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CES 2006-A Look Back
by Dan Francis |
Date: Feb 26, 2006 |
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This year's CES was once again marked by record numbers in attendance, in the area of 130,000 attendees. In addition to the huge number of attendees, the number of exhibitors grew this year as well- and so did the amount of real estate the show consumed: not only filling the Las Vegas Convention Center, but also half of the Sands Convention Center and numerous suites in hotels throughout the strip (Hilton, Mirage, Wynn, Alexis Park, San Tropez, etc.).
My experience at the show started on a not-so-great note as I had to deal with so-so preparation and organization for PRESS registration by CEA. The lines for press registration on Tuesday night were approximately 1 hour long, and then I had to deal with my “pre-qualified' status which really wasn't, entailing a rather long walk to and from the press-room at the Sands CC and back to the registration area at the Venetian. Frustrating? Yes, but in the defense of CEA, they had more press this year than ever before (and more than attend the Super Bowl). Thankfully that was a one-time experience for this year's show- and hopefully things will improve for CES 2007….we'll see though.
At least this year the weather in Las Vegas was wonderful; sunny and near 70 for most of the week.
During my time at the show, some trends became readily apparent to me for the coming year in electronics:
- It's a 1080P world. Every major video manufacturer displayed 1080P devices that will be shipping in the next year.
- HD optical discs (namely Blu-Ray) are well on their way to us; Sony, Samsung, Sharp, LG, Panasonic, and Pioneer all displayed their upcoming BD players.
- Our media is going to become more and more portable; as media servers become more prevalent from all types of manufacturers, wireless providers and cell-phone manufacturers begin to promote their own content-delivery systems as well as the ability to move that content from handset, to home, to car ...we are going to see people demand this ability to watch and hear what they want, where they want, when they want.
- Flat panel displays are becoming more and more d?©cor-diverse, with the addition of white bezels, more neutral shades of silver for the bezels, and less ‚Äúhigh-tech'/masculine looking designs but rather a more gender-neutral aesthetic.
- LED illumination for not only flat panel designs, but also for RPTV designs (shown in the Texas Instruments DLP booth).
Now that I've given some general observations of the show/ industry trends: on to the toys! What follows are some standouts from various booths that I visited over the 4 days of the show, these are not in any specific order.
LG
LG showed that their manufacturing and technology no longer take a back-seat to the Japanese. I took particular interest in their flat-panel devices, both plasma and lcd. Their obvious star of the booth was the 102' diagonal plasma they had on display…it was crowded the entire time around that beast. I saw particular promise in their 2D/3D capable LCD panels. LG's Innovations-winning 50' WIRELESS PLASMA was also of particular interest to me, as I can see this technology being explored by many more manufacturers as time goes on, and flat-panels become more of a mandate by decorators and architects.
       
Samsung
Two things struck me immediately as I entered Samsung's booth: first, SIZE- not only was it the largest single booth, but they also had no less than 6 of their 82' diagonal LCD flat panels on display throughout the booth (I think they might build that one). Second, they are paying attention to the fact that women are the major determinant concerning 80+% of major purchases- Samsung showed their entire line of standard-sized flat panels in not only gloss black, but also a more d?©cor-neutral gloss white.
     
Sony
The major theme of Sony's booth was Blu-Ray. No question. With a large wall that displayed all of the movies to be released initially in BD, and all of their video displays showing BD content. Another interesting display at Sony showed a slim-profile SXRD rear-projection set back-to-back with the up-coming 46' 1080P BRAVIA series LCD panel (that looked extremely similar to the Qualia 005 displayed at CEDIA in Sept.). And finally, of course, was the ever-popular Playstation 3: shown in a rotating display containing 3 different colors for the console (white, silver, and gloss black). The PS3 demo was not live, but rather stock footage from development-stage games.
      
Sharp
Sharp also had a rather impressive looking booth, especially considering it was right next to Samsung- who went all-out this year. I thought Sharp's booth was well though out, and understated ( I get enough of the in-your-face displays everywhere else ). Sharp showed a new series of 1080P flat panels as well (the 90 series) of particular note was a panel size that I've not seen before, from anyone else: 57' diagonal. This comes directly on the heels of the 65' behemoth that Sharp introduced at CEDIA this year. Also on display was the highly-anticipated XV-Z20000 single-chip DLP projector, and the XV-Z3000 which uses the new 1280x768 DMD from Texas Instruments. It was difficult to evaluate either of these in their demo because the source material for each varied greatly: the 20k was showed using D5 tape, and the 3000 was showed with a WMV file. I really would have liked to see the same content on both-but it IS a trade show, and for that type of comparison I'll have to wait for review samples.
      
SRS Labs
SRS showed us a couple MP3 players from Alienware and MOBIblue that contained their new SRS WOW! , designed for portable audio devices- to enhance the sense of spaciousness in these highly compressed formats. We were also given a look at the new SRS HD (pro) that will hopefully make it into newer displays and budget HTIBs. SRS HD allows the user to “season the sound' of their television to taste beyond the capabilities of standard treble and bass adjustments as well as to add or remove dialog emphasis and virtual surround spaciousness as they wish.
     
Pioneer
Of note to me at the Pioneer booth was the BDP-H1 Blu-ray player, and their new 1080P plasma: the PRO FH-D1.
  
Monster Cable
I swear that Monster is becoming the Microsoft of consumer electronics, they're into everything now! Monster Music, Monster Gaming, Monster Power, Monster earphones, Monster video calibration dvd, and a particular shocker to me: Monster Remote Control !
  
Kef
Kef was displaying in the Hilton this year, a nice-quiet escape from the din of the show floor. The first thing that caught my attention in their suites was that the KHT line is now available in both a beautiful gloss black as well as the original silver, I wish this option had been around when I received my KHT 9000ACE system for review! Kef also had several new-introductions to their line: the KIT 200 (Kef Instant Theater, one of my personal favorites), the iQ series of loudspeakers, the new 3000 series, and a new in-wall version of the 9000ACE: the Ci9000ACE.
    
Miscellaneous products of interest to me
These are various products and displays that caught my eye while walking around CES. ATI showed their new preamps, with the value already built into their amps, I can't wait to check these out. Hannspree is perhaps the most imaginative flat-panel provider on the planet! With their diversity of choices, I can't imagine that there's one that doesn't fit everyone's taste. Snell showed a prototype of one rather severe-looking tower speaker, I'll have to wait to hear it as well. Optoma was a popular booth due to their upcoming H81 1080P single-chip projector. Marantz showed a chasis of their future VP-11S1 DLP projector (static display, and I think still vaporware at this point). Cinema Design Group international (CDGi) had a very intriguing theater interior displayed at the Vidikron/Runco/Stewart Filmscreen booth, it was well done and one of the most original interiors I've seen to date in a booth.
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Copyright (c) 2007 Rock Star Media Works, Inc. All rights reserved.
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