Interesting Points from CEDIA Expo 2011 – The Integrated Home was the theme of the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association exhibit in Indianapolis. There is much talk of the Cloud replacing physical discs of all sorts, especially for HD content, but there are many questions about storage reliability, cloud-stored data privacy, security and accessibility. Vudu offers more HD video and hi-res multichannel audio than Netflix. Cable companies are required to provide multistream CableCARDs to consumers upon request, instead of requiring customers to rent the cable company’s set-top box. DTV stations are increasing the variety of uses for their subchannels. The 3D format battle is expanding: there are both passive and shutter glasses—both of which have some problems—but in addition a third new option of HDTVs having the shutter built into them, plus using a different type of passive glasses with it.
21:9 aspect ratio no-bezel displays (the image goes up to the edges of the display) are already on the market (who needs it? Though no letter-boxing of 2.35:1 movies, everything else has huge pillar boxing on the sides). Many displays continue to overscan with digital video, though that is no longer needed. The average size of TV sets sold in North America last year was 38 inches. Two billion products with an HDMI connection have been sold to date. There’s no need to buy expensive high-end HDMI cables; the single test that can best determine performance of an HDMI cable is the bit error rate (BER) from input to output. Though the days of physical media may be numbered, there are dozens of service providers, countless technologies, and it changes every day. Many homes have so many wireless and networked devices now that consumer-grade networking hardware and software is no longer adequate. Nothing less than an “enterprise grade” network that is distributed, managed, seamless and without dropouts will provide reliable connectivity for customers.
Classical News – The recent annual conference of the Association of British Orchestras focused on some of these subjects: Relationships between manager and musicians, data evaluation, why managers find it difficult to implement regular performance reviews of musicians, and ideas on creating adventurous programming without alienating audiences. The new Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera is their most expensive project ever, at $16 million. It is built around a 45-ton contraption consisting of 24 giant planks which move independently on a central axis, creating all sorts of stylized scenery. The problem seems to be that it makes a lot of noise. The Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg is staging My Fair Lady in Russian. The new season for Carnegie Hall will feature composer Osvaldo Golijov, conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Daniel Barenboim, soprano Renee Fleming, and the opening gala in October will feature Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The most recent example of the wide-ranging musical imagination of cellist Yo-Yo Ma is the Goat Rodeo Sessions. The CD from the cross-genre quartet is No. 2 on Billboard’s classical chart, and their concert is offered on the HD video series in many movie theaters. (The name came from aviation lingo.)
Wayne Shorter – In Memoriam
Rememberance of the artist
