TECHiNSIGHT - Reviived: VIIV 1.5 Advances The Digital Home Story

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Dreams are a tricky business. On one hand, many dreams are worth realizing. On the other, realizing them can be a lifetime's pursuit. As an industry, we've dreamed of the digital home for years, and without question it's a vision worth making real. Who wouldn't want all of their prized photos, videos, music, subscription content, and more made accessible effortlessly across a host of playback devices residing everywhere from the car to the bedroom to one's jacket pocket? If there's a Holy Grail of home computing, this would be it.

Yet the dream is a slippery, hard-won thing. Many thought that, after a decade of false starts by lesser PC companies, Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 would at last make digital homes a reality. After all, with broadband deployment and home networking on the rise, the only pieces that seemed still missing were a ubiquitous media center interface and premium content. A year into MCE 2005, we all realized that the OS was only one of the first steps on a long road, and for all its resources, Microsoft could not deliver the digital home dream on its own.

Intel launched Viiv 1.0 in January of 2006, and it's worth a quick recap here of the platform's highlights to put things in perspective and to clarify some points that have been occasionally misconstrued by the industry.

Basic hardware requirements include a dual-core Intel CPU, an Intel chipset based on the 945G/P northbridge paired with the ICH7-DH southbridge, an approved Intel 10/100 or Gigabit Ethernet controller, and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Critics argue that requiring all of these Intel components is a grand scheme to boost Intel revenue by locking the industry into a single-vendor solution. In reality, there is no exclusion of third-party motherboard manufacturers, all late model Intel CPUs are dual-core, and without at least a 945-class chipset, customers miss out on a lot of forward-looking scalability. Moreover, creating a reliable and robust platform for the digital home is mandatory because if there was even a hint in the air of technical glitches for consumers, the effort would be much harder to promote. Assuring this quality requires massive amounts of R&D, user testing, and application validation, and not even a company of Intel's scope has the bandwidth to guarantee performance with components outside of its own. In essence, it was a choice between controlling the platform or never getting one off the ground.

Viiv is not about DRM. Here's the dilemma: Everyone wants premium content in the digital home—first-run movies, music subscription services, and the like—but content providers often resist making content available due to piracy concerns. Without bulletproof DRM, we'll never have a full selection of premium entertainment and thus never get a complete digital home, which might just jeopardize the whole pursuit. (Lack of such content might arguably be the leading reason past digital home efforts have stalled.) Users not only want to obtain this content, but they also want to view it on any suitable device connected to their LAN as well as mobile devices, such as cars and portable media players. The software DRM to enable all of this requires an underlying hardware infrastructure able to keep that DRM safe and intact, starting at the core logic and extending out all the way to display devices. Viiv provides for this infrastructure. It is a platform on which any suitable DRM scheme can operate, not a DRM system unto itself. Media center platforms that ignore this depth of hardware security will likely prove unable to deliver a complete end-to-end premium content experience.

Viiv 1.0 was not "the real Viiv." With the amount of effort and development going into the Viiv initiative, the platform has a long and winding roadmap. Naturally, as with every other major industry effort, you can't go from 0 to 60 in a heartbeat. Intel wanted to launch Viiv at the start of the year—let's face it, the desktop world needed some new pizzazz in a big way—and there were some features that simply couldn't be completed with the proper pieces in place from other vendors in time for the necessary cut-off to make January happen. But now it's summer, those missing pieces are in place, and we have an even more persuasive Viiv digital home experience to bring before customers. Enter Viiv 1.5.

And Now, Adding Color...

Viiv 1.5 is a software upgrade, not a hardware spec change. The 1.5 download is free and became available to Intel resellers in late April, although the company didn't draw any public attention to the platform update until Computex in June, by which time 1.5.1 was already out. There was little point in making a fuss over 1.5 since many of its changes hinged on the availability of Viiv-verified routers (starting in July) and digital media adapters (starting in August). However, now that the full Viiv ecosystem is finally taking shape on store shelves, it's time to get busy and make some noise about all of the newly enabled Viiv functionality.

There are three primary additions to the Viiv platform with 1.5: Hub Connect Technology, Intel Media Server, and verified content streaming. We had the chance recently to visit one of Intel's facilities and take the new Viiv 1.5 experience for a spin. We were armed with an ECS P60 mobile-on-desktop PC, an LG widescreen LCD, a Linksys WRT54GS router (headed for Viiv verification as of this writing), and a second LCD screen hooked to a Pinnacle Show Center 200 digital media adapter. The Show Center was still unreleased when we saw it.

Hub Connect

Hub Connect is a simplified method for adding media devices to the network. If you've ever fumbled with encryption keys, SSIDs, active protocols, and other LAN setup teeth-grinders, you'll find Hub Connect a godsend. Not only does it make home network installation simple enough for an average consumer to tackle (although many still won't), it also shortens a reseller's installation time on-site, allowing reps to spend more time getting customers hands-on with the exciting part of their purchase.

Through Hub Connect, we started at ground zero by connecting the Viiv PC to the router. Then, using the system's remote control to enter the MCE 2005 More Programs area, we selected the Viiv icon and elected to set up a network. The interface here is a remarkably simple, attractive wizard controlled entirely through the 10-foot UI. For newbies, there is a Show Me link that brings up animations detailing each major step of the setup process. The wizard questions are fairly brainless, such as choosing between "yes, I have a verified router and an Ethernet cable" and "no, I do not have these items." Actually, the question is slightly redundant since if the operator selects "yes" and doesn't actually have a verified router, the Viiv software will pop up an alert and launch into a more detailed manual setup procedure—the same one you see if you select "no".

The router setup required only a few steps and ended with a perfectly functional connection secured with a 128-bit WEP code (yes, WPA is stronger but it's also less compatible with the bulk of devices on the market) and an on-screen network map showing the PC's connection to the router as well as the status of the Internet connection. You can refresh the network map to scan for new devices—a handy way to see if there are unwanted guests mooching one's Viiv experience.

We also saw a warning message pop up stating that wireless connections are not recommended for video. This is a really smart addition for end-users to see. One of the big mistakes made with early digital home products was that buyers expected to get hi-res video streaming over 802.11g or, even worse, 802.11b connections. Especially in the presence of ambient 2.4 GHz interference, this usually doesn't happen at acceptable quality levels. Until MIMO and/or 802.11n becomes standard in digital home equipment, we will only recommend wired connections for good quality video streaming.

Next up was integrating the Show Center. We powered up the device, which soon showed a list of every detected wireless network within range. We selected our router's ID, and a moment later the Show Center flashed a four-digit alpha-numeric code, just like a Bluetooth pairing code. In an installation situation, this is where the lady with the DMA in the bedroom yells the code down the stairs—shoutnets are low bandwidth but strangely effective—to the guy in the living room, who enters the code on the Hub Connect screen that has popped up on the Viiv PC. The two devices shake hands, accept each other's info, and the new box shows up on the network map. Very easy, very slick.

Intel Media Server

Hub Connect is impressive enough, but it pales beside Intel Media Server, the centerpiece of Viiv 1.5. Viiv 1.0 added little to the media management services already built into Window MCE. The updated Viiv now dramatically expands how the user's media library operates and is shared.

In retrospect, it's easy to see that MCE and Windows Media Player 10, which power the operating system's media playback, were optimized for single-system use. With WMP10, one can seek and find media across the network, but network scanning is atrociously cumbersome, MCE's granularity when trying to add media from remote folders is poor, there is no provision for weeding out duplicate entries in the server's catalog, and so on. The situation gets worse when discussing pushing content out to digital media adapters (DMAs).

Viiv 1.5 reshapes how the media server's library is managed. For starters, the Viiv Media Library automatically scans the network and registers all compatible media files in each system's My XX (My Music, My Videos, etc.) folders as well as archives on UPnP AV servers. This is logged into the Viiv server's Content Directory Service (CDS). Note that the Media Library is a catalog only; files are not copied from remote systems to the server. The Library is intelligent enough to identify and weed out duplicates, optionally allowing the user to pick which instance gets retained in the Library list. Additionally, Viiv reads all media types at once, not individually as with MCE. Best of all, the Library's contents are visible and accessible by all compatible systems and devices on the network, meaning those that are Viiv-verified or at least running Windows Media Player 10, ensuring a common media experience for all digital home users.

With the Library up and running, now it's time for Intel Smart Streaming Technology to kick in. Smart Streaming is a process of automatically optimizing streaming Viiv content through transcoding and transrating. For example, say a user has an AVI format video sitting on the Viiv media server and he wants to view it in another room via a Viiv-verified DMA. However, the DMA may not support AVI, but it does support several other formats, including MPEG-2, WMV, and so on. Smart Streaming monitors the format compatibilities of every Viiv playback device on the network and stores these in the CDS. When the server needs to stream a file, it will automatically convert the source file to the optimal format for playback on the remote device.

But that's only half of the operation. Network bandwidth plays a critical role in the end quality of a file's playback. With video in particular, insufficient bandwidth can result in dropped frames and even intolerably "hiccupping" playback. This is why Viiv constantly monitors the available bandwidth of any streaming connection and adjusts the streaming file's bitrate on the fly as needed, a process Intel informally calls transrating. High-def video generally tops out at 25 Mbps, which, after taking various overheads into account, is sufficient for three streams on Fast Ethernet but may swamp an 802.11g connection in real life. Transrating would sense that the wireless bandwidth was insufficient to handle the stream's average throughput and might throttle back to, say, 10 Mbps. The process is automatic and, ideally, invisible to the user. The goal is for there to be no discernable change in video quality as Smart Streaming does its job. Dynamic bitrate adjusting has been around for years, but the results have never been this robust or impressive.

Viiv-Verified Content

Nothing tricky here. This simply means that Intel has verified that a given content provider supplies its data to end-users in a manner consistent with the features and requirements of Viiv 1.5. (Intel checks the providers, not the files themselves.) The purpose is to make sure that content is being served up with the necessary DRM in place to allow files to be shared across the user's LAN and Viiv device collection. If a vendor has not taken these precautions and Intel hasn't verified the stream source, then you go back to Viiv 1.0, where content can only be played on the Viiv PC that downloaded it. Under Viiv 1.5, there is no limit to the number of LAN clients that can stream an approved file.

Viiv-verified content, once downloaded, shows up in a "Viiv Zone" area on Viiv DMA devices. The Zone is a convenient way to segregate content that will play on the DMA from content that won't, none of which shows up in the library listing. Most previous DMAs would show, for instance, TIFF images in the "Pictures" library and even try to play them during slideshows. However, when the player didn't support TIFF (and most didn't), the device would choke, bring the slideshow to a standstill for many seconds, and often result in an error message. The Viiv Zone eliminates this problem.

Now that Viiv-verified devices are heading into distribution, it's important to note that while the Viiv Zone interface is consistent across all Viiv DMAs, that is where the commonality ends. Even before Viiv 1.5 swung into play, critics were alleging that the Viiv system would enforce legions of clone-like devices devoid of differentiation and thus lacking unique value. Again, the only thing most devices share is the Viiv Zone UI. The exterior ID of each device will be different. Some will support HD; others won't. Models will vary in what sorts of metadata they support, how that metadata gets displayed, and what users can do with it. There will be a full spectrum of Viiv device style and functionality along with a range of price points suitable to most consumer audiences.

Another small but important note: Previously, with Windows MCE, users were limited to five Extenders per PC. Under Viiv 1.5, the number of Viiv-verified devices is in theory unlimited. In reality, the device limit is determined by the network's bandwidth. If each user on the Viiv network consumes about 10% of the available bandwidth, then you know roughly 10 devices can be supported at once.

Revitalize With 1.5

The original release of Viiv was persuasive, but Viiv 1.5 provides the missing links that make Intel's digital home platform nearly irresistible. The sharing of DRM-free content you get with other media center "solutions" is only a starting point for Viiv. The real questions are how do you create an intuitive yet powerful media sharing experience for everyone (and every compatible device) on the network and how do you enable the enjoyment of premium, industry-secured content within that same shared framework? Only Viiv 1.5 answers these questions in a comprehensive manner. In fact, no other media center platform even comes close.

All of the Viiv 1.0 benefits are still here: instant on/off functionality, form factors from towers to book-size, faster boot times with NCQ, simplified driver set and support, the widest selection of premium entertainment content available for PCs, on and on. If you dismissed Viiv before as being another big biz fluff campaign or an idea before its time, give it another look. The platform is here, the products are flooding into the market, and Intel has so many content providers beating on the doors to get into Viiv that the program team can't keep up with the demand.

Quite possibly, the bounty of processor price cuts we've seen from Intel over the past quarter may do for Viiv what undercutting XP Pro did for MCE's popularity. Once enough users have Viiv technology within their possession, once enough people experience the joy of sharing premium content, once all that home network bandwidth starts getting exercised in earnest, then the PC industry will undergo a significant, positive shift...and we'll have the digital home dream finally fulfilled.