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CEDIA US Expo 2007 show roundup (2/10/2007)

By Yasmin Hashmi, HiddenWires

The CEDIA US Expo took place in Denver 6 - 9 September and attracted more than 29,000 professionals from the residential electronic systems industry. Despite the gloomy news surrounding the US housing market, the Expo had a very positive atmosphere. Visitors were up by 4% over last year, and there were over 600 exhibitors ready to ply their wares, covering everything imaginable for residential custom installation, including electronic sommeliers!

We were treated to a very entertaining and moving keynote speech by Frank W. Abagnale (of the film 'Catch Me if You Can' fame). He still works for the FBI and liases with Scotland Yard over fraud issues. Clearly a genius, Abagnale advised us on identy theft (always use a credit card, never a cheque), and told the gentlemen of the audience that to be a true man has nothing to do with money or position, but being a loving son, father and husband.

Frank W. Abagnale with HiddenWires' publisher, Stella Plumbridge.

While everything at CEDIA US Expo is geared towards US house-building techniques, mains voltages, switch sizes and aesthetics, there was still plenty to interest the European visitor. In terms of TV displays, some of the developments on show included 120Hz/100Hz refresh rates for LCD screens, but the most obvious trend is towards larger screens, with Runco, Panasonic and Sharp all showing screens of over 100 inches.

The Runco CinemaWall XP-103DHD 103" plasma is designed to 'Bring Hollywood Home'.

For those looking for three-chip 1080p projectors, there was also a choice. The projectiondesign Action! M80 1080p projector offers 10-bit video processing, HDMI 1.3 and DV-I digital compatibility and a contrast ratio of up to 10,000:1 using Texas Instruments DynamicBlack technology that adjusts the contrast ratio to optimise picture quality for each video frame. Sim2 showed the C3X 1080 that offers a contrast ratio of >10,000:1 and is available in high-gloss gunmetal, black, red, and gold. The JVC DLA-HD100 offers a native contrast ratio of 30,000:1 using three proprietary 0.7-inch full HD D-ILA devices, as well as HDMI 1.3, improved colour rendition by broadening the colour space, a motorised Fujinon 2x zoom lens, and customised on-screen gamma control.

The Sim2 C3X 1080 three-chip 1080p projector in high gloss red.

As far as HDMI was concerned, Noel Lee, Head Monster of Monster Cable stressed the need to educate the market in the differences between HDMI cable and what certifications means. He warned that just because a cable has an HDMI connector doesn't mean it is HDMI, and he showed how bandwidth requirements are growing and how HDMI 1.3 is designed to accommodate these, but still faces length restrictions. Meanwhile VizionWare, manufacturer of Hi-Wirez active HDMI cables, launched the VZ-S5100 5x1 HDMI switcher and digital audio synchroniser that provides lip-sync correction with 5-in, 1-out HDMI switching.

Head Monster of Monster Cable, Noel Lee, is keen to educate the market about HDMI.

Of course, one of our goals was to see US companies whose products are relevant to Europe, but trade is a two-way thing, and among the Europeans looking to expand their American business was Armour Electronics which was launching its QED line of cables through distributor Lenbrook America. The product line includes speaker cables, audio and digital interconnects, subwoofer cables, and video interconnects, as well as a professional installation series.

Glenn McClelland (Armour), Bob Brown (Lenbrook), Bob Abraham (Armour) and George Dexter (Armour) at the QED stand.

Other European companies included Philips, which was showing its new Pronto 9400 two-way home control touchpanel that offers most of the 9600 features, but in a form factor for single-handed control, and at a lower price. Calibre UK demosntrated its Vantage-HD2 image processor (see this month's product article), while Mordaunt Short was showing a range of new speakers including the Alumni compact home cinema speaker range, and KEF was featuring its high-performance, furniture-grade XQ loudspeakers series, as well as three new KEF Instant Theatre DVD-based home theatre systems and the KEF wireless speaker system.

Mordaunt Short Alumni compact home cinema speakers.

The Denver Convention Centre offers plenty of space outside for additional exhibits and activities. Just across the street, the Life|Ware Village for example, comprised two complete show homes, one labelled 'wired' and the other 'wireless'. Developed by Exceptional Innovation, Life|Ware WSD (Web Services for Devices) based home control software and hardware integrates the digital entertainment functionality of Microsoft Windows Media Center with third-party whole-house automation, entertainment and control systems. Cooperative agreements are already in place with Russound, NuVo and Philips, as well as some security system manufacturers. While not yet available in Europe, Life|Ware does give an idea of what we can expect when, as VP of marketing Mike Seamons put it, the TV becomes the 'dashboard of the home'.

The Life|Ware wireless show home (letf) and wired show home (right) outside the Denver Convention Centre.

Also outside the Convention Centre, for one night only, was a carnival, courtesy of Speakercraft. With a theme of 'Come Play', the company was intent on thoroughly enjoying the Expo, and in addition to numerous new products, it announced that along with other Linear Home Technology Group companies such as Elan, Niles and Xantech, Speakercraft has adopted Digi5 technology. Aimed at moderately-priced homes, Digi5 provides a platform for distributing digital audio signals over Category 5 wiring using a hub-based platform that accepts inputs from analogue or digital sources and digitally routes them up to 200 feet from a central location to amplified keypad user interfaces. Linear maintains that a simple-to-install, one-cable-run system can provide a full-featured, fully-distributed music system within the US$1000 to US$3000 price range.

The Digi5 logo.

Another advantage of systems that use digital amplifiers is more energy efficiency. Indeed it was remarkable how many US companies were beginning to focus on green issues. The new Essentia from NuVo for example, consumes less than 1W in standby mode, and is the first whole-home audio system to boast an Energy Star logo. Energy Star is a joint program of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy that sets strict energy efficiency guidelines for household products and homes.

For those interested in digital distribution using IP, a number of interesting solutions were on show. Among these was the new NetStreams DigiLinX Virtual Control Software that allows the DigiLinX IP-based multi-room A/V system to be controlled and accessed from any PC. The company also launched the Quartet entry-level four-zone multiroom audio system that supports whole-house and room-to-room paging. Its main message however, was 'Multiroom Home Theatre', meaning more than one home theatre in the home. This might seem somewhat ambitious for the average European home, but as we know from experience in this technology, where America leads, we tend to follow.

Conclusion

This is the second CEDIA US Expo HiddenWires has attended, and we were again blown away by the professionalism of all involved - from the show organisers, to stand staff, to the personnel employed by the convention centre and local businesses. CEDIA US was a vibrant and inspiring Expo, and is a great indication of what Europe has to look forward to. And finally, while I was rummaging through connectors on the ICM stand, I met a female installer called Ashley Nelson. This is always a challenge for us, as female installers are a rarity. Although Ashley now has a more managerial role running The Systems Shop in Birmingham, Alabama, she still has to get her hands dirty on occasion and 'show the guys what to do.' Go girl!

For more Expo coverage visit our dedicated CEDIA US Expo 2007 news section.