Mark In
Feb 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Dan Ochiva
Panasonic AVC Networks Company President Toshihiro Sakamoto delivered his CES 2008 keynote address before the company’s new 150in. plasma, claimed to be the world’s largest.
CES 2008: More or Less?
By Dan Ochiva
Is CES still relevant for those who hope to hear about the latest in useful gear? After all, the annual Las Vegas-based consumer electronic extravaganza has lurched from hosting significant technology introductions, such as DLP and HDTV, to now trumpeting more questionable products, such as combo Taser/MP3 players and the world's largest fill-in-the-blank here.
Indeed, it wasn't a big year for breakthrough products. However, partnerships and more incremental product improvements did make news. At the show, Warner Bros. announced its decision to swing over to the Blu-ray camp, which made many think they heard the death knell of HD DVD. (Toshiba canceled one HD DVD press conference and slashed drive costs the following week.)
Meanwhile, Panasonic, Sony, and Hitachi all touted thinner, lighter, less-expensive screens — whether OLED, plasma, or LCD. But it was the move to mega-sized displays that pointed to another, seemingly unstoppable trend: size. Panasonic took the world record in plasma displays with its 150in. monster. If 12 1/2ft. of display acreage is too much, there's also Sharp's 108in. LCD — the new leader in that variety.
Mitsubishi spotlighted lasers, unveiling their use in a 65in. DLP-type, rear-projection HDTV. With lasers replacing the usual white light, colors and contrast are said to be top notch. The company, however, has been showing engineering models of the technology since 2005, and it didn't offer details about price or delivery.
More striking in some ways was a move in the opposite direction: the debut of Microvision's code-named “Show” pico projector (PicoP). The advanced prototype of this handheld, battery-powered projector is the size of a PDA. Able to project a widescreen, WVGA image (848×480 pixels) of up to 100in., the PicoP display engine uses lasers instead of a conventional lens system — so it's always in focus.
The production model — a more compact version — hits the market later this year from other manufacturers, and it should run for about 2 1/2 hours on a battery charge. According to the manufacturer, cell-phone companies will be incorporating the projection technology into their cell phones by next year.
Once again, consumer camera technology offered breakthrough advances. The CMOS-based Casio Exilim EX-F1 SLR camera takes up to 1,200 frames of video or 60 6-megapixel photos per second. It shoots 1920×1080 video, too. The compact camera, which employs RAM-style high-speed memory to cache the images, prices at less than $1,000.
Sony brought out the HDR-SR12 HD camcorder, which employs a 120GB drive, but it records slow-motion video only at a comparatively paltry — but still impressive — 240fps.
Products from Panasonic, Samsung, Belkin, Radiospire, and other companies support a new transmission standard that enables wireless transmission of HD over short distances. In a rather familiar move, Sony promoted its TransferJet technology to accomplish the same results, but it's a proprietary standard. Intel debuted new potent dual-core processors for mobile use, while Nvidia's Hybrid SLI technology will combine integrated and standalone GPUs to offer energy-saving but powerful graphics options.
What might a more telling development: In December, Nvidia purchased mental images, a highly regarded maker of rendering software that is incorporated into top pro 3D apps such as Autodesk Maya. While it has hinted about the possibility before, with this deal, Nvidia may soon — perhaps as early as next year's show — be able to offer realtime ray-traced rendering, long a Holy Grail in the graphics industry.
