CEDIA 2007 - Day 1: Us vs. Monster Cable, Sony's New Projectors and Toshiba on HD-DVD
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Manveer Wasson on September 5, 2007 11:45 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
The show floor doesn't open until tomorrow, but there's already lots to talk about. Think of this as a sort of sneak peak of some of the highlights of this year's CEDIA. The show is already attracting all sorts of interest:
The day started off not with JVC's 1080p projector announcements, but with a Monster Cable press conference. The electrical engineers inside us have kept us from ever purchasing overpriced cables, but we were curious to see how a Monster press conference would unfold - so we went.
Picture this: a room full of chairs, pull down projector screen, a curious wheelchair ramp leading up to the stage. On the speakers was some quiet rap music, but upon closer inspection the song revealed itself to be a Monster Cable rap. The hook had a rapper spelling out H-D-M-I and of course reciting the company name, and no Monster Cable rap would be complete without the line "you gotta 60 inch screen."
The purpose of the ramp to the stage was revealed upon the arrival of Noel Lee, the founder of Monster Cable. Mr. Lee arrived on a tricked out Segway, painted red and black. Rolling up to the stage, Mr. Lee began the press conference.
The number one item of discussion was Monster's new speed-rated HDMI cables which you may have heard of. The premise is this: in order to help consumers differentiate between the various types of HDMI cables out there, Monster is now offering speed ratings on their cables. The bandwidth required for 1080p video + audio from a Blu-ray player is obviously greater than the bandwidth required for simple 480p from a DVD player, so why shouldn't Monster differentiate its cables for the various needs of its customers?
The speed ratings are as follows:
At the low end we have the Standard Speed HDMI cable, which is capable of > 2.23Gbps of bandwidth, priced at $49.95 for a 1m cable. Next is the High Speed model (4.95bps) at $69.95 (1m), Advanced High Speed (6.68Gbps) at $79.95 (1m), Ultra High Speed (10.2Gbps) at $99.95 (1m) and Ultimate High Speed (14.93Gbps) which will be shipping by the end of this year.
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leexgx - Friday, September 7, 2007 - link
my higher end pcs i sell come fitted with conbo BD Reader and an dvd-Rw buner and an 24" Wide monitor to support that as well (1920x1200 screen/1080p/HDCP)combo BD Read/dvd-RW drives are £140 (not looked at hd-dvd prices) once thay get to better price i fit them as standered on my med range pcs
burner for BD or HD are like £300
considering the buner but depends on customer
leexgx - Friday, September 7, 2007 - link
online stores only seem to have BD/dvd combo and BD buners so hd-dvd cant realy be pushed yet on the PC side if there is lack of an drive (good for BD then)compareing them disk size HD-dvd 15gb/30gb and BD 25gb/50gb, i not buy an HD-dvd buner
Locutus465 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
By focusing on laptops you have the advanatage that it becomes more likely users will look their laptop up to their TV... After being wowed by the quality of HD off their laptop, they might start considering also investing in a stand alone player so they can forgo the inconvinience of having to mess around with wires and cables all the time just to watch HD movie content.Owls - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
to use adult titles as a selling point.. I don't know if that's a joke or something sad.mcnabney - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
The argument is valid. The marketing of adult content (previously only available on film) for home viewing on the VHS standard is considered one of the contributors to the victory of VHS over Beta. Recording time length and cheaper players also had an impact.Locutus465 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Perhaps it's just me but I think the confidence sony is showing right now is the first step in their down fall... HD is still very much an up and coming market, just getting ready to make it down to regular consumers (i.e. to the point that single guys like me who aren't rich are finally getting HD-TVs, families are next). Here is where price/quality really matters, and that is where HD-DVD is delivering compared to blueray. Sony is completely off their rocker to think they've any where near won.AlexWade - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
HD DVD won CEDIA with the announcement that HD DVD will be pushed by Sunday Night Football. Monster is right about consumer ignorance (but wrong about their overpriced cables). Most consumers still have little clue about HD DVD and Blu-Ray. A lot of people watch football. And it comes at a time when a sub $200 HD DVD will be entering the market. Blu-Ray better counter, or else Blu-Ray will become What?-Ray.AlexWade - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Oh, and one more thing. Neither side has won the MAJORITY of average consumers. Blu-Ray, according to Sony, has won the enthusiasts. But those are the vast vast minority. The winner of this format war is the one that gets the majority.Locutus465 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Blueray has won the segment of customers that think higher price tag some how means better HD quality from your DVD player... It won't take the average consumer long to figure out that HD-DVD gives you the same quality at a much lower price point...tuteja1986 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Well i bought a 360 external drive and removed it from its casing and installed it on pc via mini ATAPI to IDE cable ;)A cheap $150 HD-DVD drive that works great on my PC.