I, too, saw Pioneer's Extreme Contrast demo today and completely agree with everything Shane says in his earlier post. Now, just imagine an image that striking in a cabinet this striking? Another Project Kuro concept design, this 50-inch plasma measures just 9mm thick and weighs 41 pounds. Pioneer's goal is to combine these technologies in future models, but don't expect to see a real-world product until late 2009 or perhaps 2010.
One of the most compelling demos of next-gen interactivity I've seen is a technology being dubbed Blu-ray Magic. Using Blu-ray's network-connected BD live platform, connects BD users to pertinent content and materials, even when there's no disc in the machine. For instance, the screen above is generated with no player in the drive, showing what's available and upcoming on Blu-ray and allows users to not only download and view trailers, but purchase or rent the featured titles through partners like Amazon and NetFlix.
I'm tempted to leave this Blog with only that one word: wow. Words are hard to come by. I've been doing this for some time now, and I can't recall the last time I was entranced in a demo, sitting forward in my seat, jaw agape. Pioneer's Extreme Contrast "Concept" plasma display demo was this and more. This might be the biggest potential sea change I've seen in any product category in my years in this industry.
LG's 60PG70 plasma looked pretty amazing. I can't say if it's in Pioneer Kuro territory, but with a 30,000:1 claimed contrast ratio, there was little to fault. I asked one of LG's booth specialists to bring up the ISFccc calibration menu and he was able to do so without pressing 5432+Enter on the remote (sorry – inside joke for former CRT calibrators).
Sennheiser’s new MX W1 wireless earphones are said to be the industry’s first “true wireless” stereo earphones based on Kleer’s wireless audio technology. The Kleer people seem to be very clear about their beliefs that their wireless technology blows the ears off of Bluetooth technology. They say it has something to do with spectral footprints, bandwidth, power consumption, audio quality, and wires.
LCD panel manufacturers are touting the effectiveness of 120 Hz refresh rates for dragging their little darlings out of the drug-induced haze that is LCD smear. I've seen JVC, SyntaxBrillian's Olivia and Sharp LCDs with the technology and it clearly works and works well.
Now, I like to watch a little TV every now and then, but this is just too much. I may have lost count, but I think there were at least a dozen TV screens in this car. To make matters worse, there were at least two sources playing.
