With Blu-ray coming to our automobiles it's only proper that we should enjoy the same accoutrements in the air. Currently on display at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE)Flight Display Systems has been shipping these out since April -- sorry for the delay in noticing, but we had to ditch the Engadget Force One for flight sharing, you know how it is -- to all those willing to pay the $4,879 price tag. For that price you can expect this beauty to slide in right where a DVD player used to fit, providing up to 1080p Blu-ray and DVD playback, an interface to Flight Display Systems Cabin Management System controls, IR remote or RS-485 control, plus Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio decoding. If discs aren't up to par for your Gulfstream, check after the break for the Jet Jukebox HD media server, sending up MPEG-1, -2 and -4 encoded video at up to 1080i resolution for $6,055.
[Via
Flight Global]
posted May 12th 2009 4:49PM
Before people complain, realize the limited market and expensive certifications that must be obtained.
But yeah, why not sneak a Sony or Samsung in ;)
The in-flight system should be hard drive based. No need for Bluray on a plane anyway. The screens are too small to notice the difference. Save the money and stop charging us a baggage fee.
Given the monitors in the back of people's seats generally aren't high enough quality to show DVD decently, what's the point?
Gee Squiggleslash, the last plane I flew on to London had a projection system in the front of the section. Maybe they are using this for that type of setup???
Much better than those overheating lose everything hard drives!
It is for buisness aircraft, not comercial.
FYI, Sony and Samsug do not meet DO-160E. I bet you thought it is a sony or samsung that has been repackaged and tested to meet the FAA requirements.
While Sony and Samsung may be non-DO-160E certified, Flight Display is, in fact, repackaging someone's existing BD hardware, getting it certified, and selling it with a ridiculous profit margin no doubt.
I've never cared for Flight Display System's products, because they've always thrived off re-branding CE products rather than develop their own. That, and the aesthetics of their products is absolutely horrendous.
*shrug*
Hello and thanks everyone including Ken and jetmech96 for your comments.
But I want to specifically address Jyncus and say thanks for your feedback about the aesthetics of our products. We get a lot of our best product suggestions from customers and industry observers like yourself. You can keep an eye on our News feed at http://flightdisplay.com/news/ because we'll have some great stuff released over the coming months.
A note about re-branding CE products: We would say that everyone in the general aviation IFE market does this to an extent. And in some cases (especially for early adopters) the aesthetics are first to suffer in the name of functionality.
Sincerely - Nick Gray, International Marketing, Flight Display Systems