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HDTVs / CES 2007 Tuesday Report
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Dick
De Jong
January 9, 2007
HDTV Solutions
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| Tuesday
I have scheduled a day full of appointments with manufacturers. Unfortunately, they are spread all over the giganormous convention floor and two hotels. I need a jet powered backpack. |
First up is Norcent. (I reviewed one of their LCDs in August and liked what I saw.) Norcent is one of those fast growing companies that is beginning to make a name for itself in the cost conscious HDTV market. |
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| Last year, companies like Norcent were taking a wait-until-the-time-is-right approach to producing 1080p TVs. Well, it seems that 2007 is the right time for the outpouring of 1920 x 1080 LCD panels, especially in sizes 47" and under. Norcent is beginning with a 37" model. |
| Next on my march around the floor was Hauppauge, which is known for their WinTV line of products that turn your PC into a TV. One of their new featured gadgets was the WinTV-HVR-950 hybrid TV stick. This USB 2.0 tiny wonder contains an ATSC and NTSC tuner and software that allows you to watch standard and high def programs on your laptop or desktop and record them onto your hard drive. I should be receiving a review unit soon, so I can take it through its paces.
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| Later in the afternoon, I also visited AverMedia who is making similar TV tuner products, like the AVerTV Hybrid USB. I’ll be interested in comparing it to its Hauppauge counterpart. |
| As I prowled around the floor, I couldn’t help but notice large booths with company names that hadn’t shown up on my brand name radar before. SVA is a prime example of an organization that may not be on the tip of your tongue but definitely is becoming a player in the game. |
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| The SVA group based in Shanghai is the fifth largest consumer electronics manufacturer in China, with cooperative partners like JVC, Sony and Samsung. Highlighting its new HDTVs were a 55" 1366 x 768 plasma and a 47" 1080p LCD. SVA also has signed an agreement to produce TVs under the venerable Sylvania brand.
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Off to the Hilton for two interesting solutions to the HD networking puzzle. It seems everyone and their great aunt want to be able to connect all of their electronic gear together into one happy, harmonious, high bandwidth, high definition home network. Ruckus is one of the companies developing wireless 802.11n technology that will transmit multiple HDTV streams throughout a home. Their Smart Wi-Fi system includes an open clamshell looking receiver.
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Up one flight was the Amimon suite. You may never see that name on a product you buy because these engineers from Israel design the semiconductors that other companies will implement into their products.
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| For example, Sanyo was showing off the world’s first wireless high-definition projector, which employs Amimon’s WHDI technology that enables wireless transmission of uncompressed HD video streams in the 5GHz unlicensed band. Hopefully, by the end of 2007, we will see a WHDI enabled HDTV. |
| And I didn’t have the time to visit with other companies that are supporting a system of sending HD signals through devices connected by the power lines in your house. Though I am seeing products already, all these technologies may need another year to mature. When they become available, we will try to get them into the testing facility to see if they can deliver on their promises of providing clean high def signals over our home networks. |
Maxent 42" Plasma |
| Up ten more flights and down the hall to the north tower, I found the Maxent suite. Maxent is another one of those companies trying to elbow its way through the competition by offering “value leading” products that have a tendency to lag behind the leading edge models. But the price can be attractive. For example, Maxent will be releasing in Q1 a 50" 720p plasma for an MSRP of $1799. |
| Syntax-Brillian, another relative unknown a few years back, has decided to raise their profile by making their Olevia brand HDTV the official sponsor of ESPNHD. They are already producing 1080p TVs and we have their 47" LCD in our testing facility now. And for all the news about future releases that I can give you, I still believe the real proof is in the pudding of reviews of actual products. |
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| Microtek is yet another company entering the crowded HDTV fray, though they have an interesting pedigree. Microtek has been producing well regarded scanners for years so they appreciate the importance in reproducing accurate colors. According to Sam Samimi, Microtek VP, that commitment to color fidelity carries over to their new plasmas. They are rolling out 42 and 50" plasmas in their Microtek and higher end Cineon lines. What I saw in their suite looked good, but I’ll withhold final judgement until we can get a review unit. |
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Back to the Central Hall of the Convention Center and the big boys. Pioneer had perhaps the most impressive demo that I saw. They were showing off their upcoming plasma display in a side by side comparison with their current 65" plasma. This new technology - so new that Pioneer doesn’t have a name for it - includes a completely re-engineered display infrastructure, including a new panel and filter resulting in blacker blacks, richer colors, and a higher contrast ratio. For a guy who prefers plasmas, the demo resonated with me. Of course, the most the Pioneer rep could offer is that the first product may be out in late Q2 or Q3. No price nor size. |
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| For the true home theater movie buffs, Pioneer offers an end to end 1080p 24Hz solution. Films are shot and played back in movie theaters at 24 frames per second. Traditionally, films had to be converted to 30 frames per second to be shown on televisions. Though not apparent to most casual TV watchers, this 3-2 pulldown conversion bothers, shall we say, the more perceptive cineastes. Coming up with a 24Hz, instead of a 30 or 60Hz pipeline, recreates a truer film watching experience. Towards that end, Pioneer’s Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-ray Disc player is engineered to handle and output a pure 1080p 24Hz signal, which then is passed through an Elite AV receiver to the Elite 50” 1080p plasma. Through a 3:3 pulldown, this HDTV can preserve the 24 frame per second playback. |
The sun was setting over the Wynn Hotel and I had time for one more appointment, Samsung, which I have already highlighted in my Sunday Press Conference report. On the floor, Samsung was displaying the HT-P5894W wireless plasma HDTV. This 58” 1080p will be available in September for an MSRP of $5,699.
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Samsung 61" LED DLP TV |
| As I mentioned before, Samsung is still dedicated to producing DLP TVs; and, in fact, they are pushing the technology with an LED light engine they dubbed Phlatlight. Coming in 50, 56, and 61" screen sizes, these slim 1080p HDTVs do not have the traditional rear projection lamp and color wheel. |
And that’s it for the day. More tomorrow.
Stay tuned. |
| CES Sunday - Press Conferences |
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