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TOKYO SHOW '99: DIGITAL TECH DOMINATES ...
... as sun sets on analog 10/7/1999
By David J. Elrich
TOKYO, JAPAN, October 7, 1999 -- One thing became abundantly clear as I walked the aisles of the Japan Electronics Show 1999 -- analog is dead (or at least dying a slow death).
Of the hundreds of items on display from top manufacturers, only a few were not digital or at least digital-ready. Granted, companies tend not to show off their more prosaic gadgets at trade shows, but I did not see a single VHS VCR, 8mm camcorder or audiocassette deck. Although still wildly popular because they are so affordable, VCRs, tape decks and their ilk are sinking into the sunset of the 20th Century. Greeting the digital dawn are Digital Video Discs, digital TVs, digital phones and solid-state music players (see Part 1).
Let's take a walk....
Many familiar companies, including Hitachi, JVC, NEC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sanyo, Sony and Toshiba, were on hand to show off their wares at the Japan Electronics Show. A lot of the goods on display (such as certain satellite receivers and digital TVs) won't be crossing the Pacific to your local mall.
Others were prototypes, which were being floated to the crowd of engineers and others in the electronics business solely for feedback. These won't make the pages of a Circuit City flyer either, but they were still fun to gawk at. Here are a few of the product highlights that might make it to these shores.
New Hitachi gear
Giant Teletubby-like creatures greeted visitors to the Hitachi booth. Yikes! The most memorable products were prototypes of a recordable DVD player and a camcorder that uses a 3-inch DVD. As noted in Part 1 of this report, Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba have stated their intent to introduce recordable DVD players in the year 2000.
Prices and specific intro dates for these goodies were not divulged at the show. And don't start saving your pennies for that DVD camcorder -- not just yet anyway. The DVD Forum (the governing body for the format) has not finalized the specs for the smaller discs.
What's more, Panasonic executives noted at a press conference held a day before I got to the show that they "wouldn't rule out introducing" such a camcorder, but they were more interested in camcorders using SanDisk (SD) Memory cards. Imagine recording DVD-quality video on a piece of plastic the size of a stamp. Cool. But don't hold your breath for this one either, because current 64MB SD Memory cards hold only five to six minutes' worth of MPEG-2 video. Panasonic president Kirk Nakamura stated that his company's goal was to introduce an SD-based camcorder that is capable of recording an hour's worth of footage within a few years.
Also on display at the Hitachi booth were digital cell phones with large LCD screens and DLP- and LCD-based rear-projection TVs. I came to this show a real non-believer in DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology (too much money for not enough of a payoff in video quality). And I remained a non-believer as I compared it to Hitachi's new LCD-based 52-incher, which is a likely candidate for a U.S. introduction later next year. I thought Hitachi's 42-inch plasma TVs poor in comparison to others I saw.
JVC's still pushing VHS
JVC, inventor of VHS, is still trying to drag the tape-based format into the next century despite disc-based competition. One highlight of the company's exhibit was a D-VHS VCR that's capable of recording all 18 ATSC Digital TV formats. Until this introduction, Panasonic had been the only company with an HD-compatible deck. Again, no pricing or intro date was given; you can expect to hear more at the January Consumer Electronics Show.
We'll also get more specifics at CES about what I thought was one of the stars of the show, JVC's D-ILA rear-projection TV. This set was gorgeous, even under theharsh lights of the convention floor. Home theater buffs, keep your eye on this one when it arrives in the states. Executives indicated that the model we get should be larger than the 50-inch model shown here.
JVC also showed a combo DVD-Audio/Video player with progressive scan outputs; it's due to be released by the end of this year in Japan. We'll have to wait until January to find out if this one will cross the Pacific in 2000.
Flat stuff
NEC showed a 42-inch 480p plasma TV that will cost a cool 1.45 million yen (around $14,000). It was OK, though not as good as Panasonic's (more on this in a bit). NEC is a supplier to other manufacturers (such as RCA), which means that you'll probably see this set at your local CE emporium. Mitsubishi did not show much that was relevant to the United States, but it did exhibit DVD-based car navigation systems (very popular in Japan) and DLP-based multimedia displays, which are used for stores.
Solid-state statements
As I touched upon above, Panasonic's booth was primarily dedicated to products incorporating the new SD Memory cards and to recordable DVD. Panasonic also said that it would deliver DVD-Audio/Video players to the United States for demonstration purposes. Sure, you could buy one to watch DVD-Video discs, but you'd have a hard time checking out the DVD-Audio portion -- that's because there are no discs available! Seems the hardware boys beat the software guys to the finish line. Early 2000 is now the ETA for DVD-A discs.
Flat-panel displays were also highlighted at Panasonic's booth. I believe that Panasonic's panels are the best, but I'm sure etown.com's Video Ace Kevin Miller will have his own view when these puppies arrive stateside. Panasonic showed prototypes of 50-inch and 60-inch widescreen HD plasma displays that were just fab-u-lous. No release date was provided, but my guess is that they'll show up late next year. Right now you can buy 37-inch and 42-inch progressive widescreen plasma sets for 1.1 million and 1.3 million yen ($11,000 and $13,000), respectively.
Do you want a Happy Cinema?
The Japanese culture is certainly proud and honorable. Unfortunately, when some executives here attempt to use the English language, the results are a bit awkward (to put it charitably). One of my favorites at the show was the Happy Cinema from Pioneer. (You know full well that the name will never make it out of Pioneer's U.S. marketing office!) Happy Cinema is actually a very cool-looking portable DVD player in a translucent case. A definite conversation piece, it costs 68,000 yen (around $650).
Pioneer was also among the gang that unveiled recordable DVD players. There is, however, some concern regarding the compatibility of recordable DVDs between different brands of machines. We expect that this will be sorted out as these players near introduction next year, and you can be sure we'll pass them on to you. In the meantime, there were other DVD products to be seen.
Pioneer showed a prototype of a High-Definition DVD recorder and a 4-inch display that uses Organic EL (electro luminescent) technology, which might be familiar to those nearly blinded by the flashing lights from their Pioneer car stereo head unit. The company also had a wildly expensive DVD-Audio system for more than $10,000.
Whither Sanyo?
Although Sanyo is huge in Japan, it is known for selling really low-end stuff in America. Accordingly, I was pleasantly surprised by the products the company had on display. These included LCD-based front- and rear-projection TVs and widescreen direct-view sets. Too bad most them won't hit the States (other than the LCD projectors for the professional market). Sanyo also had a cool prototype of a Memory Bar solid-state memory, which is shaped liked a thin, short pencil. This will likely not make it past the prototype stage, but it sure looked good.
LCDs and more LCDs
Sharp continued to emphasize LCD technology, showing a beautiful 28-inch LCD TV with built-in speakers. Designers will go ga-ga over this baby. I went ga-ga over Sharp's Continuous Grain Silicon (CGS) LCD-based rear-projection TVs at the last CES. It would be great if the company actually delivered one.
Also notable was a new DV Viewcam with a 3.5-inch LCD screen. Expect a variation of this one in the United States next year (VL-FD1, 230,000 yen, about $2300). The company displayed its portable DVD player, the DV-L70TV (around $1500), and a bunch of digital-ready direct-view TVs, which cost between $1700 and $2300 for 28-inch and 32-inch models.
On the stick
Sony is really pushing Memory Stick products in a battle with Panasonic, SanDisk and Toshiba to be the dominant solid-state memory format. The vast majority of Sony products at the show have already been covered by etown.com -- the Digital Walkman, Wega TVs, Super Audio CD, DV camcorders, Mavica digital cameras and MiniDisc player/recorders. Typically, Sony introduces a few hot products at CES.
But I did find, tucked away among the many displays, the MD DisCam, a MiniDisc player that's capable of recording 10 to 20 minutes of MPEG-2 video. Unfortunately, it was running on a 9-inch screen, so I really couldn't assess the quality. This seems more of a stunt to me, as Sony tries to extend the life of the MD format in the face of competition from SD Memory as well as from its own Memory Stick. I'm taking bets that the DisCam will never see the light of day in the United States. Any takers?
A low profile
Even though it partnered with Panasonic and SanDisk in SD Memory, Toshiba's exhibit had no solid-state memory products on display. I guess the company prefers to leave the initial heavy lifting to Panasonic. Toshiba was also not hyping DVD players with progressive scan outputs. There were, however, a number of notebook computers, a category the company dominates in the States. Toshiba also had a couple of widescreen direct-view sets, which range in price from $1700 for a 28-inch model to $2800 for a 36-incher.
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