Editor’s note: Joel didn’t write the title of this column.

I have always laughed at marketing “buzz terms” as used in our industry. In fact, I once devoted an entire column to them (Buzzards in the AV Industry, July 2010).

Except today, I am going to use one myself: Breathtaking.

It is simply the only term I can think of to describe Sony’s STUNNING Crystal LED video wall. And I use the term literally. I have never heard a group of cynical, experienced techs gasp when they saw a display before, but that was the reaction people were having to the sight of this thing. I stood before it for nearly 45 minutes, listening to one video wall technician after another (many of whom I knew) describe it, almost universally, as the best large display they have ever seen.

Now, let’s be fair – the approximate price of this wall was quoted several times as being in the cool two million dollar neighborhood and the material being shown was shot by the world’s leading broadcast video camera manufacturer. But I still found myself talking one of my current consulting and design clients into flying in from NYC to look at it, because I think they will dig deep to find the money. It’s THAT good. (Click here to watch Gary Kayye interview Sander Phipps from Sony, where they talk about the LED wall.)

Now I will use another buzz term: innovative.

It is how I feel about Epson’s new LightScene line of architectural laser projectors, which begins with their model EV-100. The LightScene projectors are laser projectors that look like track lighting fixtures, allowing you to use them easily for scenic, branding and digital signage projection in facilities where you don’t have room for traditional projectors and especially in facilities where you want to use them in combination with scenic lighting. Very cool.

Anyway, most of my night last night was spent working on a really cool experimental VR project, and this morning I am off to complete it and to try really hard NOT to go back and stand in front of the Sony video wall again.

Breathtaking.

JRR