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The HT Guys
HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #408: CES Roundup
by The HT Guys on January 14, 2010 Category: General Interest

Today’s Show:

CES 2010 Roundup

We decided to once again make the trek out to Las Vegas to get our own impression of all the hype coming out of CES.  We didn’t go last year, and we missed it a little, so we had to go this year.  By far the biggest theme of the show this year was 3D.  Some of what we saw was really good, some was really bad and of course some was just downright strange.

All of the pictures are available at HTGuys.com

Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player (More Info)

  1. Watch HD movies stored on internal/external drives or on your local network
  2. Buy or rent movies from Cinema now
  3. MPEG-1; MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB); MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX® /XViD); H.264; WMV; ACVCHD
  4. No built in Wi-Fi. Adapter required
  5. HDMI
  6. One TB model goes for $250

XstreamHD (More Info)

The XStreamHD whole home entertainment solution is powered by one XStreamHD Media Server connected directly to your home network. The XStreamHD Media Server collects, stores and organizes your pre-fetched movies, music and games in your Virtual Personal Library.

As a whole-home solution, the XStreamHD Media Server can deliver multiple streams of content throughout your home to any television equipped with a compact XStreamHD Media Receiver or any DLNA Certified™ device – from computers to next-generation television and game consoles.

The HD Media Server is loaded with up to 4 TB of removable internal storage with additional access to external storage via an eSata connection. Further, the XStreamHD Media Server includes a built-in Network Video Recorder that uses three HDTV (ATSC) tuners to capture all of your favorite broadcast HDTV programs from start-to-finish.

  1. XStreamHD Fast Start  MSRP $399 XStreamHD Pro Start $499
  2. Using a small outdoor antenna, multiple streams of studio master quality HD entertainment are delivered direct-to-home via satellite to your XStreamHD Media Server
  3. Simultaneously access multiple streams of Full HD content throughout your home from one HD Media Server
  4. Three HDTV (ATSC) tuners and a Network Video Recorder allow you to simultaneously record up to three broadcast HDTV programs.
  5. Up to 4TB of removable internal storage with additional access to external storage via an eSATA connection.

Boxee (More Info)

  1. Watch thousands of popular TV shows and movies for Free
  2. Very cool RF remote with QWERTY keyboard on back side
  3. SD card Slot
  4. Wi-Fi built in
  5. Facebook and Twitter support

JVC (More Info)

  1. Real-Time 2D – 3D Conversion
    • Interesting concept, and it kinda worked, but not perfect
  2. Thin LEDs
  3. 3D LCoS projectors
    • We opted not to wait in line, but were told that the demo was amazing
    • JVC makes great projectors, from a 2D perspective we know they’re great
    • We’d assume their 3D is the same as everyone else’s

LG (More Info)

  1. In years past, LG has pushed the envelope with really big screens, this year they had really thin ones
  2. They showed an “Ultra Slim LCD” – very nice
    • 6.9mm
    • local dimming
    • LED backlit
  3. Magic TV remote
    • Uses gyros and accelerometers like a Wii remote
    • Cool idea, but a little more of a gimmick than a mind blower
  4. 3D
    • LCD was the same as everyone else.  Not good, not bad
    • Ara really liked the 3D plasma.  It gave Braden headaches.

Panasonic (More Info)

  1. 152-inch 4K x 2K Quad HD 3D plasma display
    • Thing was huge
    • It looked good, but the content didn’t really show it off
    • We didn’t see any 3D on it, but supposedly it could do it
    • No pricing or availability … but they can get you a 103″ unit right away
  2. Panasonic’s 3D plasma won best of CES 2010
    • Ara really liked how plasma looked in 3D
    • Braden thought it was the most natural looking, but it gave him headaches
    • Used active glasses, which we all know are expensive
  3. Showed what they claimed was the world’s first Full HD 3D Blu-ray player with WiFi
  4. Showed a portable Blu-ray player

Samsung (More Info)

  1. Were not allowed to take pictures. These two were taken before we were admonished
  2. Samsung Plasma:
    • 3D compatible
    • 2D-to-3D conversion system
    • slim 1.4-inch deep panel
    • Interactive capability with Samsung Internet @ TV and Samsung Apps
  3. OLED 3D – Did not look very good

Toshiba (More Info)

  1. Cell TV – supposed to be the most powerful TV ever
    • Cell processor can upconvert 2D to 3D, we didn’t see it
    • TV can rip Blu-ray and DVD movies – pretty cool
    • Supports IPTV – not Skype
    • Showed a split screen of HD and HD upconverted to 4K – we weren’t blown away
    • It could eventually become self away
  2. Big focus on “green” technology
  3. No focus on Bu-ray

Sharp (More Info)

  1. Quad pixel technology
    • Big theme was the color yellow – Coldplay did not perform as far as we know
    • TVs looked good, but not mindblowing
    • Unlike most things at the show, they should ship in 2010
  2. Had a bunch of “connected” Blu-ray players
    • Netflix (of course)
    • Vudu
    • Pandora
    • Special Aquos Pure mode knows the player is connected to an Aquos HDTV and makes movies look better (uses deep color)

Dolby (More Info)

  1. Dolby Volume
  2. Dolby Mobile
  3. Dolby Pro Logic IIz

SONY (More Info)

  1. 3D OLED
    • Not good, but not as bad as Samsung
  2. 3D LCD
    • Pretty much the same as everyone else’s

The only analog set we saw …

Download Episode #408

Posted by The HT Guys, January 14, 2010 11:37 PM

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About The HT Guys

The HT Guys, Ara Derderian and Braden Russell, are Engineers who formerly worked for the Advanced Digital Systems Group (ADSG) of Sony Pictures Entertainment. ADSG was the R&D unit of the sound department producing products for movie theaters and movie studios.

Two of the products they worked on include the DCP-1000 and DADR-5000. The DCP is a digital cinema processor used in movie theaters around the world. The DADR-5000 is a disk-based audio dubber used on Hollywood sound stages.

ADSG was awarded a Technical Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2000 for the development of the DADR-5000. Ara holds three patents for his development work in Digital Cinema and Digital Audio Recording.

Every week they put together a podcast about High Definition TV and Home Theater. Each episode brings news from the A/V world, helpful product reviews and insights and help in demystifying and simplifying HDTV and home theater.