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Today you get the HT Guys overview and recap of CEDIA 2006.

 

Cedia 2006

We covered Cedia last year from the outside, and we're doing the same thing again this year.  Pulling information from all over the world wide web, we're hoping to give a nice recap and overview of what happened at the show.  For background, Cedia is a trade association for custom home theater installers.  It stands for Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association.  They do a show every year where manufacturers can show off new products and make new announcements specifically for the custom installers.  This show is not consumer focused like CES.

As for themes, Cedia 2006 was all about 1080p and next generation DVD.  Let's take a look at what's happening on the format war front.  Toshiba announced the next generation of their HD-DVD players; the HD-A2 available in October for $499 and the HD-XA2 available in December for $999.  The HD-A2 appears to be nearly identical to the HD-A1.  The HD-XA2, on the other hand, has added support for 1080p video and HDMI 1.3, including the new deep color enhancements.  Where the content is going to come from is any one's guess.  From what we can tell, if you want a 1080p next gen DVD player, you're going to have to fork over about a thousand dollars.

Blu-ray has had some issues getting product to market, which bodes well for HD-DVD in the coming Christmas shopping season, but don't expect Blu-ray to throw in the towel.  Samsung has announced some modifications and enhancements for its BD-P1000 in time for Christmas.  Those include support for Java for interactivity and modifications to the noise filter to provide a sharper picture.  Both will also be provided as a firmware upgrade for current owners.  Pioneer was showing their upcoming Blu-ray offering, the BDP-HD1.  No official word on a release date, but the rumor is weeks, not months.  Not to be outdone, Panasonic had their DMP-BD10 on display.  Again no release date, but when it does come out, it will set you back $1299.

Texas Instruments showed off a bunch of 1080p front projectors from more than ten different manufacturers.  They ranged in price from $6999 for offerings from Optoma and BenQ up to the $11,995 Runco RS-11000.  Several of the models, including the SIM2 HT-5000 and the Runco Video Xtreme series offer 3 chip native 1080p.  Beyond DLP and projectors, 1080p was all over the place.  There were new 1080p TVs from everyone, including Sharp, JVC, Samsung, Sony, LG - just to name a few.  Hitachi showed some 1080p plasmas and LG was showing off their 71" 1080p plasma.  Wow - other than front projectors, 720p seems to be yesterday's news.

In other news, Yamaha showed off a surround sound headphone preamp that looks pretty cool.  The YSV-1 is still very raw, but promises to be as cool as their YSP line.  A company called VizionWare, based out of Texas, showed some "active" HDMI cables.  Their cables feature Image Enhancing Circuitry, Signal Balancing, Digital Signal Processing, Enhanced Transmission Technology and Optimal Spectral Diffusion.  The benefit is that they have superior video quality and the video signal does not degrade over long cable runs, so you don't need repeaters or boosters.  Our friends at Terrestrial Digital showed off their Lacrosse Micron technology antennas.

 

More coverage of CEDIA 2006 at audioholics.com:

http://www.audioholics.com/cedia/index.php

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