CEDIA 2015

I’ve long preached against mounting a flat screen over the fireplace, but the concept is so beloved by interior designers that the trend continues unabated. There have been several motorized HDTV wall mounts on the market that move out and down to position the set into a more comfortable position for viewing, but they have ranged from pricey to higher than the cost of the set itself.

The maybe-up-and-coming Auro-3D surround format shared its demo room with PMC, the Britain-based Professional Monitor Corporation, which showed the largest monitor we have ever seen.

Quantum Media showed its full RGB 4K laser projector. The booth was too dark to get a good shot of it, but it’s large (and loud) enough to deserve a small projection booth of its own. In its 4K guise it will cost you between $150,000 and $200,000...

I finally was able to make it by the Rosewater Energy Hub booth on the EXPO floor earlier today. RoseWater says the Energy Hub is “the first all-in-one residential and light commercial power solution to integrate three capabilities into one platform to serve the entire needs of one premises. The Hub protects all home and office electronics by delivering clean and conditioned power and offers seamless and total system integration using a dual inverter system. With everything integrated into the Hub, prewired and tested upon delivery, the potential for installation and set-up problems are greatly reduced.” While that’s a mouthful, the Energy Hub is essentially a surge suppressor, power conditioner, and UPS backup power supply for your entire house. It can also serve as a power manager by integrating alternative sources of power, such as solar and wind, into your home along with traditional AC from the power grid. This tower of power is more sophisticated than that simple description, however; and a peek inside the rack reveals designs and parts suitable for long-term industrial use. You have to have money to get all this power, though. The two-rack system on display with its included advanced lead-acid batteries runs approximately $80,000. RoseWater Energy Hubs are available for order and shipping now. It seems expensive—oh, what the hell am I saying? It is expensive. Really, really, really expensive. All it takes, however, is a few days of suffering through a major power outage or incurring a serious loss from a lightning strike to become aware of how valuable electricity is. The RoseWater Energy Hub is certainly worth the money. I just wish I could afford it.

Salamander Systems is at CEDIA offering up a variety of enhancments to its furniture and accessory line, among them a new roll-out component rack system for its cabinetry, a new high quality premium leather offering for its theater chairs, and the slim-profile lowboy pictured above.

Screen Innovations, or SI as it is more commonly known today, made its mark with ambient light rejecting screens. But it has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

Part of the expense of many distributed audio systems is the proprietary hardware required to make them work. Simpfony is looking to turn this model upside down by leveraging standard hardware for other companies to deliver flexibility, affordability and ease of use while still delivering a terrific user experience.