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Today’s entertainment electronics feed a user’s need for quality.
by Mark T. Masciarotte
photography by Van Dam Nordia Shipyards
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11/01/2005
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Remember Dick Tracy? The guy with the two-way wrist radio? Not too long ago the
square-jawed detective’s handy device was as much a thing of science fiction as
flights to outer space. That was then… this is now: Outer space is littered with
satellites that shower us with uninterrupted audio and video entertainment on
demand. What once was high end—having television and VCR in each salon and
stateroom—has gone the way of the two-way wrist radio. Today, owners of yachts
large and small enjoy choices that only a decade ago would have been dismissed
as science fiction.
 Flat screens, such as the one in S/Y Psyrax and projection TV have
revolutionized yachting’s home theater experience. (Click image to enlarge)
Current rack-based entertainment systems owe their
existence to the incredible rise in microprocessor speeds and the equally
impressive decline in the cost of high-capacity storage. Where less than a year
ago most storage devices were routinely measured in megabytes, systems today are
employing devices in the terabyte category (1,024 gigabytes) with transfer
speeds—via fiber optics—of up to 30 gigabytes per second. (Each gigabyte is
equal to 1,024 megabytes.)
Memory capacity is important not only for the
number of movies or songs it allows the system to store, it is essential for
fidelity. Sean Riordan of Intelect Integrated Electronics reminds
clients that non-compressed files yield better fidelity in audio and video, and
thereby, richer listening or viewing experiences.
However, great storage
requires equally robust ways to deliver entertainment to speakers or screen. The
way a person chooses a song or a video, and when and how to play it, is called a
“user interface.” A simple and easy-to-use user interface hides complex,
behind-the-scenes workings. Those can take time from the moment a button is
pressed, to the moment a song or video starts—a delay that can be very annoying.
However, today, even the most complex systems are easier to run, according to
Steve Segall. The president of A/V Concepts and Design in Redmond, Washington,
Segall has worked on theaters, recording studios and video-editing suites on
some of the world’s largest yachts. “Eight or nine years ago, Méduse needed a
full-time A/V technician aboard. That’s no longer necessary.”
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