Hi, my name is Jeff Griffin and I am the Store Trainer here at Bjorn’s. Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the company’s annual trip to the CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) convention in Atlanta, GA. While I was there I took some notes on some of the new technology that caught my eye. Below you will find those notes – keep in mind that some of this technology may not be out yet and/or Bjorn’s may not end up stocking. This is a list of just some the hundreds of upcoming products I thought you should know about. Enjoy!
Sonos
Sonos is introducing a wireless iPod dock that integrates into the Sonos architecture. With the dock, consumers can listen to their music without a PC or having to boot up their PC. Another benefit is that friends can now bring their music to a Sonos household for playback thru the system. The dock is due in October.
Runco
Runco is introducing a new slew of 3D projectors they are billing as The 3Dimension Series. They have developed what they call a “revolutionary” approach to 3D using a proprietary technique called Constant Stereoscopic Video (CSV) that merges stereo images while delivering a constant HD image to each eye. They do this by having stacked projectors in a single chassis so that each eye essentially has its own HD image. The system uses Passive glasses technology which is reported to be “superior” to the viewer and is used widely in public theaters today. The model is the D-73d which uses Runco’s lampless LED lighting technology that was released last year in the company’s QuantumColor projectors.
XpanD / Monster
With all the various 3D capable displays out there it becomes somewhat difficult to know which glasses will or won’t work with other brands displays. In most cases the glasses are proprietary to their own brands TV’s. This may pose a problem if friends come over to your house and you don’t have enough glasses for the big game. “Oh, no problem, I will bring over my 3D glasses”, says your neighbor…well they most likely won’t work unless they are the same brand that you use as a display. Those issues just might be forgotten with new “universal” active shutter glasses coming from both Monster and XpanD. These glasses reportedly will work with 3D ready LCD, DLP and plasma displays. Time will tell just how truly universal these glasses are.
Epson
Epson has long been the leader of LCD based projectors. They are now releasing a new (to Epson) technology that is called 3LCD Reflective. Traditional LCD projectors let light pass through them in that they are transmissive. The trio of new projectors that fall in their “high-end” line up will use reflective LCD similar to what is found in Sony’s SXRD and JVC’s D-ILA technologies. The new crop of projectors has improved black levels and insane contrast ratios. Epson has yet to announce a 3D projector but that probably won’t be far off.
Seura
Seura makes some of the best looking and most custom applications of “vanishing TV mirrors” I have ever seen. They not only supply the TV (due to the picture quality issue of showing thru the mirror) they also build the entire bracket, power supply and all necessary parts, you just have to get the wiring in place. They have multiple models to chose from that include non-vanishing, vanishing, water-proof and illuminated mirrors. Their Hydra TV is available in hundreds of colors and is rated IP-65 water-proof. Once you tell them the size of the mirror, choose your mirror trim you simply tell them the size and placement of the TV in the mirror… they do the rest. Most sizes of TV’s will be 1080p with built-in tuners, 4 ms response time, 120Hz frame rate and wide viewing angles.
The predominate buzz of the show was 3D, and rightly so. But however, as you can see, there were quite a few other products that made an impression on me, 3D or not. So, from HD to 3D, what’s next? Our next big convention is in Las Vegas in January. What will the manufacturers have up their sleeves for CES (Consumer Electronics Show)? We’ll see!
