In-flight entertainment systems provide entertainment for passengers on
commercial airline flights. Presently, usually on longer flights, video entertainment
is commonly available on in-flight passenger entertainment systems. In-flight entertainment
systems can display video on a variety of display monitors ranging from a conventional
CRT display to a more modern Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Generally most displays
are connected to the aircraft electronic system via a ARINC 722 connector. The
ARINC 722 connector commonly provides an electrical interface between the aircraft
and the video system, whether the video system is a CRT or LCD type monitor. With
the increasing use of LCD monitors there is a greater need for the ability of the
display monitor to be able to report its status. The need for status reporting
is increased because the LCD monitors are often greater in number than the prior
art CRT monitors and because malfunctions are less obvious. Several methods for
providing status information from video displays have been proposed. Embodiments
of the present invention comprise a system in which data can be requested by repeating
commands, such as turn on, a number of times within a predetermined time interval.
Because embodiments of the invention use an existing command, which can be the
repeated without affecting the functioning of legacy systems, the need for modification
of the airline and monitor systems is greatly reduced.
