Think of it as a CES preview

It’s the rainly season here in Japan. Seeing as I live in what is effectively the desert, I love it.

CEATEC is sort of like a Japanese-only CEDIA. It’s fairly small, but each company shows their latest, and future greatest. Several years ago I got the first glimpse at Pioneer’s KURO before it was shown to western press. This year…

Pioneer

Pioneer LCDs

Perhaps the most interesting thing in the Pioneer booth was our first look at Pioneer’s LCDs (built with a collaboration with Sharp). These were the European models, so they’re not exactly what we’ll be getting in the States. That said, it was still pretty odd to see Pioneer branded LCDs.

16 Layer Blu-ray

They also showed off a working prototype of a player that reads 16-layer BD discs, for a grand total capacity of 400 GB. That will certainly store your collection of Doctor Who episodes. It’s a long way off, but they hope to create a writeable version, at first it will be for non-consumer uses, but they see the possibility of a consumer version at some point.

3Dⁱ without Glasses

While the LCDs were the most interesting from a real product standpoint, they also had working versions of 3D displays that didn’t require glasses. You could actually read in and interact with the content. The catch? If you move your head too far up, down, side, close, or too far away, the effect goes away. Still, it was very cool.

Panasonic

Panasonic 3D Plasma

In the more realistic realm of potential 3D displays, Panasonic showed off a 103” plasma rigged for 3D reproduction. It was full 1,920 by 1,080 resolution. The glasses required were apparently of the active “shutter type,” though they were lighter than other glasses I’ve used of this variety. The effect, especially coming of something as bright as a plasma, was excellent. Among the best 3D I’ve seen. It’s not a real product yet, but they’re working on it.

Neo PDP

The other big display news is what Panasonic is calling Neo PDP. It’s their name for the latest version of their plasma technology that is upwards of 50% more efficient than their previous generations. The uses for this are multi-fold. In markets like China and Europe, where power consumption is a big issue, the same size plasma can produce the same light output of the previous generation, but consumer half the power.

In markets like the US, where power consumption isn’t a main shopping factor, the same TV can be made brighter, for the same power consumption. All of next year’s models will use the Neo PDP technology.

In addition, there will be 50, 58, and 65-inch ultra-thin models, all of 24.7mm thick, the sexiness you can see in the following images. These will also be Neo PDP.

Sony

XBR8 Local Dimming

Showing off their local dimming technology, Sony had a sneak peak behind the scenes of their XBR8 LCD.

The image you see below are of the same model, the left image is of a black screen with floating white jelly fish. The image on the right is the same image, but only of the LED backlights. As you can see, in the areas of the image where the screen should be dark, the LEDs shut off, creating a real black. We’ll be getting a review sample in of the XBR8 soon.

For comparison, the blurry image below (hey, it was dark!) shows the local dimming without the LCD layer active on the right, the local dimming running normally in the middle, and on the left is a normal LCD without local dimming.

Check out the rest of our coverage here.