Another way to enhance the features of electronic media in the home is the growing effort to connect electronic devices with one another thruout the home, to enable delivery of video and audio in different rooms – not just in the home theater, living room or den. More than 50% of new homes now include some sort of CAT-5-type wiring between rooms to allow for custom connectivity now or later. And this includes PC connections as well as digital audio and video. DirecTV and others already have Ethernet connections in some of their set-top boxes, so Internet video can be sent around the home along with the audio and other video sources. This often involves translating the video content from one codec to another so it can be displayed, such as from DivX or VLC to NTSC. Stay connected.
Comcast Pulls Plug On Big Users – Comcast Corp. has punished some of the users of their Internet cable service by simply cutting it off – claiming that excessive downloading – primarily of video and audio material – is slowing down the network for other customers. This is a known disadvantage with cable Internet connection. But the company declines to give users any download limits, so those who have been suspended had no idea of how much was too much. Comcast says only a small fraction of their customers have used enough bandwidth to warrant cutting off their service. As Internet usage – due to HD movie downloads, streaming video and interactive gaming – increases, cable companies in particular might soon end up with a short supply of bandwidth, which could cause a heavier crackdown on overusers.
