Firmware: Free fixes from them to you

Years ago, when you bought a product and took it home, what you had was what you got. If something didn’t work quite right, or if a new must-have feature rolled out, well that was just too bad. Your only recourse was to purchase a new piece of gear.

Today, however, most A/V components are really just purpose-built computers at heart and Internet connectivity is becoming commonplace. This means that there is hope for a product that has a little glitch or that could benefit from a new feature. The solution comes in the form of downloadable software updates and firmware revisions. Much like Microsoft routinely rolls out little patches, updates and improvements for their Windows operating system, A/V manufacturers have embraced the idea of updating their products to keep them performing their best. And best of all, these are provided absolutely free!

Some products offer upgradability to better stave off obsolescence in case a “better mousetrap” is found down the road. One example of this is the highly vaunted HQV video processing chip from Silicon Optix. This can be updated to take advantage of new processing codecs and algorithms as they are developed. Other companies have used updates to enable iPhone/iTouch control.

Sometimes, an update is needed to correct an error that went unnoticed before the product rolled out the door. This allows the manufacturer to avoid costly recalls and issue a quick in-field fix that benefits everyone. With Blu-ray discs and their constantly changing encryption schemes, updates ensure that older players can play the latest releases.

Even when a product is lacking an Internet or serial port connection, all hope isn’t lost. Yamaha recently rolled out an update that allowed installers to reassign digital audio inputs on their receivers. The update was burned as a WAV audio file and then played on a CD player connected to one of the receiver’s digital audio inputs! Sweet!

One of the best examples of a product that has received terrific, on-going updates is Sony’s Playstation3. Among many other upgrades, the PS3 has benefitted from Blu-ray improvements that made it profile 1.1 then profile 2.0 compliant, and then added the ability to decode DTS HD Master Audio soundtracks.

While there is no guarantee that a manufacturer will use updates to add a certain feature, the ability to update and improve a product after its release is very promising indeed.