEEE 1394

IEEE 1394 has high volume, high speed capabilities. Currently able to provide up to 400 Megabits per second, IEEE1394 should be capable of greater speeds in the future. Compare i.LINK technology’s 400Mbps (Megabits per second) to USB’s 12Mbps, or even to SCSI’s fastest Ultra2 speed of 80 Megabytes per second. Additionally, real time transfer mode provides uninterrupted transmission of sound and picture. And because the signals are digital signals, there is virtually no degradation in picture and sound quality.

IEEE 1394 has advantages in connectivity both on the computer side as well as the audio video side.

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