Aircraft Interiors: ASL is a star of the screen

Aircraft Interiors Expo debutant Airline Services (ASL) of the UK is set to turn heads on tomorrow’s opening day with two new products designed to deliver high-quality broadcast inflight entertainment. 

Designed and developed by the Manchester-headquartered company’s own engineers, the ASL 175 AeroScreen is a high-definition-ready 17.5in unit that can be mounted retractably above the aisle or on a bulkhead. Five examples are currently on trial in a Boeing 757 operated by British airline bmi.

ASL says the screen is the first in a range it is creating to meet market demand for lighter, brighter IFE displays. Also in development are a 10in luggage bin-mounted unit and a seatback version. The screens are intended to combine improved reliability, reduced weight and lower power consumption with exceptional clarity and brightness and wider viewing angles - 160 degrees horizontal, 130 degrees vertical. Acceptable video formats and inputs include PAL, NTSC, SECAM, composite, RGB and S-VHS. 

Also on show is the AeroStream digital audio and video delivery unit – a compact, multi-channel broadcast head-end intended to replace heavy, unreliable and outmoded tape systems. Due to reach the market in the fourth quarter of the year, it will come with Airline Services’ StarStream moving-map application. StarStream innovations include a head-up display perspective simulating the forward view from the flight deck. 

AeroStream is currently rated at six channels of broadcast video and 12 of audio. But ASL says it plans ultimately to expand it to provide full audio/video-on-demand (AVOD) capability.

Originally focused on a variety of airline engineering and support activities, ASL entered the IFE business in 2007. “Our customers complained consistently about the poor reliability and image quality of existing IFE systems,” says chief executive Bryan Bodek. “We decided there was an opportunity to develop new products exploiting the latest developments in consumer electronics.”