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final report from ces 2005
Live from CES 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada
By Executive Editor Sean
Gibson & Associate Editor Greg
Gibson
 The
2005 International CES, which wrapped up at 4 p.m. PST Sunday, January
9, exceeded 1.5 million net square feet, the largest space in show history.
The desire to empower consumers by personalizing their
life experience through simple, flexible and affordable products and trends
stood as the prevailing theme of this year's show. More than 140,000 attendees
flocked to the 2005 International CES to explore and experience the innovative
products and emerging trends highlighted by 2,550 exhibitors at the world’s
largest annual consumer technology showcase.
Final Impressions - An Overview
If there was anything that really "wowed" the attendees,
yes all 140,000 of them, it had to be the amazing amount of quality 1080p
(progressive) television sets and how much difference they make against
existing 1080i technology. The difference really is night and day, and
the biggest advances in television technology overall might have been
made in the way of projectors. Many of these units are much clearer, brighter,
and offer consumers more features (such as built in speakers) than ever
before.
One thing noticed by the editorial staff was the tremendous
amount of MP3 players released by just about every other exhibitor at
the show. The big story here is the amazing amount of attention that Creative
got for their "Zen" line of MP3 players and how popular they've
become. With a huge stage, big product demos, and a constant giveaway
on their "Wheel of Fortune" they were easily the big ticket
draw. The other side of the story is that the folks from Apple and their
popular iPod were nowhere to be seen at all. Typically, Apple has a "stealth"
presence at both E3 and CES, but this year they weren't even listed. While
Creative was getting all the attention from press/media, buyers, and industry
insiders, Apple was missing.
Great TV on and through your Computer - ATI
NextGen has been consistently reviewing ATI's products since
the 2002 CES show, and we've seen several editions of the TV Wonder come
through the pipeline. One thing most industry people have been begging
for is stronger quality when it comes to viewing television both on your
computer and using your television as an output device to pipe the signal
to your television.
ATI's big pre-show announcement was the new Theater 550
Pro processor, and the product that features this chip, the TV Wonder
Elite.
The Theater 550 PRO integrates:
- Next Generation 12-bit Video Decoder that features 3D
Comb Filtering for NTSC and PAL and 5-line 2D Comb Filtering that delivers
absolutely unrivaled video quality
- Next Generation Hardware Video and Audio Encoder with
new features such as Advanced Noise Reduction
- PCI Express X1 and PCI interface on a single device to
allow PC companies the ultimate flexibility in form factor designs
- Digital IF Demodulation that improves video quality and
reduces the overall solution cost by eliminating the need for expensive
tuners
- Worldwide multi-standard Audio Decoder
The difference at the show was significant between them
and an off-brand competitor while feeding in some coax cable television
signals. The major improvements come courtesy of the 3D Comb Filtering
that takes away what gamers would call "ghosting" effects while
watching video, as well as corrects the color on motion shots. The device
is also being released in both PCI-X and PCI format, and come in at an
MSRP of $149. We asked if the Theater 550 Pro chip would be integrated
into the very popular "All In Wonder" cards, and the unofficial
comment we have from ATI brass is that the chip will not be put into production
on AIW boards this quarter, but later this year they will be put on the
newest video cards. Stay tuned at NextGen Electronics, as we are slated
to review this unit once the initial shipment of cards is put into production
this quarter.
Tons of Great New Stuff - D-Link
We wrote a little bit on Day 1 about D-Link and all the
great things they had to offer. Discussed is their GamerLounge router,
which will be featured here on Wednesday (so check back in).
Some of the other great devices that D-Link had on display
at the show include the DVC-2000 unit, which is encompassed under the
i2Eye name. The unit is similar in functionality to the original i2Eye
unit we reviewed which uses internet protocols to accomplish some pretty
good quality videoconferencing. With this unit, the device looks and acts
like your traditional telephone and will work not only on the net, but
also on your land-line (telephone line only, not videoconferencing).
Another very nice product is the new DCS-6620 Internet Security
Camera. With a gorgeous new "white" design (undoubtedly to "blend"
into the standard white ceilings), this camera's biggest new feature is
the 10x optical zoom. This is huge advancement over the previous models
which we got to review, which only offer up 3x digital zoom. With the
addition of a 2-way integrated microphone, and up to 30fps, this is easily
the most advanced internet security camera we saw at the show.
Overall, D-Link's booth was one of the busiest in their
hall, and definitely the most talked about amongst all the networking
device companies at the show. It stands to reason that D-Link's focus
on innovation and performance is the reason they're a mover at shows like
CES.
Impressive New Products - OCZ Technology
While most on the internet are familiar with OCZ and their
impressive line of RAM modules that not only offer up great reliability
but great performance for regular and overclocking environments, not many
are familiar with their new lines of products - the Modstream Power Supply
Unit, and the OCZ DDR Booster Diagnostic Device with Powerclean Technology
and Digital LED Readout.
The Modstream Power Supply is comes in 450W/520W configurations
with 550W/620W peak loads, and are the solution built for PC-users desiring
a high-quality mix of power and versatility in their system. For those
of you that love a nice and quiet computer, each ModStream is built with
"PowerWhisper technology" to significantly reduce noise levels
to "virtual silence" although the exact dB levels are around
20dB from what we heard from the marketing people.
The other new release is the DDR Booster Diagnostic Device,
which allows users to supply cleaner power to their memory modules, resulting
in more stable memory. Additionally, users are able to view memory module
voltage with the digital LEDs on the DDR Booster, allowing simple
and inexpensive troubleshooting of the memory modules. Each DDR Booster
allows VDIMM adjustments up to 3.9V and is compatible with most DDR1 motherboards.
Gorgeous Projections - InFocus
While working the show, our staff rarely gets the opportunity
to see what other media outlets finally report on from the show - but
one group we had to include in our findings is a company named "InFocus"
which made some of the better high-definition home theater projectors
we got to see at the show.
Debuting at CES 2005 is the ScreenPlay 7210, which produces
a crisp 2800:1 contrast and improved black levels for enriched color saturation
and excellent native 720p high-definition video performance. The ScreenPlay
7210 combines the new DarkChip3 DLP technology from Texas Instruments
and the Faroudja DCDi 2310 deinterlacer which results in a lot of eye-popping
performance at the show. The ScreenPlay 7210 comes with an all-glass,
Carl Zeiss 1.3x zoom lens with a 35mm filter thread to customize the light
output without sacrificing color richness or sharp contrast. Added in
for flexibility, a 72mm filter thread and optional neutral density filter
ensure a perfect image with smaller screen sizes and maintain black levels
optimized in any room lighting.
We hope to continue the brief contact we had with InFocus
and feature them more in depth in the coming weeks here at NGE.
Final Thoughts
While working the show, we're constantly amazed at how much
it grows every single year and how much fun things have gotten after
the show. We'd like to thank all the vendors for their contributions and
time at the show and thank all the readers for checking in for our CES
2005 coverage. The real exciting part of the show now comes for you, as
we'll be getting in the latest and greatest in tech and letting you know
what you just have to have in 2005.
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