Channel Tracker Provides Painless IFE Upgrade

Channel Tracker, introduced last month by Innovative Advantage of Redmond, Wash., is a way to upgrade an existing in-flight entertainment system to high definition (HD) without tearing out the current interior.

At its simplest, Channel Tracker is a card that fits into a slot of the AVDS node and connects to the existing cabin management system video switch. In the test aircraft, the existing video sources and a new Blu-ray player were connected to the AVDS video inputs and the new high-definition monitors to the AVDS outputs.

When the DVD was selected at each location with video control, the HD Blu-ray was routed to the appropriate monitor, explained Innovative Advantage president Richard Morris. AVDS simply followed the video selections via the Channel Tracker card. Morris emphasized that no modifications to the existing CMS were required.

A single-card box costs approximately $14,000 and a multiple-card box runs up to about $20,000.

“Put simply,” said v-p of business development Dave Garing, “if you have an existing system that’s so ‘dumb’ that nothing else will work, Chanel Tracker will.”