The most surprising demo at the show was a demo of a next generation Pioneer plasma that stole quite a bit of SED’s thunder. It had legitimate blacks (seemingly as good as SED). They’re claiming a 20,000:1 contrast ratio, and from the demo it sure looked like it could be close to that. I’d love to tell you more, but the entire presentation was in Japanese. I’ll put up some photos later of the Powerpoint, and you can try to translate them. At the earliest, it may be a model for next year. I’m sure we’ll hear more at CES.
Like I mentioned in my CEDIA report, JVC has a new front projector. It will be around $7000. In demo here at the show, they showed it beside their old $30,000 projector. No contest. It wasn’t even close. The $7k projector blew the old model away. Better blacks, better contrast ratio, better color, better detail. That’s twice I’ve seen this projector look good, and I can’t wait to get a hold of one (they’re saying early next year).
CEATEC is an interesting show. The portion that deals with the stuff we cover is rather small. The rest of the show tends to be manufacturers that make the parts of the stuff we cover. I’ll take some pictures of those bits tomorrow.
Nearly 3 years have passed since my first encounter with Kaleidescape. It was the first real hard drive-based movie player, and, at $32,000, monstrously expensive.
When we last discussed Zune, plucky little Microsoft was getting ready to take on mean monolithic Apple with an iPod-really-wannabe but details were scarce. They got less scarce last week with the announcement that the 30GB player, at $249.99, would cost almost exactly the same as the new 30GB iPod video, at $249. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, the 80GB iPod video may better serve a large library at just a hundred bucks more. But the iPod doesn't let you wirelessly share tracks with another user. The DRM catch? Three plays for three days, then the play privilege expires unless you pay. Another thing you won't get in the iPod/iTunes ecosystem is an all-you-can-eat monthly subscription like the Zune Pass, $14.99/month. Like some wacky city-state, Microsoft even has its own currency—Microsoft Points—described as "a stored value system that can be redeemed at a growing number of online stores, including the Xbox Live Marketplace." A track costs 79 Microsoft Points, at 80 to the dollar. Zune accessories include home, car, and travel packs at $79-99 with various cables, adapters, and things. Among many single-packaged accessories are the Zune Premium Earphones ($39.99) which, the 'softie site assures us, "produce superior sound." Finally, if you've had your heart set on a brown player, Zune's got one, along with black and white. Actually, it doesn't look bad. For more details, see the press release. Zune's D-Day is November 14. Wish it luck. Or not. Really, it's up to you.
Who says that Halloween isn't for A/V enthusiasts? In the next few pages, Sound & Vision will present an appropriate selection of ear and eye candy for trick-or-treaters.
Snakes on a Plane: The Album (Decaydance), with emo/rock tracks and Samuel L. Jackson's immortal M-line.
This past Tuesday Universal Studios released <I>The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift</I> day and date on standard DVD, HD DVD, and through <a href="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/040606industrynews/">CinemaNow</a> in a "downloadable DVD version" that can be downloaded and then burned to a blank DVD for just $9.99. The burned DVD is claimed to be playable "in virtually any DVD player," which means CinemaNow users aren't confined to watching the feature film on their computer monitors.
