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Detailed information

Portable dvd players

Portable DVD Players were invented in the year 1998 .The first company to launch them was Panasonic followed most probably by Toshiba (Mizoguchi Tetsuya, Sato Masayuki and Sakamoto Hiroyuki were the inventors who worked for Toshiba). It used to be a product of luxury as, prior to this, the only way of watching a DVD in another room was to shift the DVD Player along with the entire TV system. Watching a DVD or listening to Music on the player while travelling was just a dream which came true with the invention of portable DVD Players. These players not only aid in watching DVDs and listening to music but also display images which are taken from digital cameras.

Portable DVD players initially were purely used to read DVDs and CDs. The earlier laptops did not contain a CD or DVD ROM. The Portable DVD players were hence the only way of playing DVDs and CDs while travelling and otherwise at one’s convenience.

Today however, things have changed with the portable DVD Players as well. They can now save data from disks and also SD cards. The device was previously purely used to playback CDs and DVDs. But, can now also save data from disks and SD cards. Increasing features of the Portable DVD player brings its functionality very close to a netbook.

** Internal Block Diagram of Portable DVD Player (Source: Texas Instruments)

The Portable DVD player comes with a LCD or LED screen and a built in Audio system. The internal circuitry of a portable DVD player consists of a Video Interface as well as an Audio Interface circuit. The Video Interface helps the player to play different formats. The Audio Interface circuits helps in processing the audio signal so as to provide high quality audio which may include requirements of MPEG and AC3. There are Analog Video Decoders that decode the input signal from the DVD, CD or SD card and streams it to the LCD or LED panel which forms the screen of the player after providing enough amplification. Similar is the case with the Audio signal. The only difference being, the audio signal is amplified and given to the speakers. Speakers can be in built or stereo headphones.

The entire system is synchronized by a clock circuit which basically times the signals in such a way that the audio and video signals are played at the same time and there is no lag or lead in either of the signals. The Power block of the circuit converts the AC (Alternating) signal provided to the Portable DVD player to a DC (Direct) signal which is then used to drive the various circuit blocks. These circuit blocks include the interfacing units, the Analog video and audio decoders, amplifiers, clock unit, and the display and so on.

To reduce the circuit size, the modern techniques used include integrated circuits that are made on silicon chips, use of FETs that help save space and also integrated gain settings which not only reduce size but also make it cost effective with improved battery life as the extra components from the circuit like the feedback resistors are eliminated

When buying a portable DVD player, one may consider specifications like Screen Size, Surround sound. If there is a memory card slot available it adds value to the system. One should look for picture control, types of disks which may include DVD Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD (Audio), CD-R, CD-RW, Picture CD, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL. Playable file formats like MP3, WMA, and JPEG.

Television Resolution is another important feature, for example 576i. This simply means that it has 720×576 split into two interlaced fields of 288 lines. It represents the number of pixels per dimension of the display. The higher the resolution, the better is the display of the portable DVD player.

Many a times, there may be a need to attach your Portable DVD player to a television, at home or otherwise. It is for these times that a portable DVD player with a lot of outputs can be of help. All one needs is a player with audio-video connectors. These audio – video connectors plug into any TV. HDMI port (High Definition Multimedia Interface) if present is an additional value. It can help connect the portable DVD player to a high definition TV.

A touch sensitive screen in a portable DVD player makes it convenient for the user. There are certain Portable DVD players that also have features like DVD Recorder. One can connect it to a TV, record any movie or show and watch it on the go.

It’s hard to choose a perfect device from all the various options we have available. Every model of a Portable DVD player is different from the other. Some have greater display resolution; some have Blu-Ray Player. Some have more no of Audio and Video Compatibility while some are simply sleeker and lighter in weight, making them easier to carry while travelling.

Whatever the features may be, a portable DVD player can be very handy while travelling or to watch something on a vacation. Of course we can watch movies on a Laptop now, but we might want to skip carrying one while on a vacation with family and friends.

Technology is changing and improving every day. We find new modernized features in every new gadget in the store. We buy a gadget thinking it will last us for years. But the truth is, once a new feature makes its mark in the market, what made you a proud owner earlier just becomes obsolete. The future of Portable DVD players could provide a different level of convenience. Internet capability can make it simple to stream any TV shows, movies, news and even live sports games. Higher battery life and light weight models seem to be the future of this gadget. LED displays have already made their mark. All that can be done is maybe improvise on the resolution and increase the number of pixels per display unit. 3D movies are a big hit and it would definitely not be long for portable DVD players with 3D compatible displays to hit the market.

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USB flash drives

USB stands for Universal serial Bus. USB flash drives are storage devices, technically defined as storage devices that consist of flash memory. The name simply implies that that these devices can be removable and can be rewritten. These can be considered as better versions of floppy disks as they are much smaller. Storage capacity is however as large as it can be to 256GB and they are convenient to use. 

Let’s track the history of USB Flash Drives. Prior to the year 2000, the most popular way of storing data was in a floppy disk. In the year 2000, however, things changed. Trek Technology as well as IBM, were historically the very first companies to start the commercial sale of USB Flash Drives.

USB Flash drives have more than one advantage over their previous version of floppy disk. For instance, the data is not affected by scratches or dust. They are robust and very convenient to transport data. Another advantage is its compact size which can easily fit into a pocket. Its small size is also complemented with a very high memory in other words storage space. One can put any format of data onto the USB flash drive and later connect it to a Device having a USB Port to read it.

Compared to external hard drives that can also be used to store data, USB Flash drives have an additional advantage of less power consumption. This is mainly due to its smaller size. As the size of the USB flash drive which is also termed as pen drive is small, the internal circuit is small as compared to that of an external hard drive. Thus, the power consumed by a smaller circuit is less .This makes it more economical and practical to use given its obvious advantage of high memory storage in a small physical package.

USB Flash drives are also termed as pen drives owing to their size and rectangular shape. It consists of a small PCB which is an acronym for printed circuit board. This circuit board has a chip which is nothing but a tiny microchip on it. In technical terms it is also called an IC (Integrated circuit). The integrated circuit is made on a small silicon chip and hence also called as microchip. Also the entire circuitry is printed on the board that is used to copy and store data in a flash and also erase or disregard data in a flash. It is generally timed by a clock cycle. In technical terms clock cycle is one square pulse, as shown below.

The printed circuit board is smaller as compared to the floppy disk and CDs and hence it consumes less power when attached to a computer. When a USB Flash drive is connected to a computer through the USB slot or USB port it is said to be activated. This enables the USB Flash Drive to have an easy access to the data or information stored on the computer in any of the drives. One has to simply drag or use the copy paste or cut paste options to transfer the data onto the USB Flash Drive. Most of the USB Flash Drives are manufactured to be compatible with the computers USB Port. Some other devices like the music player in the car also has a USB Port into which you can directly connect the pen drive and browse through the songs. Besides these uses, the USB Port can be used in a play station or x box for gaming, it can also be used to play a video or a movie or even a slide show on a screen which has a USB port or USB slot.

The block diagram represents a basic USB Flash Drive and its working.

The Physical layer is generally a silicon layer which is formed as an outer layer. The circuit consists of a microprocessor system which could be C68000 or any other similar microprocessor. The chip – level NAND Flash Controller (refer to the diagram above) is driven by the data from the NAND flash chips which are basically formed using NAND gates. All the data in a computer is saved in a digital form that is the form of 0s and 1s which the computer understands. For example if the data to be store is the no 2 in the computer binary format it is represented in a code which is completely in 0s and 1s. In this case for no 2 say 0010.  The data is transferred through the NAND Flash chips to the microprocessor via the controller. The controller keeps a check on the signals. The USB Full Speed controller basically controls the timing of the circuit through the clock signals. The microprocessor follows the orders given for example, store, delete, copy, paste, or even commands like boot while booting a system using a USB flash drive. You can consider the whole system analogues to the heart and the brain with controller being the brain that gives the demand and the microprocessor being the heart that actually functions.

The circuit in the block diagram looks simple. But in reality, the entire system is quite complex and high level of engineering is involved in constructing an USB Flash Drive. It sure looks like a tiny gadget, but is capable of doing a lot of things.

For instance, you can use it as an MP3 player with your audio system, you can use it to boot your computer system, you can use it to password protect your data or even computer, you can easily save your data onto it and use it as a backup. You can use the USB Flash drive to boost your computer performance by using the space on the drive as an additional storage for your computer, thus it provides as an aid to the cache memory of the computer system.

USB flash drives have brought storing of data to a different compact level. We no longer need bulky files for sure. But don’t even need CDs that are scratched easily. Just plug the flash drive into the computer’s USB port and voila. Things are more handy, neater, compact and quicker. USB Flash drives are here to stay. We can expect technology to bring faster USB Flash Drives with more memory in the near future. They may become obsolete if at all a new device is invented with better features. Until then, USB Flash drives are here to stay.

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Micro SD cards

SD card stands for Secure digital, it is non volatile memory card which is used in portable devices. Micro SD Cards are standard capacity cards; they have an official capacity of 2GB where GB stands for giga bytes. There are different families of these devices based on their capabilities and use.

For example; SDHC family is the high capacity SD Card family. SDXC is the family of these cards having an extended capacity. SDIO family is the one having a particular IO interface system. Though the basic use of all these devices remain the same that is “secured digital memory”, the compatibility of each of them varies.

For instance certain devices may accept SD cards but may not connect SDHC cards. This is simply because the slot size in the device may vary for a particular family. The communication protocols for each of these families are also different. Micro SD card belongs to the SD Family which the oldest type is causing it to be compatible with almost all hosts. However the newer SD families have a different set of protocols hence it is not compatible with the older hosts.

Prior the SD card, Multimedia cards were used. In the year 1999, Toshiba along with SanDisk and Matsushita developed and marketed the Secured Digital memory cards. These were termed as SD cards. It was a definite improvement of memory with respect to time over the multimedia cards.

If you notice a SD card, you would see a logo on it “SD”. This was initially established by Toshiba for a completely different use. It was used for Super Density Disc (this was a type of DVD disc). However the product was unsuccessful and so the SD name was used for Secure Digital cards.

The micro SD cards were created by SanDisk in the year 2006. The intention behind the designing of this micro SD card was smaller memory card formats for Mobile Phones. The designing and execution was together completed by the CTO of SanDisk and CTO of Motorola.

Initially, the name for Micro SD card was T-Flash; however it was then changed to Trans Flash after objections from T-Mobile. Later, companies like Toshiba and Panasonic compelled SanDisk to have the new format become a standard that is administered by the SDA. SDA stands for SD Card Association.

The finalized MicroSD specifications were announced on the 13 July 2005. The available capacities of the Micro SD cards were 32, 64 and 128 MB. The physical size of the micro SD cards is 15mm X 11mm X 1.0mm

The Micro SD card is a flash based memory card. The emerging audio and video electronic devices have certain requirements of capacity, speed, performance and security; the micro SD cards are designed to meet all these including other inherent specifications.

The internal circuitry of the micro SD card looks something like shown in the diagram below. The diagram represents a typical circuit, however there can be changes made based on specific applications and requirements.

The circuit describes a processor chip which is controlled by a controller circuit. The circuit OSC1 represents the first oscillator that produces output signal that drives the processor. The MMC represents the memory chip. The controller has a no of its pins connected to the ground terminal through a capacitor. This is done to pass out all de noise through the capacitor to ground. The basic function of a capacitor is to block the direct current and pass the alternating current through it. This very function of the capacitor is used for the circuitry at various places.

The capacitor is also used at the input and output pins of the IC 78LO5 and also LD1086 which form the voltage regulators of the system. The voltage regulators are basically used to maintain the level of voltage that enters the circuit as well as that exits the circuit. In absence of this part of the circuitry, the IC of the controller as well as the processor may get damaged and the SD card may either burn due to short circuit or overload of voltage. It may also cause the components or tracks on the chips to burn out. The R1 to R6 forms the resistor bridge which also helps to regulate the voltage passing through them.

The entire circuit is made to fit a tiny little chip of the size of a fingernail. Though it looks complicated, technology used to make the flash memory and micro SD cards has enabled us to enjoy the complexity in a simple looking chip form.

The micro SD card is now followed by the high speed SD card, which simply is regulated by a better clock cycle. This means that the time taken to process a data or a function is much lesser along with compact size and better compatibility.

The future of micro SD cards is definitely going to bring us more flash memory, more speed, compact size, very high compatibility and diverse application. Imagine being able to use the same SD card in all your devices from mobile phones to tablets to computers, laptops and even music systems. It sure is wishful, but technology was born out of wishful thinking.

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