Slim is in for the future of digital entertainment

By Lawrence B. Johnson
Gannett News Service

The digital future of home entertainment seems suddenly at hand, and flat, wide-screen televisions, inexpensive DVD players and the long-deferred reality of high-definition broadcasting dominate its landscape. That was the message from the 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show, which attracted more than 120,000 industry insiders.

At an expo where big, black boxes were as scarce as dinosaurs, sleek digital televisions reflected the promise of competing technologies — plasma, digital light processing, liquid crystal display and liquid crystal on silicon. While prices remain high, there's little doubt that one or more of the emerging slim-line formats will rule television design in the coming years. And prices, already down, will continue to fall within reach of a broad consumer base.

Samsung unveiled the largest plasma television yet, a 63-inch model expected in stores later this year at $20,000. Steep as that sounds, the first 50-inch plasma opened at $25,000 less than two years ago. Several companies were showing 50-inch plasma sets in the $12,000 to $15,000 range.

Larger LCD sets

Sharp, a perennial leader in LCD engineering, rolled out a new 37-inch model in its Aquos series of high-definition LCD televisions. The wide-screen set, in an elegant, sweeping frame created by designer Toshiyuki Kita, can be viewed from anywhere in a 170-degree arc without loss of brightness or color intensity. Expected in stores next month, the model LC-37HV4U will sell for $8,999.

Philips introduced several new televisions that use liquid crystal on silicon. They allow large screen sizes within a frame about 13 inches deep. It's not the picture-frame four-inch depth of plasma, but still much less than a conventional rear-projection box. Philips has not determined pricing for its LCoS sets, which will arrive later this year in screen sizes from 44 to 55 inches.

Zenith showed a 52-inch wide-screen set using digital light processing, another shallow-frame format, with arrival date and price still to be determined. DLP is a rear-projection scheme that requires about the same housing depth as LCoS.

Versatile DVD options

The latest televisions wouldn't be nearly as impressive without a new crop of robust DVD players.

Pioneer unwrapped a DVD player that can handle both DVD-Audio discs and Super Audio Compact Discs — high-tech versatility that cost $5,000 two years ago — for $289. And Zenith showed a gorgeous low-profile DVD player in silver for less than $100.

Meanwhile, Sony offered a first glimpse of high-definition DVD recording using Blu-ray technology, which increases the storage capacity of a single disc to 50 gigabytes from the current 4.7 gigabytes. A consumer version may be a few years and several copy-protection hurdles away, but Sony says the promise of do-it-yourself, high-definition recording will be fulfilled.

DirecTV announced it would add another HDTV channel this year with pay-per-view movies in the high-resolution wide-screen format.

Gadgets galore

Here are other highlights from the Las Vegas expo. Most products will be available later this year. Prices to be announced.

• Casio's EX-Z3 zoom still camera offers 3.2-megapixel resolution in a palm-size package just 0.9 inch thick by 3.4 inches wide and 2.2 inches high. The EX-Z3, which weighs less than 4.5 ounces, also lets you make 30-second video clips with sound.
• Samsung's Gadget camera boasts sophisticated and versatile performance in a tiny bundle. Turn the lens in one position and you have a videocam; reverse it, and it's a digital still camera. The triple-play device can store more than 30 hours of MP3 recordings, too.
• Oregon Scientific's World Clock is the ultimate timekeeper. No matter where you travel, this little chronometer gives you the dead-right local time by constantly checking in with the federal government's atomic clock in Colorado.
• Sharp's Theago (for theater-to-go) DLP projector lets you take your home theater with you. The compact, lightweight component also boasts a short-throw lens that can produce a large picture in a small room.
• Jamo's ultra-compact, six-piece home theater speaker system is a gem. Jamo's model A-210PDD ditches the box shape and uses little oval-shaped satellites matched by a saucer-shaped subwoofer.