I recently attended the Home Entertainment 2002 show in New York City, an event sponsored by Primedia, Inc. Primedia, for those that don’t know, is the parent company of such magazines as Home Theater, Audio Video Interiors, and Stereophile. The show was held this year at the NYC Hilton right in downtown Manhattan. I personally love going to New York City, so while the SoundStage! Network was not covering this show officially, I made the trek anyway. Even though I was there primarily for pleasure, I couldn’t help but have my reporter’s hat on.

Now I find all the new products interesting, and as much as I love seeing all the people in the industry that I usually only get to correspond with through e-mail, there is one compelling reason for an editor of an audio/video publication to attend as many shows as possible: to track trends.

The trends in the audio/video community relate to the ebb and flow of technologies, consumer acceptance, and retail innovation. They can predict where the future is going, at least up to the point where the ebb decides to flow. My observations are based on what people were saying, what the vendors were displaying, and the feel of the industry at large. Take two of ‘em for what they’re worth. I find comfort in the fact that I can always change-up in September when CEDIA rolls around.

(1) DLP is on a roll

The PLUS Piano HE-3100 we reviewed back in December seemed to hearken in a new era. Here was a projector that made DVD-based systems shine. It was easy to place, extremely lightweight, and most importantly, it was reasonably priced at $2999. There was a new Piano from PLUS at the HE 2002 show, the HE-3200, and it looked very promising. The image it was producing was crisp and very bright in a not-so-blacked-out room. Stay tuned for details on what is sure to be a hit amongst home-theater enthusiasts. The point is: DLP is here and still gaining converts.

Not long ago, we explained to you the technology behind DLP via an interview with Ian McMurray of Texas Instruments (TI). The concept has proven solid and gained quite a lot of momentum since that time. The folks at TI were proud of themselves at Home Entertainment 2002, and for good reason. There were several impressive DLP-based displays to be seen.

The one that really struck me was from InFocus. They were showing their sub-$5000 ScreenPlay 110 projector. The image, an HD feed from a Tonight Show appearance featuring Jewel, was simply stunning. Incorporated into a system with NAD electronics and PSB speakers, the whole kit ‘n’ caboodle carried a retail price under $10,000 including the screen! And although the picture was better than the sound, it really illustrated what was possible in a mid-priced home theater.

Samsung had two rear-projection DLP sets: one 43" and the other 50" with a 60" version coming soon. Priced somewhere between $4000 and $5000, depending on which Samsung representative you were talking to at the moment, it represented the best bang for the buck in an HD monitor. In fact, I had a great time harassing a buddy who had just committed to a rear-projection Pioneer Elite CRT at almost twice the price. Although they were close in image quality, the difference in price was not.

(2) Upgradeability is a dirty word

From the consumer side, one subject I heard several groups of folks discussing was how many times they had been bit by the upgradeability claims of some manufacturers. Although a few products have proven to be truly upgradeable, most have proven too complex or too expensive, and companies have opted out of offering any real future-proofness. I think it’s a shame and likely a case where some manufacturers have gotten conflicting advice from their engineering departments and the marketing mavens. Although the marketeers may have won in the short term, the companies that have failed to follow through in the long term have seriously damaged credibility now. If consumer sentiment is any indication, the phrase future proof should be struck from the audio/video dictionary.

There you have it. That was the word on the street from my vantage point. We’ll let you know what our crystal ball tells us next as things shake out. Til then, go getcha a DLP and be happy with the component you buy for what it has today, not the promise of what it should have in the future. And watch some good movies. They never go out of style.