GEOFFREY MORRISON BLOG

Things I Learned in Vegas at the Sony Line Show

Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 17, 2006

Not that I want to cover more Sony stuff so soon, but that’s the way things work out. Here’s a list of things I learned on the Sony Line Show in Las Vegas yesterday (in case the title didn’t give it away first).

1) Feather pillows are the stupidest idea ever. It’s like sleeping on a bag of needles.

2) It is possible to spend 39 hours in Vegas and never leave a hotel.

3) It is possible to only bet, and loose, $1.

4) PS3 is delayed till “holiday” 2006.

5) Even so, they expect to sell 6 million by March ’07.

6) Read #5 again.

7) Sony’s Blu-Ray player, the BDP-S1 will be $1,000, will output 1080 24p/60i/60p. It will also upconvert DVDs to 1080p.

8) The new rooms at Caesar’s Palace have 30-inch Sony LCDs in the main room, and 12-inch Sony LCDs in the bathroom.

9) Said LCDs only show SD.

10) Stretched SD.

11) Blank BD-Rs will be $20, BD-RE (re-writeable) will be $25.

12) No, there was no mention of a home BD-Recorder. Computer BD-R/RE drives should be here by mid-summer.

13) There are plans for 100GB BD discs by 2007.

14) No, there is no word how compatible these discs will be with the first-gen players.

15) They can cook a mean fish in the desert.

16) There were no new TV announcements. There were a few new flat panels. The $3000 40-inch KDL-40S2000 will be in a face-off in our June issue.

17) There will be new TV announcements, possibly including a new aesthetic for the SXRD RPTVs, in 60-90 days. This may happen at our show in June. Or it may not.

18) Flying to Vegas from LA is lame. It is less convenient, more expensive, less enjoyable, and takes longer than driving.

COMMENTS
Andrew Rogulich's picture
Submitted by Andrew Rogulich (not verified) on March 18, 2006 - 4:59pm

I read your April 2006 test on Sony's VPL-VW100 LCOS projector. You mentioned that it is an "extremely quiet projector". My guess is you did not have the projector in High Altitude Mode (for altitudes 1500 meters or higher per the owners manual, page 62). I would like to know what the fan noise is when you are in "High Altitude Mode" set on the projector. I would also like to know what the db level difference is for the fan noise is regular versus high altitude mode.Thank you.

Geoffrey Morrison's picture
Submitted by Geoffrey Morrison (not verified) on March 20, 2006 - 3:33pm

Unfortunately that projector went back to Sony a while ago. While fan noise would no doubt increase in the high altitude mode, judging how quiet it is in the regular mode I would speculate that it would not go from

Tom Norton's picture
Submitted by Tom Norton (not verified) on March 22, 2006 - 7:05pm

You need to click over to our review at Ultimate AV (Shameless Plug). I discuss this issue under Random Notes in Part 1 (there are 2 parts, posted a couple of months apart). The link is on this page, or go to www.ultimateAVmag.com.

Brandon's picture
Submitted by Brandon (not verified) on March 23, 2006 - 4:07pm

Do you think that pushing blu-ray and ps3 back to a holiday release in '06 is a good marketing move to try and sell a lot of players initially to help the format along, or are they just hurting themselves by making the early adopters wait?

Steve's picture
Submitted by Steve (not verified) on March 24, 2006 - 2:09am

Using your best educated "guess", what would one gain by waiting for the newer SXRD's later this year? 1080p accepted input? Lopping off of the dumbo ears? Cheaper initial price as compared to last years SXRD's?

Geoffrey Morrison's picture
Submitted by Geoffrey Morrison (not verified) on March 24, 2006 - 7:19pm

Good question Brandon. I think I'll do a blog post on that next week. Steve, I believe the new SXRDs will have a 1080p input, but they didn't say anything specifically about a new look. When I asked that exact question, they just gave a sly "ask again in a few months." So if you hate the look (I like the Dumbo analogy), I

Steve's picture
Submitted by Steve (not verified) on March 31, 2006 - 11:43pm

FYI -- I just pulled the trigger on a HP 37" LCD instead of the SXRD, deciding to wait for the newer models. The plan is to set up the audio portion of my home theater now with the HP, then upgrade to one of the Sony's next year. This way I can swap out an aging 27" Trinitron upstairs with the newer LCD and "drop in" the big one later.

Adam Sohmer's picture
Submitted by Adam Sohmer (not verified) on April 12, 2006 - 4:10pm

Mean fish deserve to be cooked. Only friendly, supportive fish should be spared.

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 7, 2006 - 3:43pm

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