The 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) officially begins Tuesday in Las Vegas.
The event will feature all things technology from keynote speakers to exhibits of the latest gadgets.
Leaders from Qualcomm Inc., Panasonic Corp., Verizon, Samsung Electronics and others are expected to speak.
Joseph Azar, owner of Upstairs Audio in Columbia, is attending the conference and reporting back to WACH Fox on daily events:
Sunday was a hospitality day for media: drinks, finger food, and tabletop displays by manufacturers in the Mandalay Bay ballroom. Of course, it was crowded as there supposedly will be 6,000 media people at this show, and they were all tripping over each other last night in the ballroom to drink and interview, all at the same time, a recipe for a mess, of which I was the recipient of a spilled drink! There also was another event at the Bali Hai to introduce new software companies to the world, and again, a nearly impossible event to interview and learn. Fortunately, today is a media day with presentations by manufacturers in a more formal way so that all of us can learn of new products and technology without the spilled drinks, elbowing and such!
CES is much larger than the public imagines. Besides the CES show itself, which covers about 2 million square feet of display, there are many other companies and shows held in conjunction, not necessarily sanctioned by CES. The biggest, and one of the most interesting and exciting, is T.H.E. Show at the Flamingo Hotel, a show of small, dedicated, specialty manufacturers. This show captures much of my attention as it has the small companies of seriously dedicated people who push the limits of audio and video. Often, this is where the the great ideas and technology are born. This, definitely, is where the best in music reproduction is found.
We did take the time and effort to elbow our way through the crowds around the LG 4K TV. Was it worth it? The 3 of us, Dave Michelson, Rodolfo LaMaestra, and myself, all agreed the elbowing was not worth it. Yes, 4K looks better, IF setup properly. But this set was overblown, oversaturated with color, and it washed out detail. Color oversaturation can cause loss of detail and excessive video noise, plus "blossoming" of colors, hence, loss of edge sharpness. Before a reasonable evaluation of the LG can be made, it must be adjusted properly or it will have the usual WOW! factor of overblown color, but have poor detail. And isn't that what 4k is supposedly to be, better detail? More in this in the future.
By the way, for those that ask what 4K is, it is the newest consumer resolution in video/television. Currently, our highest consumer resolution is 1080p, also referred to as 1K. 4K is 4 times that resolution, and is in some movie theaters around the country, all in the form of video, not film. There may be a Columbia theater with 4K capability, but I am unaware. At present, content is limited, but should increase greatly over this year. Distribution channels are the big question, whether it will be hard media such as discs, or internet delivery. In either case, it is 4 times the bandwidth, so it will add an additional strain in the internet, especially when consumer cameras have 4K ability and everyone is up/downloading video to friends, You Tube, etc.
Now, time to go hear the presentations from some manufacturers. Later!
- Joseph Azar
Today, Tuesday January 8, 2013, is the official opening of CES. The past two days were preview and hospitality for the media, with the usual dog and pony shows by manufacturers. Today we get to see and hear if the hype meets the senses. Knowing how to navigate a show this humongous is important if we expect to cover all we are interested in, so today we will work backwards, as I call it, starting with
T.H.E.Show, the specialty show of smaller, dedicated companies. The main show floor is extremely crowded on opening day, but thins out over the run of CES, so we will go there on day 3, when we can actually see product and talk with companies without having to play linebacker to get through!
This year, I predict, will be the year of the DAC, or digital to analog converter. Music and video are going more and more away from physical media (CD, DVD, etc) and towards downloads. There are predictions that within the next 5 to 10 years CD and DVD discs will totally disappear and all content will be via download. That may be overly optimistic, but time will tell.
Humans hear in analog, so no matter what form the content is in, it ultimately must be converted to analog, so any digital content must pass through a device to convert it, and that device, circuit or chip is a DAC. To those not attuned to the finer points of electronics, it is often thought that digital is perfect, no distortions, frequency problems, etc. Unfortunately, this is not true, and there are many problems in digital ranging from conversion all the way to the power supply for the circuit. A primary problem with many DACs is timing or clocking. The clocks in DACs are not always accurate, getting off time a little, and causing distortion. If one digital circuit put a string of bits in one block of time and the next circuit breaks the block up due to time differential, distortions happen.
The distortions are well known to engineers and music lovers alike, so many outboard DACs are being made to overcome these problems, and to produce better music. Yes, there is a difference in sound among the many DACs, often striking, and the differences are in all sections, from the digital to the analog circuit, to the power supply, from parts used, and layout in the equipment design.
Rather than go farther into it here, let me suggest some basic reading on digital that may help.
Click here and you will find good information under Dragonfly DAC, Theory & Education, and Computer Audio.
Let me clarify something I said in my last post on CES. I wrote: Audio has never disappeared; it has just changed, as headphones have outsold speakers. Young people in high school are interested in good sound and good music, and they will create that desire to listen to music created. These are the ones who will rebuild. That was not very clear, but writing while nodding off at the keyboard does that. Many feel the art of music reproduction is being lost, never to be regained. They feel the heyday of audio was in the 70s and 80s, and with iPods, digital, and ear bud headphones, quality sound has been slaughtered, never to return. I agree, somewhat, as quality for the masses has taken a few steps backward. The generation of 30-50 year olds has been one of menus and surround sound, somewhat oblivious to analog reproduction and quality recording and playback. But the younger generation, especially the high school young people who are discovering mom and dad’s records, are far more interested in the music and quality than menus, shaping and modifying the sound. They want to listen, and are quite amazed at the quality, body and warmth of records. They are the ones that will start a rebirth of the audiophile.
Time to get ready for day 1 of CES. Got helmet. Got pads. Into the fray!
- Joseph Azar
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