CES 2005 - It's Just So BIG!
Part 4 - (More Home Theater Gear Audio,
Really Big Plasma TV, and more)
HDTV Just Keeps Getting Cheaper
In their ongoing effort to bring large-screen HDTV to the masses, Sanyo
had their new PLV-Z3 ($2499, available now) 3-chip 720p LCD projector
on display, making fine-looking movies on a Stewart Firehawk screen. An
upgrade of their popular Z2 model, the Z3 offers a dynamic iris for
enhanced contrast, a new HDMI input and an extra component video or VGA
input, 10-bit video processing (vs. 8-bit on the Z2) plus a unique
feature - user-accessible LCD panel cleaning. One of the
annoyances
of fixed panel projectors without a fully sealed light engine is that
dust can enter the chamber, settle on the LCD panel, and cause dark
blobs to appear in the projected picture. On the Z2, Sanyo covers
the cost of panel cleanings for the duration of the warranty but
shipping the
unit back to Sanyo can be inconvenient. On the Z3, the user can now pop
out a couple of gaskets on the bottom
of the unit, blow out the
area with the supplied hand pump, seal it back up and be good to go. If
you prefer, you can still send the unit back to Sanyo for a cleaning,
but it's nice to have other options, particularly after the warranty
expires.
Sanyo's PLV-Z3 LCD projector offers a
glimpse
of high end home theater at a bargain price.
Once
again this year, Sony sponsored a massive display
showcasing all manner of digital technology. First up, they had a "home
theater" rig consisting of no less than 3 (THREE) stacked Qualia 004
projectors ($27,000 each) lighting up an enormous screen at least 30
feet diagonally. The picture was stunning, extremely bright with vivid
accurate colors and no visible motion artifacts, not even any visible
pixels. Sony was using this killer rig to tease us with some of their
new products on display in the next room, which included...
The new Qualia
006 ($13,000, available "early this year"), a stunning 1080p rear
projector, featured Sony's SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display™)
technology, which is their version of LCOS (Liquid Crystal on
Silicon). The same technology could be found in the
above-mentioned Qualia 004 front projector. Picture quality of
the Qualia 006 was on par with the best plasmas, if not better, with
better blacks and crisp "through a window" like clarity.
Sony's Qualia 006 SXRD rear
projector featured 1080p resolution
and looked almost
"hyper-realistic" with Spider-Man 2 on Blu-Ray Disc.
Also
on display was Sony's 500 Gigabyte High Def PVR, the DHG-HDD500
(List Price: $999, availability: TBD) which can record up to 60 hours
of High Def content or 400 hours of SD content from broadcast or cable
with integrated ATSC and NTSC tuners, built-in TV Guide Online program
guide and on-board CableCard support. It features HDMI and
component video HD outputs as well as SD outputs (composite and
S-video). I want one!
Sony's 500 Gigabyte High Def
PVR,
the DHG-HDD500.
As in previous years, Sony teased us with their prototype Blu-ray Disc recorder, which
was happily providing HD content to their Qualia projector. Blu-ray
disc players, available now in Japan, are expected to be released
later this year in North America, however it remains to be seen how
ugly and drawn out the battle will be with rival format HD-DVD.
Sony's prototype Blu-Ray Disc
recorder
Sony
also had on display a unique new DVD camcorder, the DCR-DVD403 (price:
around $1000, available Spring, 2005) that featured widescreen
(anamorphic) recording on DVD, a 16:9 color viewscreen and, get this, a
built-in multi-directional microphone for recording in true Dolby
Digital 5.1 surround sound. Their demo recording
of a backdoor barbecue made you feel like part of the action with
voices and the sound of sizzling hotdogs coming from the front and wind
chimes and other conversations behind you. A very immersive experience!
Oh, and please pass the mustard.
Sony's new widescreen DVD
camcorder records audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 format.
Off
the beaten path, but worth a trip to one of the upstairs corridors in
the Convention Center was DTS
Entertainment, where patient show attendees waited in line to check
out clips from the new DTS demo disc (and pick up a copy for
themselves, of course). Volume 9 of the DTS demo disc features
killer demo clips from "Return of the King," "Master and Commander" and
the "Kill Bill" flicks, multi-channel audio clips from Simple Minds and
The Polyphonic Spree, and more fun audio/video stuff. Big news
from DTS included their recent acquisition of Lowry Digital Images -
the masterminds behind the phenomenal recent restoration/remastering of
many films
including the Star Wars Trilogy and many of the James Bond
titles. So now DTS has their hands in high-end audio and video. This, along with
the requirement of DTS support in both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc
formats, should make for some stunning HD material in these new
formats. Keep your eyes (and ears) peeled.
There was always a line outside the DTS
room, where they
featured movie and music clips from their
new demo disc.
In
addition to providing high quality soundtracks for movies in theaters
and on DVDs, DTS also
remains committed to multi-channel music with regular DVD-Audio
releases. Recent DTS DVD-Audio titles include The Polyphonic
Spree's "Together
We're Heavy," The Crystal Method's
"Legion of Boom" and a new Frank Zappa collection of some of his
experimental quadraphonic work called "QuAUDIOPHILIAc
."
All sounded great on my system back home. And while
the demise of multi-channel music is something thought by some to be a
foregone conclusion, I remain optimistic. Once you've heard a
well-mixed SACD or DVD-Audio disc, it's tough to go back to plain ole'
stereo. Show your support and go out and buy something! If
your local record store doesn't have them, then check out Amazon's
selection of DVD-Audio
and SACD discs or J&R Music World's extensive selection of DVD-Audio discs
and SACDs.
Taking my own advice,
I recently went on a buying spree and picked up DVD-Audio discs by
Queen, Fleetwood Mac, The Corrs and The Eagles, plus SACD discs by Roxy
Music, Pink Floyd and Norah Jones. Each ran circles (literally)
around their CD counterparts. What are you waiting for?
And Now For Something REALLY BIG
Size was a recurrent theme at CES. Things were either getting really
small, or really big. In the really big department, Samsung had on display a
pre-production sample of their upcoming 80 inch PDP plasma screen HDTV,
the HP-R8082. Expected to sell for "under $50,000" and to be
available "before the end of the year," with 1080p resolution
(1920X1080 pixels), I had to admit that this was a pretty impressive
feat of engineering...
Samsung's 80 inch plasma HDTV will be
available later
this year for an expected list price of under $50,000
impressive that was... until I saw this:
Samsung's 102 inch plasma HDTV may never
see production, but it sure is BIG!
Yes,
my friends, apparently inspired by a size war with rival, LG
Electronics (who previously ruled the roost with a 71 inch plasma
screen), Samsung said "Oh, YEAH?"
and made what they hope to be the
definitive statement in screen size (for now) with a functional plasma
HDTV prototype measuring in at a whopping 102 inches (8 1/2
feet) diagonally. The piece may never be commercially produced but
still...
WOW! Then again, you can get a damn good picture well over 102
inches in size with a nice DLP, CRT, LCOS, or even LCD front projector
and screen (like the afore-mentioned Sanyo Z3) and you can use the
money you save to buy stuff to watch on
it.
But then, that's the real problem with screens this big, isn't
it? You just can't watch regular TV, or even DVDs, and expect to
be able to take advantage of all those pretty pixels. And in response
to that, this year's CES featured a number of prototype players and
recorders of next generation High Definition discs, both Blu-ray Disc (such as the Sony player mentioned earlier) and
HD-DVD. Manufacturers were a bit evasive on pricing and
availability but the general line from both camps is that players of
each format will be available before the end of 2005 at prices below
$1,000. We shall see...
For
those interested in a more mature recordable disc technology,
recordable DVD is now entering its fourth generation with recorders
from the likes of Panasonic and Pioneer.
Pioneer's new HDD DVD recorder the DVR-633H (under $600,
available Spring, 2005) will include a 160 GB Hard Drive,
and TV Guide Online's program guide (rather than Tivo,
found in earlier model Pioneers)
Panasonic's DMR-E500HS
(SRP: $1499.95, available now) features a
massive 400 GB hard drive and TV Guide Online's program guide.
And for those of us with a hankering for a fix for our audiophile
cravings, a huge selection of DVD-Audio, SACD, CD and yes, even vinyl
records was available over at the Alexis Park's Parthenon.
Audiophiles in search of a
musical fix picked up some
goodies at the CES music emporium at the Alexis Park
The good folks from Telarc Records were on hand to sell
their
wares and show off brand new SACD recordings
from the Turtle Island
String Quartet, Ivan Lins and Michael Camilo plus
a new recording of
Mozart's flute concertos by Martin Pearlman and the Boston Baroque.
See?
I told you multi-channel music was alive and well! Well that's a
wrap for this year folks. Hope you enjoyed the ride!
Just joining us, why not start at the beginning in Part I of this
report?
High-Performance Audio Reviews
