According to industry veteran Tracy DeCuir, recently appointed to manage digEsystem development and support marketing and sales, the cost of equipping all the seats in an Airbus A320, for example, would be half that of a traditional IFE system.

DeCuir says that digEsystem is now in development, with the initial installation scheduled for the first quarter of next year. It is already being offered to the airlines, and many carriers have expressed interest, he says.

digEsystem is based on digEplayer, with the exception that the passenger unit - called the the Embedded Digital Video Player (eDVP) - will run off standard in-seat power from Astronics, KID-Systeme or Page Aerospace and will have an IEEE 802.11a wireless network capability.