On 09/13/04 02:05 ET, AHEM said...
I thought that it was a great show. For the first
time, I wish that I'd had more time to spend there.
Not me. I thought it was one of the worst Expos ever. What was new? What was innovative? Control 4 going after the early majority market? Ok, this might be thought of as important but given the people behind the company forgive me if I live on the fense for a while.
More installer unfriendly equipment from LG and JVC to name but two. LG includes spakers that cannot be removed on every model of plasma save one. JVC showed a very nice picture on its rear projectioin D-ILA but it has no discretes. Samsung includes discretes on all of its new units and showed wireless plasma. All you need is an electrical connection ( 120v) and all inputs and control will be delivered by 602.11b to and from the unit. However no serial connection on anything so how do you control it?
Crestron showed new shade controllers ( they communicate bidirectionally with the new Somfy AC motors. You can now "know" where the shade is and create presets, like Lutron QED shades.) and wireless light switches communicating with "mash" protocol ( 802.14.) Each device is both transmitter and repeater. Control 4 is using similar protocol for its equipment including wireless audio distribution and control.
Netsteams showed its Digilinx Audio system which while very cool and a glimpse of the future is really nothing new as they showed this last year. An other product which will utilize Ethernet protocols, inclusing 802.11, to distribute control and audio and which will not require significant progamming to work ( utiilizing supllied GUI and drivers by NetSteams. ).
Sonance showed a IPod docking station.
CD servers from everyone are dropping in price. Interface boxes from all the usual suspects for large DVD players. I actually thought Imerge made the largest improvement ( but they also had the furtherest to come ) and I would look at their products over Escient if one did not wish to sell Request.
Polk Speakers utilizing NetStreams class D amps and built in DSP sounded very, very good. Nothing like using an amp as an eq to improve your product.
Lots of test equipment for drasticly reduced prices. 1gig CAT 5 certifier for 1200 USD. Blonder-Tongue showed a field signal strength meter that could measure digital CATV carrier for 600 USD ( my Comsonic cost 2500 ). Variety of companies showed video calibration tools for under 2k while Sencore still has its products at 8-12k. Holland showed a prototype TDR for CATV systems and coaxial cable testing for 400 USD.
Everyone showed the new dark(?) chip from TI. This, like the HD2+, is a 720p 16x9 chip with superior contrast measurements. HD2+ chips are now in lower priced projectors while the Matterhorn was repalced by a chip wiht better contast specs too. The new LCD panels made their appearance and are spectacular but given the price point ( 8-10k) I think very few will be sold-but who knows. They look much better than any plasma on the market irrespective of price. But as prices keep droping I doubt anyone will pay the value added for the new LCDs.
Many speaker manufacturers showed on wall speakers for flat panel displays ( speakers sized to mimic height and witdth of display) and back boxes for recessed speakers. Niles showed an in room sub that could be switched between music and movie for different level settings. Another trend was for speaker companies to offer HT furnature systems.
Rereading this seems to suggest that there was more new products but there was nothing revolutionary this year like Kladiscape, AMX G4 touch panels, Stewart's BRIC, satellite radio, and TCP/IP control products. Essentially there were refinements on the revolutionary product introductions that occured last year. SONY showed their Qualia video products last year.
Finally can a city be less depressing, colorless and overpriced than Indianopolis? I spend less on food in NYC resturants and the food here is at least tastes like food and not MRE rations. They even had an earthquake this morning ( said the local news ). Unlike you AHEM, I could not wait to leave. Bless the police officer who graciously showed me the way to I-70 so I could drive to the airport. The most exciting moment was the couple going at it in a Jeep in the hotel parking lot. In my day if we made it to the hotel lot we actually rented a room, not a parking space. I cannot wait for Denver. Please tell me it's not true and we have to spend one more expo in that horrid place.
Alan
This message was edited by Audible Solutionns on 09/13/04 01:54 ET.