CES


	The 2002 International Consumer Electronic Show


	by Ed Peters

Kids delight on Christmas Day, baseball buffs swoon during the Fall Classic, football fans gorge during their Super Bowls. For me, my annual nirvana occurs the first business week in January when us tech heads gather in Las Vegas for the International Consumer Electronics Show.

Equal parts convention, circus and final exams, CES (as it is known among industry circles), allows manufacturers to parade new technologies and reintroduce current technologies with “improvements.” Amid a constant din of 5.1 crashes, anamorphic flashing lights and future sticker shock, the industry rolls out its own red carpet to schmooze with industry wags and the all-important merchandise buyer to not only make sure consumers know about their new wares but have the shelf space cleared for their arrival.

This year marked my fifth pilgrimage to the convention and I have to admit, it’s slowly being marked by diminishing returns. Not because there wasn’t lots to see and drool over, but the excitement of the show seems to have dimmed by one of its own progeny the Internet. When I first attended, laserdisc still reigned over the home video roost (although DVD started to rattle its saber at the 1996 show), home theater underwent yet another transformation with Dolby Digital and DTS was just itchin’ to start a format war with Dolby. The only way to get the latest info was to either wait for the industry magazines like Video Magazine and Stereo Review (both now folded into “Sound & Vision”) to publish their write-ups… three months later. Yet 1996 was the first year I saw a few websites basically posting manufacturers’ press releases and product photographs. Downloading at 9600 baud (my first computer), I think it was quicker to wait for the magazines to hit the newsstands.

So I won’t be writing for days, I will concentrate on the areas that I assume are of the most interest to DVD Review readers: DVD hardware, surround sound, and video display. A small note: the following treatise is not an exhaustive examination of every new product unveiled at this year’s show. Just a brief overview on what to look forward to, what looks good to buy this year…and how in some cases, the old adage of “patience is a virtue” aptly fits when buying home theater gear.

DVD

We may not have hyperspaced past Jupiter or embraced the Star Child as in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001,” but at some point last year, DVD sailed clear of its niche berth and began navigating the mainstream. According to the latest CEA stats, over 25 million players have made it to market since the format’s debut in 1997. Not only does DVD now have bankable penetration, but with low-cost machines from reputable brands easily available (heck, my local supermarket sold Toshiba players over the holidays!), the momentum looks unstoppable. The fact that the video companies tripped over themselves in the fourth quarter for bragging rights about who sold the most discs means DVD is not just for spec addicts anymore.

That’s the good news. The bad news is… I’m not sure where the format can go from here and I found clear evidence at this year’s show to support that assertion. DVD-Video players seem to have reached a performance plateau. All the major manufacturers, and some maverick labels, have a progressive scan player in the marketplace right now, hovering around $300 - $500 retail. (Of course, there are examples on both sides of that range.)

I guess the new frontier for DVD is overcoming its playback-only public persona. Looks like a few manufacturers agreed, despite the massive obstacles ahead with no less than three formats battling for DVD recording superiority. Panasonic and Pioneer took great pains to highlight their DVD recorders already in the marketplace. Panasonic’s DMR-E20

has been available for some time (since October), but even though it premiered at $1,500, the sticker tag already dipped to $999 during the holidays. Panasonic also trumpeted a prototype HD DVD recording system based on “blue laser” technology. No price or timetable given; only a bulky silver machine encased in plexiglass with some notes on what the technology is about and what we can look forward to… whenever it arrives. Pioneer trumpeted their DVD recorder, the DVR-7000, priced at $2,000. Their exhibit (taking up several stalls, just like Panasonic’s) impressively broke down the benefits according to the consumer’s needs for “archiving,” “editing” and “timeshifting.” Philips’ DVDR-985 becomes the second DVD recorder in the brand’s line-up, but at half the price of the $1,999 DVDR1000.


	Another example of new technology entering DVD was at the Sanyo booth where they showed off two models with “TV Guardian,” a process that removes “offensive” language based on the closed captioning signals. DVD-Audio made a very strong showing with many new and current players offering DVD-Audio capabilities at highly competitive price points (read: less than $500 retail). Sony opted not to trumpet their DVD machines or video displays, instead concentrating on mobile entertainment (more on that phenomenon in the next section) and SACD, or Super Audio CD. Perhaps the most telling example of “Quo Vadis DVD?” was at the Samsung booth. One wall displayed seventeen DVD players of various shapes, sizes and capabilities. Plain vanilla players, progressive scan and portables filled my field of vision, as well as my camera’s.

So what’s the consensus on DVD at this year’s show? If you haven’t bought a player yet, waiting a few more months will yield the latest and greatest flavors of DVD -- progressive scan output, DVD-Audio or SACD capability, recording features, aesthetic impact at very attractive prices.

SURROUND SOUND

Remember I said Dolby and DTS averted a format war with their competing 5.1 audio technologies? Actually, the war still rages. What made peace on both sides was that the hardware makers allowed for both Dolby Digital and DTS to reside in the same receiver, processor, even the same DVD. With inexpensive receivers now boasting Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 playback, where is the next round to be fought? Here’s a hint: the battlefield gets thirty miles to the gallon. Several booths, including Panasonic, DTS, Dolby Laboratories, and Lucasfilm THX, demonstrated the benefits of multi-channel surround in automobiles. From THX’s new “Ultra Premium Car Audio” certification program to DTS demonstrating their latest Demo DVD (with clips from “Planet of the Apes” and “Jurassic Park III”), the newest trend is to make your car reproduce soundtracks exactly as the director intended. Great concept, but are we at the dawn of the “car theater” industry? Other manufacturers went so far as to show off vehicles modified with tiny LCD screens, just like airplanes, as well as diaphragm-rupturing LFE in an area not more than 6 feet square.

On the surround process front, several new improvements made their bow. Dolby showcased their “Dolby Headphone” technology, which gives regular headphones a pseudo-5.1 effect when listening to discrete soundtracks. At the Dolby booth, I enjoyed watching a clip of “Toy Story II” in a lounge area of eight recliners and headphones attached to the new Denon AVR-5803 receiver that not only offers Dolby Headphone, but Dolby Pro Logic II (which reprocesses 2 channels into simulated 5.1) as well as the first receiver to carry certification for Lucasfilm’s new “THX Ultra 2” processing for movie soundtracks and especially music reproduction. Denon’s flagship receiver does not come cheap; the state-of-the-art component runs a stately $4,300.

The Denon was also utilized in THX’s demo room at the Las Vegas Hilton. With music excerpts culled from their new demo DVD as well as a generous helping of “Tomb Raider” film clips, a THX Ultra2 home theater (our THX-certified host repeatedly emphasized that a true THX home theater must be THX-certified along the entire chain: DVD player, receiver, speakers and subwoofers) certainly sounds like the ultimate in home entertainment. I’m just waiting for the day THX certifies microwave popcorn…

And what’s the jury’s verdict? Surround sound upgrades have been a staple of consumer electronics ever since Fosgate introduced the first Dolby Surround processor in 1982. I too am guilty several times over of upgrading my receivers for the latest sound flavor. I leave this judgment call to everyone out there. As for mobile 5.1, I think we have enough distracted drivers on the road as it is. Besides, if I’m listening to a police chase scene in my car, how will I know to pull over when the real thing happens?

VIDEO DISPLAY

This arena proved the most speculative and the most exciting. The days of the analog CRT dwindle as we speak. The future of digital video displays rest with two equally pleasing choices: plasma and DLP. There was more plasma on display at this year’s show than at a blood bank. Imagine a five-foot wide, 16x9 digital television that weighs less than a hundred pounds, hangs on the wall like art and makes your DVDs and high definition TV signals crisper than life itself.

Panasonic, Sharp, Marantz, Samsung, Pioneer showcased their current and upcoming plasma products. However, most hover around the $10,000 mark. The Panasonics (one section had about twenty plasma screens of varying sizes, pleasingly arranged in an area about thirty feet wide and fifteen feet high) looked very sharp and clean, especially when displaying high definition video of the South Pacific. Samsung introduced a 42” plasma screen with a $6,000 price tag, but offering only standard definition. If you want HDTV plasma from the same manufacturer, the HPL5025 starts at $12,999. See what I mean?

Sharp made a literal splash in premiering their “Aquos” line of LCD video products with a synchronized swimmer aquacade right there on the convention floor, complete with giant glass-walled water tank and trapeze platforms. Zenith also bowed 60” screens in both plasma and LCD. Panasonic’s TC-11LVI has it all: a combination 16x9 LCD TV/DVD unit, with progressive scan and a retail price of $1,599.

What truly excited me were the varied demonstrations of digital light processing or DLP. I am lucky enough to live very close to one of the dozen or so movie theaters in the world fitted for digital projection. If you have a chance to see a movie digitally projected, do it. It is awesome. Colors just leap off the screen and the depth of detail makes even the worst movie seem exciting. (OK, maybe that last one was a bit much.) Well, the good folks at Texas Instruments are now following in the footsteps of Dolby and DTS regarding their proprietary technology: If it can be in a movie theater, it can be in a home theater. TI took no chances in representing the visceral impact of their golden goose. They erected a mini movie theater on the floor, housing about twenty at a time to watch a eleven minute montage of clips from films that have benefited from DLP presentation including “Shrek,” “Final Fantasy,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Dinosaur,” “Tarzan,” culminating with the complete trailer for “Star Wars Episode II.” Needless to say, everyone walked away blown away.

DLP projectors have been around for the last year from such stalwarts as Runco, Seleco, DreamVision and Sharp. Yamaha unveiled their DLP projector, the DPX-1, at the show. Runco exhibited two new additions to their already impressive line of DLP products. However, price points still range from $5,000 to $13,000. One interesting development is the Piano HE-3100 DLP projector from Plus Corporation of America. With a footprint no bigger than a standard sheet of paper, built-in line scaler and weighing only 4 pounds, the Piano clocks in at an affordable (relatively speaking) $2,999. The Piano received an “Innovations” award at the show, reserved for those products that make an impact in build quality, design and function. Rear-projected DLP TVs from Panasonic, Samsung and Vestel also provided excellent images with price points starting at $5,000 for the Samsung 43” model.

And the survey says? DLP is the future, at least as far as my home theater is concerned. Unless my plain ol’ analog RPTV gives out anytime soon, I’m holding out for DLP.

So there it is. As the year progresses, updates will no doubt fill in many of the blanks from my report. What starts off as one set of specs and features on the convention floor, often times undergoes revision by the time the product hits the shelf. Technology-wise, we have an amazing year ahead of us.

One final thought, this one directed to the exhibitors. I have but one word: freebies. The quality of freebies at this year’s CES ranks as one of the worst to my memory. I know we all have budgets and bottom lines to meet, but c’mon, we can do better than candy and pens?


		January 22, 2002


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