THE FRONT LINE — JUNE 15, 2006
INFOCOMM 2006
InfoComm isn’t the “must attend” show it once was for unveiling cutting-edge, innovative display technologies. Even so, while the show’s focus is more on applications these days, there were still a few gems here and there to be unearthed.
Ten years ago, you could always count on some big surprises at InfoComm. Whether it was the first portable single-chip DLP projector (nView’s Diamond D-455, $11,995), Sony’s first portable LCD projector (VPL-V500Q, $7,990), or high-power, large venue SXGA projectors from AmPro, Barco, and Hughes-JVC, there was plenty of “oohing” and “aahing” to be heard in the old Shoot-Out.
Incidentally, those “high power” projectors from 1996 were rated at 2500 lumens, a staggering amount of image brightness for the time, and their prices ranged from $62,000 to $85,000. Today, Dell’s 2400MP cranks out 3000 lumens in a 5.5 lb box for $1100. How times change…
The show has changed, too. Attendance is routinely over 24,000 and there is more of an end-user, applications focus than ever before, particularly with affiliated expositions such as Technologies for Worship and EduComm running concurrently.
Figure 1. You can take a shower with this Sanyo LCD monitor, and it’ll still work.
Falling prices for former big-ticket AV products has had its impact on booth sizes. Gone for the most part are the monster booths that Sony, NEC, Hitachi, InFocus, and others used to assemble. A typical VGA (640x480) LCD front projector was priced between $7000 and $10,000 dollars back in ’96; today, your garden-variety XGA box can be had for under $2,000.
With more and more products having three or four zeros in their price tags (instead of the four and five zeros from a decade ago), extensive re-branding and OEM deals, and the expansion of distribution channels and direct sales at the expense of the smaller pro AV dealers, many manufacturers just can’t justify the expense of a larger booth.
Consequently, what we see are more “concept” booths with simulations of classrooms, conference rooms, and even home theaters, all featuring the company’s latest projectors and flat panel displays. Hence, InfoComm has shifted to an applications show targeting end users from a product show once tailored for dealers.
Another change from the old days: The professional version of a product was introduced first, followed by a consumer version a year or so later. Today, the consumer market is all-important for display technology, and the timing is often reversed – we’ll see a large flat-panel plasma or LCD consumer HDTV before the commercial version is released.
Due to teaching commitments to ICIA, I wasn’t able to get onto the show floor until Day 2, and spent that day and the next cruising the booths looking for things unique and different. Many products had already been shown at NAB 2006. In fact, one marketing manager for a Japanese electronics company greeted my arrival with a shrug and an emphatic “nothing new here, you saw all of it in Las Vegas!”
Figure 2. Epson’s PowerLite 6100i represents a new design
and is loaded with conference room features.
Figure 3. Who could possibly want an orange projector in their classrooms?
(Let’s see – how about Syracuse University, LSU, Tennessee, Princeton, Florida…)
There were a few surprises after all. Epson, who had been noticeably absent from the show for several years, re-appeared in a modest booth with a new installation projector, the PowerLite 6100i. It’s a networkable XGA projector with 3500 lumens of brightness, anti-theft bars, remote LAN monitoring, and an improved air filtration system. In addition, the PowerLite S4 is a bargain basement SVGA (800x600) LCD projector with 1800 lumens for $699.
Hitachi’s ED10X XGA projector is a clever design — it incorporates custom full-color housings for color-coding to deter theft. Seems that a bunch of projectors are being removed from classrooms in England for viewing the World Cup, so the unique colors should identify where the projector was pilfered. (The demo model was orange; Cup fans in The Netherlands should go nuts over that model!)
Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Epson also provide USB ports for playback of JPEG and MPEG files without a PC, something every projector manufacture should be supporting. (Dump those PCMCIA drives!) Mits’ XD-435U ($2,495) is a representative sample of a single-chip DLP projector with XGA resolution, and it offers 2500 lumens in addition to the USB interface.
Down the aisle, projectiondesign managed to take over the booth vacated by InFocus just a couple of weeks prior to the show, and there was a cornucopia of single-chip SXGA+ (1400x1050), 720p, and even 1080p DLP projectors out for inspection. The 6-pound EVO2 SX+ ($5,495, 2500 lumens), 6.5-pound F1+ XGA ($6,499, 3000 lumens) and Cineo3+ 1080 (1920x1080, $24,495) all caught my eye.
Canon showed their commitment to SXGA+ with two LCOS projectors, the 3500-lumens SX6 and 2500-lumens SX60. Both were previously shown at NAB. Optoma’s HD81 continued to tantalize; this single-chip 1200-lumens 1080p DLP design is still in beta stage but looked pretty darn good in demos.
The most intriguing 1080p front DLP projector wasn’t on the floor, but in a suite in the nearby Rosen Center hotel. Developed by Delta Electronics, it uses a 430W Xenon lamp from Cermax and produced some beautiful color, even if the demo material was a stretched 4:3 DVD.
Barco’s booth, which was enormous, contained several new presentation projectors. Among them were the iCon H600 (1920x1080, 6000 lumens), not necessarily a new model, but with 16:9 imaging perhaps somewhat enigmatic to many would-be customers. Nearby, the FLM R20+ chugged away, producing quietly 20,000 lumens with SXGA+ resolution and making some impressive images.
Figure 4. Sharp’s PN-655U LCD monitor is mighty big and ready for digital signage.
Figure 5. Toshiba’s P56QHD Quad HD monitor was intriguing.
Wonder which glass line it’s coming from?
The flat panel world was busy, too. Sharp put the spotlight on their PN-655, a 65-inch 1920x1080 LCD industrial monitor that may be the largest available in any quantity (Samsung’s 80-inch product is still coming to market). Sharp also showed the LC-57D90U Aquos LCD HDTV. It’s a 1920x1080 model with bright, colorful images that will no doubt soon be offered as an industrial product for digital signage.
Speaking of Samsung, there wasn’t much new in their booth except for their MagicNet LAN-operated scheduler and server, with capacity up to 255 separate nodes (displays). Samsung also showed demos of LED and enhanced color cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs); you may see them in the near future for smaller LCD monitors.
LG also had a slew of LCD and plasma monitors and TVs out for inspection, including several integrated HDTV sets. Their 55-inch LCD monitor was up and running, although it doesn’t seem to be shipping in any quantity at present. Nor does their 71-inch plasma, which was featured at one end of the booth. LG did unveil several TV/DTV interface boxes and plug-in cards (ProSelect series), along with ProSelect head end transcoders and modulators, all for a distributed RF signal system.
Panasonic had commercial versions of their 65-inch and 103-inch plasma monitors configured with tiled signal overlays for simulated command and control applications. This market has long been dominated by rear-projection cue technology, but with the advent of larger PDP and LCD sizes, the tide could be shifting. Panasonic rounded out the package with a line of plug-in interface cards, something Sony also showed across the aisle for their line of LCD and plasma digital signage products.
I was surprised by the abundance of LCD monitors in the Toshiba booth. The company appears to be quite serious about the digital signage market, offering seven different LCD screens ranging from 27 inches (P27LSA, 1366x768) all the way up to 56 inches (P56QHD, 3840x2160). There are also 42-inch and 47-inch models in the line.
V Inc. didn’t exhibit at the show, but it didn’t matter. They stole a march on everyone by announcing a price reduction on their popular P50 HDM to $1,999 right before the show started, just in time for Father’s Day. In fact, one exhibitor (Kramer Electronics) promptly went out and bought one to demonstrate their VP-727 In-CTRL dual-channel seamless switcher/scaler product at InfoComm. It has eight RGBHV inputs and supports a wide range of scaled RGB and video resolutions, including 720p, 1080i, and 1080p.
Figure 6a-b. 3M’s Vikuti DLP Digital Media Display features a
swing-out projection arm and a very compact package.
Figure 7. Analog Way is on to something with these two dual-channel
1x4 DVI and HD-SDI distribution amplifiers.
Down the aisle, Analog Way unveiled a new multi-function TV-style switcher for their seamless switching products, including the OctoVue FX, which I saw at NAB 2006. Two other boxes caught my attention, starting with the Trident DVI (dual-channel 1 in, 4 out DVI distribution amplifier) and continuing with the Trident SDI/HD-SDI (also dual channel 1 in, 4 out DA). The output of one DA can be cascaded into the other for 1x7 operation.
Aside from the products on display, InfoComm is also about training, and a new high was set for total class registrations. Two of my classes (Display Technology Trends and Digital Video 101) were literally sold out — people were standing in the back, or sitting in the center aisle — as were many other courses. Education is a big component of this show, and getting bigger with each passing year.
The fact that the Large Venue Display Gallery, a remnant of the old Projection Shoot-Out, was hidden way in the back of the north end of the Orlando Convention Center shows that the focus of the show really has shifted from endless breakthroughs in projection and flat panel design to peddling mature, mass market technologies and how to make ‘em work in today’s AV environment.
One final note: The best “find” of the show was the fellow in the food court near the Technologies for Worship soundstage who was selling caramel chocolate Haagen-Dazs ice cream bars. (To put it mildly, they were sensational!) And the “real” gyros (with yogurt) sold right outside that door were a must-have. Remember, journalists travel on their stomach…
