CES 2010 Wrap-up – Looking to our Future

3D and Televisions

TV LCD manufacturers had record sales this past year because of the high-definition conversion. In America, over 110 million homes have one TV but less than 50 million have HD capable sets.  So there is a lot of room for future sales in regard to new things like, 3D TV, Skype, IPTV or iTV, and wireless connectivity.

I have seen the future and it is 3D.  However, I am not as optimistic about television transitioning as fast as for PC and console gaming.  With games, there is a bit of depth already programmed in and it generally works well with 3D as long as you can adjust it.  However, with converting 2D to 3D there are some issues with action that have to be worked out, in contrast to viewing still photos.  Of course, to watch 3D TV requires that you purchase a new set that won’t be economical for quite awhile.  It also requires a constant stream of quality 3D programming which appears will start with sports.  And one must consider what the premium cost will be for 3D content from your provider.

Manufacturers do not seem to consider the consumer cost to make the switch.  Consider that a single pair of active shutter glasses can cost $200.  One just need picture the expense to equip a family of five just to watch a 3D movie at home together – $1,000 just for 3D glasses.  And with kids and their friends, glasses break and will need replacement, in many cases out of warranty.  We also saw the 120 MHz and 240 MHz LCDs that are required to use 3D technology cost a premium over last year’s models.  How many people – except gamers – are willing to give up their big screen TVs and LCDs that they recently purchased for another big purchase of a 3D-capable TV?

It is hard to believe that 3D TV is as yet disruptive to the industry despite many optimistic projections.  And again there is the issue not yet settled as to which 3D format will be chosen as a standard in the industry.  Add to the negatives of 3D the cost of a new Blu-Ray player for playing 3D content.  Of course there are the pessimists who will remind everyone of the many previous failed attempts of the industry since the 1950s to convince people to switch to 3D.

This reporter does believe that 3D is the future, but is waiting to see a compelling reason to switch to 3D TV quickly.  For gaming, however, it is far more compelling.  “Immersion” is the keyword here as NVIDIA has joined AMD in offering its “EyeFinity”with an extension of its Quadro-enabled multi-monitor Mosaic setup – now called “NVIDIA’s Surround”.  Here we saw Age of Conan being demonstrated on GTX 280 SLI at NVISION08, so the technology has been around for awhile, but now something new has been added.

What is new is that NVIDIA has upped the ante over Eyefinity by allowing their 3D Vision to be enabled on its Surround, also.  This 3D demo was running at both of their booths.  The difference is that NVIDIA does three panels in 3D at 120MHz with GT200 or GF100 SLI, whereas AMD’s Eyefinity is rendered on a single card or in CrossFire in regular 2D and will drive up to six LCDs with their new 5000 series.  Below we see NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround running on DepthQ HD 3D projectors and three Acer GD245HQ 1080p LCD displays.

NVIDIA showcased new products and technologies that demonstrate PCs based on their GeForce GPUs along with the NVIDIA 3D Vision hardware and software is an excellent platform well-suited for Blu-ray 3D movies, games, photos, and the Web.  They even demoed Youtube 3D using a 3D version of Adobe Flash player.

On display in the booth, NVIDIA demonstrated 3D Vision technology running on desktop and notebook PCs equipped with 120Hz 3D-capable displays.  Their 3D Vision Surround spans 3D content across three high definition monitors or projectors.   We saw Blu-ray 3D software players playing 3D movie trailers including Toy Story 3 as well as the latest PC games running in 1080p stereoscopic 3D which were viewed with NVIDIA’s active shutter glasses.

Samsung has promised to cooperate with both AMD and NVIDIA by offering a new thinner bezel for their LCDs which debuted at CES as shown below:

One of the most impressive displays at CES was by Samsung.  They went all out to make their huge space both artistic and spectacular – in contrast to many other displays that were traditional.  They did not allow photographs at their exhibit except by the press who needed to be accompanied by a qualified Samsung representative.

Of course, Samsung had many 3D displays and mostly they required 3D glasses.  One thing that was touted was the conversion to 3D from 2D, but to this reporter it looked a bit unnatural in motion, unlike PC gaming that mostly has depth already pre-programmed in.  The still images that were shown were spectacular, however.

Energy savings is important to Samsung and their next generation plasma TVs use quite a bit less electricity that the current ones, as they demonstrated:

And of course, OLED makes an appearance and also in 3D:

As a major exhibitor, LG was not to be outdone by Samsung but put on quite a display which was quite pretty in pink.

One most unusual kind of “simulated 3D” comes from Ireland.  Real View‘s V-Screen uses a screen to overlay your PSP’s LCD.  There is also a larger 22″ screen to overlay your LCD monitor and a 46″ big screen overlay that gives a rather convincing illusion of depth.  The technology comes from the medical imaging field.  They were busy promoting their $39 overlay for the PSP handheld which is available now.  This Summer they will ship 22 inch overlays for 1680×1050 LCDs and 46” overlays for big screen TVs.

Panasonic officially announced a shipping date for its first 3-D plasma television at CES with Sony, Samsung, LG and Toshiba all close behind.  Panasonic’s VT25 series won CNET’s 2010 CES: Best in Show Award.  It is set to arrive this spring.

Television

Skype-TV was being demonstrated with requirements to buy a special camera with an added set up, that requires special connections.  I believe this might prove more popular for web conferences than the average consumer but it might appeal to people who want to see friends and relatives on the big screen TV.

Internet TV looked impressive considering the freedom it brings from cable and satellite provider’s rising costs.  There is a lot of free content available and increasing options for video on demand.  Here is where iTV and the Roku box have advantages in bringing flexible TV programming into the home on the big TV.  Roku announced after CES that they had sold their 500,000th unit.

All kinds, including projectors, completely wireless and even dupic screens were demonstrated:

Interactive touch screens were available in all sizes.

Thin will always be in.