Click here for a full list of our coverage of the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show.

LAS VEGAS—Even the hectic pace and cramped quarters of the first day and a half of the Consumer Electronics Show (which technically were not even part of the actual conference) could not have prepared the SciAm team for the sheer magnitude and mayhem that was to go down on the official Day One.

At a loss as to how exactly to organize the day, the intrepid reporters stalked much-ballyhooed wares (mostly high-definition TVs), hunted down emerging technologies (we found at least one) and happened upon a few simple, but elegant new ideas (for one, a product to increase the fuel efficiency of your car).

Prototype Televisions Duke It Out

The TV-set wars broke down across two major fronts: form (thinness) and contrast ratio (the blackest blacks). In one corner was Pioneer, which deployed a prototype of its KURO plasma TV, a 50-inch flat-panel display that is only 0.35 inch (nine millimeters) thick—even thinner than an iPhone. According to a company press release on the concept TV, which will not be released in 2008, the contrast (brightest and darkest displays) ratio of the screen is "literally beyond measurement." (For reference, plasma displays are typically believed to have a contrast ratio of 20,000 to 1, whereas liquid crystal displays, or LCDs, which require a backlight that dilutes the darkness of their black tone, fall between 10,000 and 15,000 to 1.)

In direct competition with Pioneer's audacious claims was Sony. The company unveiled the first organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV, which went on sale Sunday night. (Did we mention it's only 0.12 inch (three millimeters) thick? Oh, we should also note that the set, called the XZL1, is only 11-inches, or 28 centimeters, wide and retails for $2,500.) Sony had a 27-inch (68.6 centimeter) prototype version of the TV—and to be frank, the color on the display literally jumped off the screen. (Click here to watch a related video.) OLEDs create a picture when electric current excites organic compounds that emit light in several colors. Because they do not require a backlight, said Ernie Block, a senior product trainer, "when it's not receiving electricity the OLED is truly black, and that allows us to get this great contrast ratio." (Sony makes a slightly less exceptional claim, at least relative to Pioneer's unmeasurable one, of having achieved a contrast ratio of 1,000,000 to 1.)

A Brand New, Blazingly Fast Wireless Technology

A discussion session entitled "The Top 10 Technologies You've Never Heard of" yielded little of interest, save this chestnut: John LeMoncheck, president and CEO of wireless innovation company SiBEAM, in Sunnyvale, Calif., let slip (on purpose) a project the outfit is working on with Panasonic involving a technology called "millimeter-wave wireless HD," which broadcasts uncompressed video through the air. LeMoncheck claimed it was 10 times faster than standard wireless and that "it is really going to turn wireless on its ear."

Thus a trip to the Panasonic booth was in order. The SciAm team, bypassing the 150-inch (3.8-meter) plasma TV, found a demo in a corner slightly less traveled than the rest of the overrun techno-playland and requested confirmation. (Click here to watch a related video.) Tsuyoshi Okada, a chief engineer at Panasonic, explained that the new technology exploited the 60-gigahertz radio frequency, a rich spectrum that allows the HD DVD player to transmit video at four gigabytes per second to a TV from up to 30 feet (10 meters) away. Although the 60-gigahertz band allows for wide transmission of data, and even multiple simultaneous streams, it is pointed like a laser; so if there's an obstacle, connection between any two devices is terminated. To circumvent this, Okada says, a "beam-steering technology" is used, allowing the signal to bounce off a floor or ceiling to maintain a clear path.

1 Comments

1. 1. CaliforniaView 03:58 PM 5/13/09

   Hydrogen Research Grants was just another Bush boondoggle for his cronies. There is no need to create Hydrogen Storage tanks and Pipelines to replace the Gasoline infrastructure.
   
   Hydrogen can be made from water and electricity ON BOARD THE vehicle, or with a home generator.
   You can see hundreds of home hydrogen generators on youtube.com.
   Obama needs to cut the red tape that Oil Companies sponsored which prevents GE and Ballard Power from selling small home hydrogen units.
   The Electric grid will do the distribution. And many folks will generate power locally with Solar.
   Obama needs to lift the Prohibition on the Sale of Hydrogen Vehicles!!
   UC Davis and UC Irvine have had Toyota Hydrogen Hylanders on campus for FIVE Years.
   LET THE PUBLIC BUY THEM NOW!
   www.My-Representative.org
   
   Your Article fails to Mention the Number One Hydrogen Fuel Cell Auto Manufacturer with 200 cars Leased to the Public
   http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/drive-fcx-clarity.aspx
   

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