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Nestled among the few dozen companies exhibiting at CEDIA 2013’s Media Preview was Soundwall, a Boulder, CO-based startup specializing in speakers that masquerade as art (or is it the other around?). The artwork of your choice is printed on a foam-core board mounted in a 2.5-inch-deep frame that hangs on the wall. Left- and right-channel exciters attached to the back of the board (and powered by a small amplifier), vibrate the “canvas,” turning it into a speaker.

No, they’re not stylized Daleks from Dr. Who or PVC termite mounds. The objects pictured above are actually a couple of pretty impressive all-weather speakers from NEAR. There are a couple of things that are newsworthy about these speakers, not the least of which is that they are the first environmental speakers designed by NEAR specifically for the consumer/custom installation market in about a decade and a half. In fact, it’s been exactly 14 years since NEAR last had a booth or display at a CEDIA EXPO.

Epson’s new lineup of projectors is topped off by its PowerLite Pro Cinema 6030UB ($3500, mid-October), shown here on the left, offering both 2D and 3D. On the right is the company’s Ultra-Bright PowerLite Pro Cinema G6900WU. The latter ($7500, 2D only),available now exclusively through CEDIA and specialty dealers) is said to offer a brightness of 6000 lumens. The projectors were shown on static display in today’s Media Preview. Epson’s demos will commence tomorrow when CEDIA formally opens. More about those demos later in the show; check this space.

Custom installations aren’t all about audio and video hardware, and the field in recent years has expanded into peripheral areas such as custom window blinds of various sorts—from decorative to blackout. The Hunter-Douglas Pirouettes shown here, available in manual and powered versions (battery or hard-wired), appear to be of the former variety, though when closed (they’re shown open here) they’ll dim (but not darken) the room.