http://www.maximumpc.com|JAN 2011 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| 55
SUBMIT YOUR IDEA Ever wonder what the inside of a power supply looks like?
Don’t take a chance on destroying your own rig; instead, let us do the dirty
work. Tell us what we should crack open for a future autopsy by writing to
[email protected].FLOPPY DRIVES
Having two of these
5.25-inch drives meant
you could boot into DOS
and run a single program
on one drive, and use the
other to save your data.CPU Intel’s 8088 boasted an
8-bit external data bus and
was capable of addressing
a full megabyte of memory.
It ran at 4.77MHz. You could
enhance your PC’s math prow-
ess by plugging Intel’s 8087
fl oating-point coprocessor into
the empty socket on the right.FLOPPY-DRIVE
CONTROLLER This card
controls the two fl oppy
drives and also has a
parallel printer port on its
mounting bracket.MEMORY
CARD This card
adds 384KB of
memory to bring
the PC’s total
memory to the
maximum usable
amount: 640KB.EXPANSION BUS
The motherboard
has fi ve 8-bit
expansion slots.VIDEOCARD The
CGA (Color Graphics
Adapter) card was a
luxury option; most
PCs had monochrome
display adapters.
The card had 16KB
of video memory and
delivered 16 colors at
a maximum resolution
of 640x200 pixels.MEMORY Early machines shipped with
64KB of memory on the motherboard;
this one, built in 1986, features 256KB
of memory.IBM PC Model 5150
It’s not the fi rst personal computer by a long shot, but its introduction in
1981 jump-started the entire PC industry, thanks to its prodigious use
of non-proprietary hardware and an architecture that allowed buyers to
expand and customize the machine for almost any purpose imaginable.AUTOPSYeverything else. Just like HDMI, these
signals are passed from their proces-
sors and encoded into the HDBaseT
PAM signal.
HDBaseT also layers power into
the mix, based on the Power over
Ethernet standard (PoE+). Unlike that
method, however, which tops out at
25.5 watts, HDBaseT can supply up to
100 watts of power.
The standard was designed
to span 100 meters because that’s
already the established limit for
Ethernet networks. HDBaseT can
go farther in some situations, or
you can add up to five switches to
jump additional 100-meter lengths.
Content providers also get a say in
your distance; an optional setting
could keep you to 100 meters total so
you don’t broadcast Blu-ray movies
to the neighbors. The HDBaseT Alli-
ance says hardware could activate
the restriction based on a DRM flag
embedded in the content.
DEVICE MANAGER
We’re used to consortiums forming,
discussing standards for years, then
fi nally shipping hardware. HDBaseT is
on a faster track since Valens designed
the chip fi rst, and then formed the
consortium with LG, Samsung, and
Sony Pictures Entertainment in June
- Valens started selling the HDBa-
seT chips to its vendors in almost the
same step.
HDBaseT devices from AMX,
Crestron, and Gefen already exist, and
the HDBaseT alliance hopes that con-
sumer devices such as TVs and Blu-ray
players with an all-important built-in
connection will come soon. Risling
says, “We do expect to see consumer
electronics products using HDBaseT in
2011 by more than one vendor.”
The biggest challenge facing the
emerging technology is price; cur-
rently available signal extenders can
cost $700 or more. Valens didn’t detail
its specifi c chip costs, but hopes the
costs will quickly come down to a few
dollars per device. Risling says, “One
of the reasons we have companies
such as LG and Samsung and Sony
[Pictures] joining the alliance is be-
cause they believe it’s doable.”
Our wallets ache whenever a new
standard takes hold. But if HDBaseT
becomes popular, its added features
might make home theater component
upgrades worthwhile.