SUMMARY / EDITORIAL
So here’s my views on the overall show. I know there’s a wide
variety of people viewing this report, from complete novice end
users to other techs like myself and audiophiles that have been
completely offended by my high end report <grin>, so here goes.
There’s no question that electronics has come a long way
since I read the ‘ABC pictorial guide to color TV tube
replacement’ while in high school while learning how tube color
TVs work. The upside is that pictures are brighter and sharper,
flatter and with the tiniest of electronics behind the display
devices than ever before. The downside is that the bulk of the
electronics industry is now completely non-repairable and
disposable. Whether you’re buying a $50 DVD player, a $100
digital camera or a $2000 plasma TV, expect to throw it away
when it dies on you. This mentality is what today’s 20 year olds
are used to, but those of us that have been around for a bit
longer (I’m 43, gasp!) remember days when you paid a bit more
and things lasted a lot longer than they do today.
With a lot of what I’ve reported on above, I know little more
than any other end user of the product. The typical non
technical user of anything electronic needs to educate
themselves so that they aren’t purposely misled by a commission
sales guy hell bent on up-selling.
I saw a lot of great exciting new things at CES, but I also
saw a lot of badly set up display devices, such as the HD DVD
booth, that had terrible looking plasma displays. They showed
massive amounts of green in areas that should have been black or
dark gray. This wasn’t a malfunctioning product, it was simply
that no time was spent with some basic test DVDs and a good set
of eyes.
So if you’re shopping for a new TV or projector, take a
CAREFUL look at what you’re buying. HD sports will always look
great on all but the most grossly misadjusted HD displays. Take
a DVD with you such as Harry Potter or Star Wars with a lot of
dark scenes, and check out the reproduction of them on the
display device of choice. When it comes to audio, use your EARS
to listen to what you’re buying. The laws of physics are as old
as the earth itself, there’s no speaker manufacturer that can
change those laws with a new speaker.
Check out the new technology, and look into the future to see
if what you’re buying will do what you want it to do (if it
lasts that long). Buy a name brand that you know of, chances are
that manufacturer will stand behind what they sell a bit more.
You wouldn’t buy a car at Radio Shack, so why are you thinking
of buying a DVD player at a car parts place?
Rest assured I'm still very comfortable by telling all of my
customers that for the lowest cost per hour of runtime and the
most lifelike and appealing picture, a CRT projector is still
king of the available large screen images.
OK rant off! Cheers!
Curt Palme
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