Official CES 2006 Expo News and Coverage Thread

[Audioholics]

It's that time again! We are gearing up for our 2006 CES Expo News & Coverage and want to once again provide a place for our readers to touch base and contact us about upcoming products they would like to see us cover. This year we are bringing five Audioholics to get as much industry news and photos as possible (we did about 120 pages of product coverage last year so we're hoping to top that).

In any case, this is the place we'll be posting live updates (along with the front page and our CES 2006 Expo Coverage page) so please don't be strangers and feel free to request info and chat with us here while we're at the show.

And if you feel so inclined, you can courier us some mocha cappucinos to help keep us awake - we'll be staying at the Las Vegas Hilton.

 

[terror_beast]

Awesome! Good luck at CES! I eagerly await your coverage (which rocked last year by the way, so even MORE would be just swell ).

I don't know what all is going to be shown, but if there are any 1080p front projectors on display, I certainly want every little detail on them.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD are, of course, topics of interest.

And if you get a chance to talk to someone in the know about HDMI, please tell me when the heck HDMI 1.2 products will show up and when the HDMI 1.3 spec will be finalized!

Oh, and the last, and maybe most important issue I want to see covered:

JUST HOW THE HECK WILL DOLBY TRUEHD, DOLBY DIGITAL PLUS AND DTS-HD WORK?!!!

Will Blu-ray (or HD-DVD players) all have internal decoders and 7.1 analogue outputs? Will they use the as-of-yet non-existant HDMI 1.3 output? Will they just downconvert (or worse, only store on the disc) to regular Dolby Digital (EX) or DTS (ES)?

Answer me all those questions please

Now rest up! Don't worry about toasting in the New Year at midnight...you need your sleep!

T

 

[msnewma]

Ces

Any news on HDMI implementation on PC video cards (I'm dying to build a quality HTPC) would be much appreciated, as would updates on 2-way cablecards.

Have fun boys!

 

[Nuke]

I'm sure these are already on your list, but I'll throw them in anyway:

1) The Yamaha RX-V2600 is a unique and very versatile product. I'd love to see what products other companies respond with to compete with it. (Will Pioneer Elite or Denon give us a comparable receiver with HDMI switching and upscaling?)

2) Any information on those new Axiom amplifiers.

3) Anything and everything on any new 1080p projectors.

Thanks in advance for all of your hard work. Enjoy the show!

 

[hlesser]

SACD update

Find out where the industry is headed. Classical music releases are steadily pouring out on SACD (and are of very high quality). DVD-A release, at least for classical, are all but nonexistent.

Given the ready availability of hybrid discs, one would hope that consumers would be far more accepting of SACD than new, incompatible formats. Most of us have numerous CD-compatible products (computers, portable players, boom boxes, all-in-one stereos, etc, etc) that are readily compatible with hybrid SACD and totally incompatible with DVD-A.

Let's hope for some good news.

 

[Spero D.]

Please ask Denon-

1) When will it finally release the Component-HDMI conversion for the AVR-5805 mentioned earlier in the year?

2) When will it finally release the Faroudja scaling for the AVR-4806 mentioned earlier in the year?

3) Can the AVR-5806 & 4806 be firmware upgraded to add support for DTS-HD and DD-HD over HDMI?

4) When will they release the AVR-5806? Any chance of adding Realta scaling over Faroudja scaling in their next Flagship receiver?

5) Will Denon support Blu-Ray or HD-DVD? And will they have a player for launch in March?

Thanks

 

[Audioholics]

Good stuff, guys! We actually have some info on several of these items already, but we're embargoed until the show. We'll get all of this and more.

(Making a list and checking it twice...)

 

[mayhewda]

looking forward to your CES coverage. I was about to purchase a plasma HDTV and had decided on the panny TH50PX500. I've decided to wait because I heard that they will introduce new screens at this show. So any information on new plasma TV's is most welcome !

 

[Vancouver]

I would be very interested to hear what new products Rotel will be featuring.

 

[Spero D.]

4 more questions for the "Please ask Denon"-

1) When will they finally change from the Black & White setup OSD to a colored OSD (more like Yamaha's)?

2) Can they implement a Screen like that on the Velodyne SMS-1 that shows you the Room frequence response for the subwoofer so you can reposition the subwoofer in your room etc to minimise the peaks and dips before running the Audyssey EQ?

3) When will they finally release the Pre/Pro shown in the CES and Cedia's of the past?

4) When/do they plan on offering DIVX playback support on their DVD players?

 

[kdiddy]

Any info on the upcoming 1080p plasmas would be awesome.

 

[ca_newbee]

More Denon.. can the 3806 be upgraded to hdmi 1.2 when available?

 

[jandawil]

Also anxiously awaiting the new line from InFocus, specifically the H76. A
720P DLP PJ under $2500 will be huge!! Hopefully it will street closer to $2200. I wouldn't advise buying ANYTHING until after next weekend.

 

[beard]

New Plasma & SED offerings

I'm looking to buy a new HDTV this year. Anything you can find out about what/when new plasma (and hopefully SED) sets will be coming to market would be great.

 

[clayman88]

I'm anxious to find out if there will be any new DLP, LCoS or Plasma tv's that accept 1080p over HDMI or DVI, other than the HP of course.

Thanks!

 

[MBauer]

Two things

See if you can get any word on the Sony Playstation 3. Also, any Blu-Ray, HD DVD news would be appreciated. Looking for those 1080p sources

 

[6kids&adog]

First, I would like to hear about new or existing options for simple, all digital hook ups via HDMI. Many DVD players have HDMI out, but only for video. Many receivers have HDMI in, but won't accept audio. I want to do one HDMI cable carrying audio and video from my DVD player to my receiver. I want a receiver with 2-in, 1-out HDMI that can accept digital audio via HDMI and that can up-convert all video sources to HDMI for output to the display.

Second, I believe we are about to transition to 1080p, but the same cautions exist as with HDMI. The whole chain needs to work, or it's not worth it. We need 1080p sources, DVD players that can read them, receivers that can pass the info and contain codecs for the video and high def audio that go with it. Last we need displays that accept 1080p signals and reproduce them in their native resolution. I don't think we are anywhere near this chain at the present. I would love for you to prove me wrong with all the great stuff you find at the show.

Lastly, most everyone who responded to your AV receiver checklist post said they wanted a receiver that allowed room equalization down to 20 Hz. Let us know where we are on that battlefront. There have been separates solutions to this (outlaw ICBM, R-DES from rocket, SMS-1 from velodyne) and subs with built in EQ (velodyne, SVS, Revel, and more all the time). But I don't want to add another component and more cables. High-end electronics can't ignore the room anymore.

 

[mike67]

any new developments on marantz single chip DLP projector will be very much appreciated as i have plan to get the DV 9600 & VP12S4 . Whether they will release the 1080p capable projector or the s4 will do just fine for the next few years ?

 

[TWinbrook46636]

Any info on HDTV recorders like the upcoming standalone TiVoHD models and possible replacements for the Sony DHG-HDD250 / 500 models would be great. Also, very interested in details (and pictures) of the new McIntosh MA6300 stereo integrated amp. Thanks!

 

[RLA]

Your CES info requests

Hello All
2006 CES is just around the corner, please post any specific requests for product info here.

Please don’t ask for general info such as look at 1080p displays there is just too much to cover at CES. Be specific with the manufactures name and I will try and provide some coverage in the CES page.

Thanks
Ray