June 24, 2005 | Volume 2, Issue 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
News
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Introduction CEDIA Says CEDIA News CEDIA EXPO 2005 Keynote Speaker: Ray Kurzweil Feature Article
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Introduction Enjoy! –Gary Kayye, CTS
CEDIA Says
In our business nothing is more damaging to profitability, reputation, and client goodwill than taking on work beyond one’s capabilities. As the big box businesses come into our industry, they’ll skim off the easy-to-do work with low prices, brand names, and decent, if uninspired, work. This will put pressure on CEDIA channel businesses to move up or move out. Committing time and money to CEDIA training and certification is the best response to this competition. The five new education curriculums (Technician, Designer, Project Management, Customer Relations, Business) being developed for CEDIA University will help you enhance your company’s capabilities logically and deliberately. You may survive for a while taking on projects that your people are not trained for or your internal systems are not ready for, but like Harry Callahan said, “you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?” -Ray Lepper, CEDIA President Ray Lepper, president of CEDIA, has been an active volunteer for CEDIA since returning to the United States in 1998 from four years in the U.K., where he headed up KEF Audio, the well-known British loudspeaker company. For the past three years, Lepper has served on CEDIA’s executive committee as secretary and vice president before stepping into the president’s position in September 2003. He chaired the CEDIA Professional Certification Board of Governors, was the first chair of CEDIA’s Education Council, and was the 2002-2003 chair of CEDIA’s Global Program Committee. Lepper is president of Home Media Stores, L.C., a Richmond, Va.-based home systems integration company. Founded nine years ago by a group of industry professionals with decades of experience in manufacturing, distribution and retailing, Home Media has helped hundreds of homeowners realize the benefits of the latest home electronics technologies. In addition to his volunteer work for CEDIA, Lepper has written on a range of subjects for Residential Systems, CE Pro, Dealerscope and the British Audio Journal. He has also been quoted on topics in the custom electronics industry in The New York Times, Virginia Business and is a recurring source for The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Lepper has been in the consumer electronics industry for more than 25 years and has taught courses on topics such as sales and marketing, custom installation operations and business management. With the perspective of both a manufacturer and custom installer, Lepper is well versed in a variety of subjects in the industry and can provide first-hand testimony to homeowners’ preferences in custom electronics technologies. CEDIA News CEDIA EXPO 2005 will be one of the most exciting trade shows in the industry. This year CEDIA EXPO will be held in downtown Indianapolis, IN from September 7-11. With all the industry events to attend, one that you shouldn’t miss is the Opening Keynote Breakfast on Friday, September 9 from 8:00 a.m-9:30 a.m. Ray Kurzweil is a distinguished inventor, entrepreneur, author and futurist. Kurzweil’s most recent national best-selling book, The Age of Spiritual Machines, has received widespread acclaim, achieved the #1 status on Amazon, and has been published in nine languages. Don’t miss your chance to meet this innovative mind. CEDIA EXPO 2005 registration is now open online at http://www.cedia.org/expo. Early bird registration discounts end Friday, July 15th, so don’t wait. Register Today!
News Displays
Brillian Corporation announced a price reduction on its 65-inch LCoS TV. The Brillian 6501mB, specified at 720p resolution, is now priced at $5,999. A Web search indicates the previous price was $7,999. The new pricing takes effect July 1. Brilian’s market aim is the Costco/Target buyer. The company also makes 1080p LCoS HDTVs. The Brillian LCoS TVs have 16:9 aspect ratio with up to 2000:1 contrast ratio. Depth of the unit is 23 inches. For more information, go to http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=146224&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=720297&
2. DVIGear Releases New DVI, HDMI Products DVIGear released a slew of new products at InfoComm, including new DVI and HDMI Cables, M1 Adapter Cables, HDMI wall plates and a DVI + HDCP repeater. The company’s Super High Resolution (SHR) DVI and HDMI cables are designed for fully transparent operation with single-link bit rates up to 1.65 Gbit/sec, says the company. These cables are professional grade, using silver plated 22AWG wire for low signal attention. They enable cable lengths up to 20 meters (65 ft.), support HDTV signals to 1080p resolutions and PC resolutions up to 1920×1200/60 Hz. They are available from 0.5 to 20 meters in length. The new M1-DA type input connector can accommodate up to four signal types (analog VGA, DVI, component video and USB). DVIGear introduced a number of these adapter cables. The DVI + HDCP repeater is a high performance HDCP compliant DVI signal repeater. When used with DVIGear’s SHR cables, this repeater can extend cable lengths up to 40 meters (131 ft.). This unit is fully HDCP compliant, which allows it to be used in both PC and HDTV applications. The repeater also includes a DDC pass-through function to ensure proper recognition of the connected display. Up to three repeaters can be cascaded using four 10 meter DVI cables to achieve a 40 meter aggregate cable distance that supports HDTV signals to 1080p resolutions and PC resolutions up to 1920×1200/60 Hz. The new HDMI wall plates come in 12 configurations and custom HDMI plates are available as well. For more information and pricing, go to http://www2.dvigear.com/
3. New Console Holds Motorized Projection Screen Vutec has a new console with a motorized 92-inch projection screen that’s completely retractable, making the screen disappear when not in use. The console also houses the NEC WT610 projector, known for its very short-throw, very cool ‘lensless” design. The WT610 sits in a drawer in the console. The console also holds audio equipment and accessories.
The cabinet is 96” W x 32” H x 25” D.
This is an interesting product and the company tells rAVe that it can be built with any desired finish. It’s not cheap, though. It is priced at $15,000 without the projector and audio. With is about $21,000.
For more information, go to http://www.vutec.com/press/retracta-vu-theater.htm
Players 4. Another Portable Media Player Hits the Market U.S. Modular is shipping the iScreen Media Fusion portable video entertainment center. The MP4 player has a whopping 100GB hard drive and is sold at a competitive $499. It also has a portable hard drive for the PC. The iScreen also lets users record voice memos, view photo albums, and play songs as well as movies. For more details, go to http://www.usmodular.com/products/iscreen.html
5. Integra Upgrades Net-Tune Server Users can now access, back up and share files with a PC with the new version of Integra’s NAS-2.3rev2 Net-Tune Server. The server can hold up to 1,300 hours of uncompressed digital audio on the 80 GB drive. On the home network, files are viewable via PC, making it easier to transfer files between the server, portable player and other devices.
One Cat 5 cable is needed to connect the NAS-2.3rev2 to the home network and up to 12 other devices. The built-in CD drive is capable of a 22x ripping speed, storing an album to the hard drive in less than five minutes. The server can store audio as uncompressed PCM files, or at MP3 bit-rates of 128 kbps, 192 kbps VBR (variable bit rate), or 320 kbps.
When storing new music, the unit can automatically access the Gracenote online CD Database (CDDB2) and Muze cover art services either by broadband connection or using the built-in dialup modem. Information on each recording, including genre, artist, album, track names, and cover art are retrieved automatically. Music files can then be sorted and played back by song, album, artist, genre, or custom playlists. The Integra NAS–2.3rev2 has an MSRP of $2,000.
For more information, go to http://www.integrahometheater.com/
RBH introduced the WM-24 on-wall speakers, an addition to the company’s Compact Theater series and specifically designed or flat screen displays with just 4 inches in depth. The WM-24 speakers have RBH’s 4-inch dual-active and 4-inch dual-passive aluminum woofers and a 1-inch silk dome tweeter. They are equipped with a tweeter protection circuit to prevent damage from too much volume. The WM-24 wall-mounted speakers include wall-mount brackets and black and silver fabric grilles. The WM-24 measures 24“H x 7.125” W x 3.75” D and each weigh 9.5 pounds. MSRP is $449 per speaker. For more information, go to http://www.castercomm.com/pr_docs/WM-24%20On-Wall%20FINAL.doc or http://www.rbhsound.com/ 7. New Canton Karat M Series Offers High-End Audio Canton has four new models in the company’s Karat M series — a three-way floor-standing speaker, two-way and three-way compact speakers, and a 2-1/2-way center channel speaker. The company says that the most significant upgrade to the Karat M series is in the 1-inch aluminum-manganese tweeter, which has a redesigned transmission plate front baffle for improved dispersion and linear response above the audible range. Each speaker also has Canton's 6-inch aluminum cone driver for detailed reproduction of midrange frequencies. Cabinet finishes are available in graphite and silver lacquer, which is hand applied in numerous layers, as well as real wood veneers of cherry or beech. The new speaker line includes:
8. New MartinLogan Speaker Features Unique Design The new Summit floor-standing speaker from MartinLogan has a great looking design. This high-end speaker ($9,995) The speakers are packed with a lot of technology, particularly engineered for deep, accurate bass, and have 800 watts per pair. They also have two high-resolution, aluminum cone 10-inch woofers per channel, each independently powered by a dedicated 200-watt low-distortion amplifier. The speaker is offered with a number of finishes and can be custom designed to fit with particular decors. For full specs and more information, go to http://www.martinlogan.com/summit_speaker.html#none
9. Energy Introduces Reference Connoisseur Speakers Energy has a new series of speakers – the Reference Connoisseur series – with real wood, The subwoofer design allows the speaker to be placed with the active driver facing the listening room, or you can spin the cabinet 180 desgrees to face the active woofer toward the back, which allows the subwoofer to look like a piece of furniture. For more information and detailed specs, go to http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/products/product-line.php?id=4
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Feature Article Watch out! As many readers of rAVe HomeAV Edition know, many commercial manufacturers and integrators are attempting to tap into the rocketing, and lucrative, residential market. One sure sign is when the commercial tradeshows begin featuring home theater and automation as an attraction. InfoComm, the largest commercial (ProAV) trade show, featured a Residential Pavilion with roughly 40 companies. It was definitely nothing close to a CEDIA show as many leading HomeAV manufacturers were missing. But many of the residential products were shown in exhibitors’ booths on the main floor as well, so home theater was well represented. Roughly 40 companies exhibited in the residential pavilion. InFocus is an example of a company marketing certain projectors for both business and residential use. The company’s latest projector, the X3 DLP projector, is designed for both. We reviewed the projector at our offices and it really does function quite well for both uses. It is bright enough (1600 ANSI lumens) and is specified at 2000:1 contrast ratio, so it can be used for video in a room with quite a bit of ambient light when necessary. Best of all, it’s a snap to set up. http://www.infocus.com/products/productview.asp?site_lang=1&site_region=1&prod=x3&c=4 NEC had a great booth design, with different products being shown in their expected settings. The “Home” section was complete with a fireplace as well as home video setup. NEC showed new projectors, particularly the LT Series that are being cross-marketed for both home and business users, too, starting at just $1,495. http://www.necvisualsystems.com/applicationFiles/productFamily/appl_SeriesDetails.cfm?Series_id=26 Optoma remains in the professional market but continues the company’s strong offerings in residential. At InfoComm, Optoma introduced the H27 for home theater. This is a TI DarkChip2 DLP projector designed for affordability. The H27 is specified at 850 ANSI lumens,native resolution of 854 x 480 and 2500:1 contrast ratio for $1,199. http://www.optomausa.com/optomausa/public/products_hproj_h27.jsp Optoma also showed MovieTime, the company’s DVD-projector combo product. It’s a great looking product and makes a lot of sense for certain home theater setups. MovieTime is specified at 480p (854 x 480) resolution, 1000 lumens and a huge 4000:1 contrast ratio. http://www.optomausa.com/optomausa/public/products_hproj_DV10.jsp Sharp introduced a 65-inch Aquos LCD HDTV with 1080p, 1920 x 1080 resolution. Pricing and availability are still TBD, though the product was initially announced in January. Crestron, too, introduced a new product for both commercial and residential. The iLux CLS-C6 Integrated Zoned Lighting System controls six lighting zones and six groups of shades The iLux CLS-C6 is designed to replace a myriad of switches and dimmers on the wall, and centralizes the lighting, shade and screen controls. What’s great about the iLux CLS-C6 is that it provides user-preset lighting scenes, so it should be quite easy to operate. http://www.crestron.com/news_room/show_releases.asp?press_release_id=1188 Crestron also has new versions of its Isys touchpanels, with improved graphics and processing speeds at new pricing. The Isys i/O TPMC-QM and TPMC-CH series let users do almost anything – browsing the internet, watching streaming media, and viewing different business applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Acrobat. These units also let users control AV, lighting, climate and security systems. http://www.crestron.com/news_room/show_releases.asp?press_release_id=1194 Electrograph was at InfoComm, of course, and the company continues to define the distributor-dealer business model in both the commercial and residential markets. A lot of the market is going this direction so if you aren’t, it’s worth a look. Finally, companies such as DVIGear keeps bringing new products to market that let you extend and/or improve digital signals. The new products from DVIGear include DVI and HDMI cables, adapter cables, wall plates and a DVI + HDCP repeater. Expect a blurring of lines between professional and residential AV over the next few years, mostly as residential manufacturers continue technology advances. Home users tend to get spoiled by great technologies at home and want to see the same capabilities, ease of use, mobility and control in the workplace.
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