The large flat screens by Samsung and Sharp
looked better this year than 2 years ago. I saw
no misconvergence like before.
One interesting display was set into a coffee
table, and the entire screen was a touch screen.
These various images could be moved around the
table by touching and dragging each picture.
For those that absolutely need to see the
game wherever you are, even outside, Pantel is
now offering weatherproof flat screens:
Frankly, I loved this Keytec addition to any
screen/flat screen display. It’s a border
consisting of infrared LEDs and sensors that
turns any screen into a touch screen. It worked
really well with this basic video game and a
rear projection screen. Relatively cheap, too!
This LG video wall was impressive as well:
Home Theater Related Items
A big push of this year’s CES show is data,
data, data. Have the ability to transfer data
within your house, car and business, and you
have the ability to do a lot with your a/v
system. Various methods of moving this data were
demonstrated, specifically relating to HDTV
signals. Rumor has it that there’s a huge push
for media servers, so that you can stream or
download movies the same way you download MP3
music files, so that DVDs will be a thing of the
past. One magazine writer that I ran into
figured that Blu Ray will be dead in 5-10 years
if the manufacturers have their way. Data/HDTV
signals can be run in various ways:
Via the AC wiring in your house:
Via really long cables:
Gennum is a chip company that makes HDMI
related chips and other hardware. Monster Cable
has a 100’ HDMI to HDMI cable that is active,
meaning it has internal amplifiers to compensate
for cable loss. The catch? The 100’ Monster
Cable is a whopping $1800 USD! As the Gennum rep
said, it’s probably better to get an HDMI to
RGBHV or CAT5/6 converter, run the much cheaper
RGBHV or CAT 5/6 cable so if a mouse decides to
chew up that Monster Cable installed in
someone’s wall, the customer isn’t out $1800.00.
Wireless:
A company that has always impressed me with
their whole/smart home systems is Control 4.
They manufacture a well designed whole home
control system, combining the lighting, audio,
video, security and heating system into one
control package. While the features obviously
depend on the programming and hardware chosen,
the system is sophisticated enough to send you
an email or text message to your cell phone if
say your home temperature drops to a dangerously
low level, or if your garage door has been open
for a significant time. Great to keep a tab on
things when you’re not home.
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