CES 2012 Video Pictures and Impressions

[amirm]

All TVs ship with a showroom mode that is all out in contrast, brightness and color to compete with available light. And LCDs have so much light that they can be pushed pretty hard. I am confident TVs shipping in your neck of the woods is the same .

Funny story was that Sharp became #1 TV manufacturer in Japan beating out all the others because their LCDs had the highest brightness. TV showrooms in Japan are super bright with ugly fluorescent tubes and Panasonic Plasmas looked like they were lit with candles . So they lost out to them big.

 

[NorthStar]

True Frank, some of Amir's pictures look a bit oversaturated.
{In particular in another thread of his, where the focus is out! Totally out!}

But I forgave him, because at least (here, and in another thread) he included the picture of a 'jolie demoiselle' in a grey dress, plus the other one (from the other thread) in that red dress. :b

Amir, just in case you missed my edited post back there (now in this quote just above).

* Yes, brightness (actually Contrast) is much better from LCD LEDs than Plasmas (which have a better Black Level: Brightness).

** Could be confusing no? ...The proper terms.

 

[amirm]

Contrast is different from Brightness Bob. Contrast is the ratio of highest brightness to darkest level. If you double the brightness but also double the dark level, contrast remains the same. Were you saying something different?

 

[amirm]

Also the issue with some of the pictures is not focus but me hand-holding a tiny camera with exposures of nearly a second! If you magnify the image, you see the camera shake. My camera had image stabilization but still, it can't do miracles.

 

[fas42]

All TVs ship with a showroom mode that is all out in contrast, brightness and color to compete with available light. And LCDs have so much light that they can be pushed pretty hard. I am confident TVs shipping in your neck of the woods is the same .

They most certainly are! My LCD required major rejigging by myself to get natural colouring, but I was curious that in a show directed towards industry people that alignments weren't done by qualified people beforehand of the showpiece components, to get optimum pictures. The people looking at the gear here aren't your usual tyre kickers ...

Edit: Sorry, sorry, just realised!! Of course the displays will be set to maximum "impressiveness" here, because the one thing industry people will be really worried about is how much oomph the demo mode picture will have on the retail floor ...

Frank

 

[RBFC]

Yes, thanks for the pics, Amir. Also, for those on the audio thread. But I echo cjfrbw's comment about the colours, you can tell from the surroundings that your camera colour balance is good, but those screen colours are fairly heavily pumped up. Do people in your part of the world normally overcook the saturation to some degree, or are the exhibitors just trying to make a strong impression ...?

Frank

The lighting conditions under which they exhibit panels is often terrible, so displays are typically run in "torch" mode, with increased contrast and color.

Lee

 

[Mobiusman]

Amir,

Thanks for taking the pictures. Sadly the LG pictures do not do the justice to their 3D algorithm, including the 80+ panel display outside of their exhibit area which was amazing until one went and watched the OLED 3D. I agree that the Samsung Series 6, 7, 8 were spectacular but a tease since there is no content available probably none for the forseeable future.

Sadly while the Hansens, Sonus Faber/ARC, D'Agostino were among the best sound at the show, none of them compared to the sound of Love at the Mirage. Sadly also the cost of a high end system and Love's sound system are now probably similar.

 

[c1ferrari]

Thank you, Amir

...none of them compared to the sound of Love at the Mirage. Sadly also the cost of a high end system and Love's sound system are now probably similar.

Russ,

Can you please elaborate Thanks.

 

[Steve williams]

Russ was with us for CES. two of us saw Ka on Thursday and Russ and another friend saw Beatles' Love which if you have seen it know of its amazing sound in the theater as well as the seats

 

[c1ferrari]

Ah, thanks Steve.

Russ was with us for CES. two of us saw Ka on Thursday and Russ and another friend saw Beatles' Love which if you have seen it know of its amazing sound in the theater as well as the seats

I do enjoy the shows in Las Vegas.

 

[NorthStar]

Contrast is different from Brightness Bob. Contrast is the ratio of highest brightness to darkest level. If you double the brightness but also double the dark level, contrast remains the same. Were you saying something different?

I simply meant that the Contrast control is the White level adjustment.

And Brightness control ... :b

 

[NorthStar]

Also the issue with some of the pictures is not focus but me hand-holding a tiny camera with exposures of nearly a second! If you magnify the image, you see the camera shake. My camera had image stabilization but still, it can't do miracles.

Just buy a better camera. :b

 

[Peter Breuninger]

Amir,

Thanks for the great report. It's comforting to know that there is a (way) better panel than the Pioneer Plasma. I thought for a while that we were taking back steps. I'll loan you my S95 for next year if you want

 

[amirm]

Just buy a better camera. :b

My wife would kill me if I did . I currently own 6-8 DSLRs, including the 21 megapixel Canon. I also have about 20 pro lenses, the combination of which would buy multiple new cars . Alas, all of them are heavy/large and I wanted to enjoy the show as much as document it.

 

[NorthStar]

See, that's the thing. The minute you put all your energy into a subject, you simply lose the true focus of that subject. Like taking your time to snap some great shots, but not concentrating on the sound quality. Or vice versa. And same with HDTVs and their picture.
Time goes too fast, life has no rest.

You know what I mean Amir? We try to balance things proportionally,
but without ever going into depth within the specific subject(s).

You can do for you only, in one specific area of interest from the moment,
or you can do for others that thing you do, but with greater emphasis on what others expect.

What I mean is that it is very hard to excel at everything perfectly.
No matter what, there'll be always someone to criticize your work.
It's like a controversy, a contradiction, a life compromise, a paradox ...

Anyway many (most) of your shots are excellent enough, and so are your commentaries.
Tres tres satisfait moi-meme, and you should be too. :b

 

[Matt193]

Excellent posts, Amir. With the US economy still on shaky ground, do you see more of an emphasis towards budget friendly products, or do "cheap" products take back seat to the biggest and best at CES?

What was the one product that left you most impressed?

 

[Steve williams]

Amir,

Thanks for the great report. It's comforting to know that there is a (way) better panel than the Pioneer Plasma. I thought for a while that we were taking back steps. I'll loan you my S95 for next year if you want

That's what I use

 

[amirm]

Everything is about making things cheaper in this economy. That's why I think the OLED displays are a long shot right now.

I found this CES rather unexciting. The industry has no really "new" thing. All the excitement comes from other factions (tablets, etc).

The things I liked are the myriad of "ultrabooks." These are laptops that are hardly thicker than a tablet but have fast CPUs, run Windows and have a keyboard which I find a necessity given how much I post on forums . They are clones of the MacBook Air but nevertheless, the best move I have seen the PC companies do to hold their own against the onslaught of the tablets. Here is the Samsung: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/best-ultrabook-of-ces-2012-samsung-series-9/6409

"The whole point of Ultrabooks is to get thin and light enough to compete with the MacBook Air, and the Series 9 does that easily. At only 0.4 inches at its thickest point and just 2.6 pounds, the Series 9 is easy to throw in the bag and head out the door. The 7 hours of battery life is decent given the quad-core Core i7 processor and 128GB solid-state disk onboard.

The 13.3-inch SuperBright Plus display delivers good resolution (1600×900) and a bright display to handle every lighting situation. Samsung was able to cram lots of ports in spite of the thin duralumin case, including two USB, HDMI, RJ-45 and even an SD slot."

The other thing that stood out is how 3-d gaming will be coming to all devices. I gave an example of the Panasonic LCD. Phones and tablets are leading the charge here also.

I also liked the new Samsung 7 inch Tablet. No price or availability but featherweight and very responsive with LTE modem built in:

What I didn't like is everyone becoming a reporter, with cameras and interviews happening everywhere, forcing you to stand on the side at times per above. Oops!

 

[Mark (Basspig) Weiss]

I also liked the new Samsung 7 inch Tablet. No price or availability but featherweight and very responsive with LTE modem built in:

What I didn't like is everyone becoming a reporter, with cameras and interviews happening everywhere, forcing you to stand on the side at times per above. Oops!

Nice Sony PMW-EX3 on a stabilizer, in the background.. (I always notice my gear when I see it out in the field).