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CES 2008: CES - It's a Wrap

Well, another CES has come and gone and I'm still recovering. The early numbers show the attendance was down from about 150,000 last year to about 140,000 this year. Really? I didn't notice, the show seemed more crowded and bigger than ever, covering over 8 football fields! There was so much to see and no matter how long you're there, it's still tough to see and touch everything. There really wasn't much this year that stood out and grabbed me. Yes, I laughed at Bill Gates final Keynote address, drooled over Panasonic's 150" Plasma TV that would require a crane to lift it into place, Kid Rock and the new Corvette ZR1, Comcast's new FREE VOD website Fancast, XStreamHD, Logitech's SqueezeBox Duet...actually, there was some cool stuff to see this year.

Here's some more great CES 2008 Wrap Ups:

About.com
Best of CES 2008

CNET CES 2008 Wrap Up
Home Audio Wrap Up
Home Video Wrap Up
HDTV Wrap Up
Computers Wrap Up
Emerging Technologies Wrap Up
Car Tech Wrap Up
Portable Wrap Up
Cell Phone & Smart Phone Wrap Up

DigitalCameraReview.com
CES 2008 Wrap-Up

Earth2Tech
CES Green Gadget Wrap Up

Engadget
CES 2008: Everything you must see
The Best of Crapgadget

Engadget HD
CES 2008: The Best and worst of HD
CES 2008: The Best of Set Top Boxes
CES 2008: The Best of LCD TV HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Plasma HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Blu-ray Players

GearLog
Best of CES 2008

Gizmodo
Best of CES 2008

Mahalo
Everything CES 2008
CES 2008 Videos

PC Magazine
Best of CES 2008

popgadget
CES - It's a wrap

Tech Digest
CES 2008: The 50 Hottest Products

CES 2008: CNET's Best of CES Awards

CNET has posted it's annual Best of CES Award winners. The winners range from a green eco friendly TV to DIY gadgets. Check it out...

Over 10,000 CNET members also voted on the People's Voice Award winners in each CE category.

You can also watch a video of the awards here.

Expert Q&A with Snell's Bob Graffy

Electronic House sat down with Snell's Bob Graffy to discuss the importance of loudspeakers in an entertainment system and he gives the low down on how to do some critical listening to help you choose the right ones. Read

Planning Guide: 10 Steps to Building a Home Theater

Electronic House has posted a planning guide to building a home theater. The 10 steps are pretty much right on but the time estimates given seem to be a little long, even if you were to do it yourself such as 3 weeks for framing, 2-3 weeks for drywall and paint and 6 weeks for trim and finish work. Never the less, it's an interesting outline of what to expect.

News: Samsung Officially Announces Blu-ray/HD DVD Duo HD Player

Just on the heels of LG shipping it's Super Multi Blue Player, Samsung has announced The Duo HD Player, a dual format HD DVD and Blue-ray DVD Player.

"Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats. Samsung's Duo HD player will allow consumers access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format," says Dongsoo Jun, executive vice president, Digital AV Division, Samsung Electronics in a press release. Not only are consumers confused, they also didn't want to take part in another format war reminiscent of the Beta-VHS war. Sony lost that war but so far they're doing pretty well selling Blu-ray players although I think a lot of it's success has come with the PS3.

One area where the Samsung shines is that the BD-UP5000 will feature both BD-Java and HDi, the formats' interactive technologies. LG's Super Multi Blue Player does not support HD DVD's HDi software engine. There's also rumors that the Samsung will feature HDMI 1.3. No pricing details as of yet.

The History of Surround Sound

Robert Silva over at hometheater.about.com has posted a new article titled Surround Sound - What you need to know or The History and Basics of Surround Sound. It's an interesting article that also made me reflect on my first home theater/surround sound setup...

It was in late 1987 or early 1988 and consisted of a Sony AV Receiver with Dolby Surround Sound. The first receiver I had bought had simulated surround sound and I was unhappy with it so I took it back to the local AV store in Las Vegas where I was stationed in the Air Force. I told them it sounded crappy and the salesman showed me a brand new Sony that he said was the first home AV receiver to have Dolby Surround Sound. At least it was the only one I could find at the time so it may have been true or maybe not...Anyway, the rest of my system consisted of a 20" Mitsubishi TV that cost more than $500, which still works today after 20 years of use although after each of my 3 kids used it, it now sits in my office and doesn't get much use. I also bought a Mitsubishi Hi-Fi VCR, I believe the model was HSU-50, which I also still have but it needs new belts so it of course isn't being used either. That VCR was really great, we used the heck out of it and I only had to have it serviced once about 10 years ago for maybe $100. It was well worth it as I never found another VCR on the market that performed as well. My speaker system was made by Scott and consisted of 4 floor standing 3 way speakers that had an additional 4" mid range and tweeter facing  up on top of the speaker. I used these as my main and rear speakers...They were very efficient and even though the Sony only had about 10 or 15 watts output for the rear channel, it was awesome...Well at the time it was awesome! If I remember correctly, the original Dolby Surround Sound didn't even support a center channel.

The first VHS movie I bought was of course Top Gun and man did I impress my friends and family with that! It sounded so awesome, I think I watched it every day for a month straight. I was hooked and have been hooked on Home Theater ever since.

What is your history with Home Theater and Surround Sound?

Panasonic Announces New LiFi Rear Projection Technology

Panasonic has developed a new rear projection backlighting system called LiFi. Most rear projection TV's are using UHP lamp technology which uses filaments that will eventually burn out but LiFi does not so basically, you buy the set and it may last forever! Well, they are claiming at least that the bulb may never burn out. As an added bonus, the Lifi sets will have a much faster power up time which Panasonic says is about 10 seconds vs. 60 seconds with the traditional lamp systems.

Panasonic will will begin shipping the new LiFi powered LCD sets of 61", 56" and 50" in May 2007. No pricing as of yet.

[photo courtesy of Engadget HD]

CES: Day 2 Roundup

Sharp Introduces World's Largest LCD TV

The consumer electronics market is dog-eat-dog and here's another example...not. Sharp wasn't happy until it created what they are calling "the world's largest LCD TV set" which measures a whopping 108". Of course, no price has been set yet. Why do we need a TV this big? Do they think they will really sell any?

Optoma announces 120" DLP RPTV

Here we go again, another world's largest TV. This time it's the Optoma 120" 1080p DLP rear projection model...It's not a set that is likely to sell but I guess these TV manufacturers just want to prove they can outdo each other. They were actually crazy enough to release a price. Take a guess how much......$50k! Actually MSRP is $49,999. Good luck Optoma.

Philips debuts wireless HDMI

Philips announced the world's first wireless HDMI system which consists of a wireless transmitter and receiver capable of transmitting a full 1080p of lossless signal. Range is estimated at 25 feet. They say it is not susceptible to  interference from  other wireless devices such as WiFi, Bluetooth, cordless phones, etc. How do we know that this device won't actually create any interference of it's own which could be a problem for any digital off air signals. We'll have to wait and see.

DirecTV launches Video Gamers League

On the heels of causing a stir with it's announcement that it plans to add 100 national HD channels in 2007 comes the announcement of plans to launch a video gamers league called Championship Gaming Series. This new league will be include gamers from North America, Latin America, United Kingdom, Eurpoe, Middle East, Asia and Australia. I haven't even used my XBox Live subscription yet!

LG Electronics Unveils New ‘Super Multi Blue’ Dual-format PC DriveLG Electronics introduced Super Multi Blue optical storage drives featuring enhanced flexibility for the next-generation DVD formats and security features. All you need to know is that it will read and write in both high def DVD formats Blu-ray Disk and HD DVD.

DIY: Soundproofing Your Home Theater-Part Two

By Alan Lofft-Axiom Audio

Last month's Part One on home theater soundproofing received an excellent response, including rather vociferous discussion on other sites (and in emails to me), encouraging the use of a substance called "Green Glue" in place of silicone caulk. Further research indicates there is a range of various soundproofing caulks and glues available from a variety of vendors at widely varying prices. To sum up, it's the sealing properties and elasto-viscous nature of these materials that all help, but do-it-yourselfers should be cautious about some extravagant claims made for some of these materials.

Specialty Materials

One reader sent along a link to www.quietsolution.com which markets a popular specialty soundproofing drywall called QuietRock, comprised of three layers of viscoelastic, ceramic and gypsum material. QuietRock's QR-525, which incorporates these layers, claims to be remarkably effective -- one 5/8-inch layer of it is said to be the equivalent of up to eight layers of standard drywall and achieve STC ratings of "up to 72". It's certainly worth exploring these and other options.

That said, there is still no substitute for the tried and true construction techniques outlined in Part One -- staggered-stud walls with double layers of drywall on each side, interior wall cavities loosely filled with sound-deadening insulation, solid-core doors (or double doors), weather-stripping, using dissimilar materials and/or air spaces and so on.

The Room Within a Room

But there is one soundproofing solution that tops them all -- building a room within a room, which is derived from methods used to isolate recording studios and concert halls from all extraneous sounds and rumbles. Both the Glenn Gould studio in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Toronto broadcast facility and Zankel Hall, the recital hall that is part of the Carnegie Hall complex in New York, isolated the recital halls from streetcar and subway rumbles, respectively, by constructing an interior hall that rests on huge rubber dampers. This room within a room technique not only excludes all exterior sounds but also prevents sound from within the halls themselves from escaping to other performance spaces in the buildings.



The Double Floor

You can use a similar technique by building a double floor (see illustration below) that rests on half-inch-thick rubber mats (look for these from specialty suppliers). The double floor with 3/4-inch plywood on top and bottom, and fiberglass insulation between the 2 x 4 studs, supports the inner room, which also uses studded walls with drywall on both sides and sound-deadening fiberglass insulation within the wall cavities. A 6-inch air gap between the walls of the inner room and the outer room is sufficient to greatly reduce sound transmission. Carefully compute the dimensions of the inner room, taking into account the airspace between the inner and outer walls, as well as the actual thickness of the inner and outer walls, to come up with a consistent air gap of 6 inches. The dimensions of the inner room will, consequently, be much smaller than that of the outer room. The studded walls of the outer room should also use drywall on both sides.


Specialty sound-deadening insulation products are available for use within the walls and include such brands as Owens Corning QuietZone and Roxul Safe 'n' Sound.

Since you've constructed an inner room and an outer room, it will by nature have two doors, which will be very effective in keeping sound from escaping. You should consult a specialty sound contractor for details on sound-deadening ventilation techniques that can be applied to the hot and cold air supply and return ducts as well as methods of wiring that prevent sound leaks to the outside.

It is beyond the scope of this article to go into precise carpentry techniques of floor, wall, joist, stud and header construction, but abundant material is available on the Web and in books. Here are some links to other sites and products that may prove helpful in your soundproofing endeavors:

• http://www.quietsolution.com
• http://www.roxul.com/sw47802.asp
• http://www.owenscorning.com/quietzone/products/products.asp

SpeakerCraft TIME Five Speaker System

Check out these new SpeakerCraft remote controlled speakers:

They appear to be very bulky but once mounted in the ceiling or wall, they become unobtrusive but very still very cool. The speaker even sits flush, until you turn them on! Then using the remote control and multiple presets, you can move the speaker outward 15, 30 or 45 degrees and rotate 320 degrees to create the optimum listening experience no matter where you place them. Are they worth the $750 each price? Someone leave a comment and let us know.

[via Luxist]