CEDIA 20th Anniversary EXPO Overview
The annual CEDIA Expo, the home theater installer and dealer trade show, was held in Atlanta, Georgia from Sept. 9-13. This year was CEDIA's 20th anniversary.
The CEDIA EXPO provides networking opportunities for installers and dealers, as well as a platform for manufacturers to show off new products.
However, the big disappointment was the definite lower attendance this year. The decline was about 12% from the previous year. Also, some exhibitors failed to show, with D&M Holdings (Denon, Marantz, Snell, Boston Acoustics, and MacIntosh) being the most obvious missing exhibitor.
On the other hand, according to CEDIA officials, 70 new exhibitors were at the show this year. There was also less press on-hand than last year. A lot of floor discussion centered around how dealers and installers could adjust their product mix and sales strategies to cope with the current stagnant economy.
Despite the lower attendance, some exhibitors expressed an extremely positive attitude as they felt the home theater dealers and installers who made a point to visit them were seriously looking to make deals for new products and manufacturing partners to enhance their business focus and not just "lookie loos" casually checking out the latest products and moving on to the next exhibit.
Also, many exhibitors present were more aggressive with product promotion. New Blu-ray Disc players were everywhere, as well as an increased number of TVs and video projectors incoporating "LED" technology, a plethora of comprehensive remote control and home networking solutions, and, of course, numerous 3D demos, which, unfortunately, cannot be shown in a 2D photo gallery.
However, what I can pass along about 3D is that several systems were demonstrated on LCD (JVC and Sony), Plasma (Panasonic), DLP Rear Projection (Mitsubishi), and DLP Front Projection (Digital Projection). For me, the Plasma and DLP Front/Rear projection demos were best; I noticed some motion lag on the LCD 3D demos. Hopefully, a standardized system will be approved for widespread home theater use; expect more news at CES 2010 in January.
One additional issue on the mind of TV manufacturers, dealers, and installers attending the show from California, are the looming television power consumption restrictions governing the size and type of televisions California consumers may be able to purchase. Check out my earlier report and comment on this issue, as well as comments from Gary Altunian, About.com Guide For Stereos. Needless to say, there was an increased emphasis on "green technologies" and energy efficiency.
Proceed to the next photo...
The CEDIA EXPO provides networking opportunities for installers and dealers, as well as a platform for manufacturers to show off new products.
However, the big disappointment was the definite lower attendance this year. The decline was about 12% from the previous year. Also, some exhibitors failed to show, with D&M Holdings (Denon, Marantz, Snell, Boston Acoustics, and MacIntosh) being the most obvious missing exhibitor.
On the other hand, according to CEDIA officials, 70 new exhibitors were at the show this year. There was also less press on-hand than last year. A lot of floor discussion centered around how dealers and installers could adjust their product mix and sales strategies to cope with the current stagnant economy.
Despite the lower attendance, some exhibitors expressed an extremely positive attitude as they felt the home theater dealers and installers who made a point to visit them were seriously looking to make deals for new products and manufacturing partners to enhance their business focus and not just "lookie loos" casually checking out the latest products and moving on to the next exhibit.
Also, many exhibitors present were more aggressive with product promotion. New Blu-ray Disc players were everywhere, as well as an increased number of TVs and video projectors incoporating "LED" technology, a plethora of comprehensive remote control and home networking solutions, and, of course, numerous 3D demos, which, unfortunately, cannot be shown in a 2D photo gallery.
However, what I can pass along about 3D is that several systems were demonstrated on LCD (JVC and Sony), Plasma (Panasonic), DLP Rear Projection (Mitsubishi), and DLP Front Projection (Digital Projection). For me, the Plasma and DLP Front/Rear projection demos were best; I noticed some motion lag on the LCD 3D demos. Hopefully, a standardized system will be approved for widespread home theater use; expect more news at CES 2010 in January.
One additional issue on the mind of TV manufacturers, dealers, and installers attending the show from California, are the looming television power consumption restrictions governing the size and type of televisions California consumers may be able to purchase. Check out my earlier report and comment on this issue, as well as comments from Gary Altunian, About.com Guide For Stereos. Needless to say, there was an increased emphasis on "green technologies" and energy efficiency.
Proceed to the next photo...
Source...