Consumer Electronics Show

Imagine a carnival the size of the Dallas airport. Imagine the crush of people in downtown Tokyo. Imagine a technological extravaganza orchestrated by Federico Fellini. Combine them all and you have only the slightest hint of the Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s largest trade show. Each January, CES consumes the cavernous Las Vegas Convention Center and spills over into dozens of Sin City’s hotels, where manufacturers present the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos and gear. Here are some of the most talked about from CES 2007, according to Barry Willis, industry expert for Absolute Multimedia, Inc., national publisher of audio and video magazines.

Home integration

It was the science fiction of the 1950s, a home that ran itself. Lights turned on and off at specific times, interior temperature remained constant, the dishwasher ran when full, the garage door opened when the car turned the corner. While many of those electronic options are available now as stand-alone technologies, the dream of having it all as a single system, orchestrated by a single computer, has danced just out of reach.

But the vision is slowly emerging in the real world, beginning with integrated entertainment systems. Russound demonstrated an ambitious product called Smart Media Console. Using Windows’ new Vista operating system, the all-in-one home integration controller is designed “from the ground up as a multi-room audio-video home entertainment system ... simple and enjoyable for users,” according to company literature. Other manufacturers are also producing home integration systems of varying complexity. For more information, go to cedia.org, the website of the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association.

Sound systems

The latest trend in home integration and custom installation is wireless, from light dimmers to system controllers and audio-video equipment. Wireless is inevitable, mainly because it cuts the cost of installation for the customer (running all the wires is half the cost of a custom installation). It also allows portability, not to mention permitting non-tech-savvy consumers to simply plug ’n’ play.

“Many companies are working on wireless audio technology,” Willis says, “but none are as far along as San Francisco-based Neosonik, which demonstrated a fully realized wireless audio system at CES.”
The Neosonik system includes a Dolby-standard 5.1-channel system for less than $12,000—a bargain considering that it includes all speakers, electronics and a system controller, and needs no installation other than plugging the equipment into wall outlets.

“In the future, everything will be wireless,” Willis predicts, “and every bit of technology will communicate with every other bit—perhaps with minimal human intervention.”

Video frenzy

With the purchase of a new television on the average of every four years, most American families are already aware of high-definition flat-panel TVs, which come in two varieties—plasma displays and liquid crystal displays. Now, to make the home theater experience even closer to the big screen, manufacturers have developed the ultimate form of high-definition video playback: 1080p—meaning video generated by 1080 horizontal lines of video information scanned in one progressive pass of the screen.

Two companies, Sony and Toshiba, have developed video formats for 1080p. Unfortunately the companies didn’t agree on a unified format, setting the stage for a battle much like VHS vs Beta in the 1980s. For consumers who want to enjoy this new technology without fear their investment will soon become obsolete, LG Electronics has produced a dual-format disc player, “this season’s most sought-after tech toy,” Willis says. Hollywood studios have already begun releasing feature films in one format or the other.

The really big “Big Picture”

“Flat-panels aren’t the only path to great images,” Willis notes. “Serious movie fans love the truly big screen, and the electronics industry is doing its best to serve them.” Milpitas-based Optoma offers a huge 10-foot high-def display, the largest available. Called the BigVizion, this childproof rear-projection TV requires a bit of home remodeling for proper installation. Less daunting from the installation perspective is Optoma’s HD81 projector, which Willis claims yielded the most spectacular image of anything shown at CES: A Blu-ray clip of Phantom of the Opera in sumptuous color on a gigantic 170-inch screen, “in a room well-lit enough to let you find the door.” Price: approximately $13,000, not counting the screen, theater seats, and popcorn machine.

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