Event Coverage

CES 2008: Home Entertainment Galore

By Terence Ang & Zachary Chan - 15 Jan 2008

Sharp and Panasonic's Booth

Sharp's Booth

 Sharp unveiled its new SE94U AQUOS HDTV series at the show that has 27,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Available in sizes of 65-, 52- and 46-inch sizes, the "Special Edition" SE94U series features Sharp's AQUOS Net service and new Cornerstone design with a textured-finish casing. The 65" is available for US$11,000, the 52" will go on sale for US$4,200 and the 46" in February for US$3,200.

 Sharp also unveiled its second-generation 32" full HD 1080p LCD TV for gaming enthusiasts, which is available in three glossy finish colors – black (LC-32GP3U-B), dark wine red (LC-32GP3U-R) and white (LC-32GP3U-W). Fitted in a slim body on a unique swivel stand, the 32GP has a "Game Mode" that optimizes picture quality during gaming with a custom-designed remote control for gamers to gain quick access to the side-terminal inputs. All three models have 10,000:1 contrast ratio and costs US$1,600 each.

 Sharp's AQUOS Net is a gateway that allows customers to plug their TV to the net via an Ethernet port and view independently supplied Web-based content (widgets) in full or split screen. It is available on the new SE94U and D74U AQUOS series. Not only that, Sharp produces Powerline Communication (PLC) adapters which allow you to network your Sharp TV to other AQUOS Net-enabled TVs in your other rooms using the 85Mbps-capable PLC adapters.

Panasonic's Booth

 Among the many innovations that Panasonic showed at their booth, perhaps the most talked about is the world's largest plasma TV at 150" (Sharp unveiled their 108" LCD TV in CES 2007). With a resolution of 4096 x 2180, a Panasonic personnel informs us that the company has plans to commercialize the product towards the 4th quarter of 2008 in selected countries with full commercialization by 2009.

 Panasonic showcased their HD Wireless HD Wagon, which is a world-first wireless High Definition Audio/Video transmission system based on the "WirelessHD" standard. It basically allows HD video transmission in uncompressed format between a television and other AV equipment like a Blu-ray Disc player without quality deterioration. Using the 60GHz-band millimeter wave radio, the WirelessHD system consists of a plasma TV with a receiver and a movable rack (the wagon) housing video sources with a transmitter such as a Blu-ray Disc player and HD digital camcorder. The aim is to remove cable clutter and allow users to have the video source, like the Blu-ray Disc player, far apart from the plasma TV. Using SiBEAM's beam steering technology, this system is able to maintain stable always-linked status because if the signal between the transmitter and receiver is blocked by an object or person, the system automatically finds another path by bouncing it off the side wall or ceiling.

 The Panasonic HDC-HS9 is a hybrid model that records to either SD/SDHC memory card or its built-in 60GB hard drive. It features Face Detection for both still and video and has something called an Intelligent Shooting Guide. Supporting the Full HD 1920 x 1080p/24p AVCHD video format, the 3CCD model uses a Leica Dicomar lens and Advanced MEGA OIS to compensate for hand-shake around 4,000 times per second. It will be available in the US in March 2008 at US$1100.

 The Panasonic HDC-SD9 is a small SD card-based HD camcorder weighing at 0.606 pounds and supporting the Full HD AVCHD format. Like the HS9, it features Face Detection and the Intelligent Shooting Guide. The latter is an error-detection mechanism to ensure you record proper content. It will be available in the US in March 2008 at US$800.
 

 

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