1. Welcome
Various Companies and booths
2. GigaByte
GIGABYTE
We visit one of the largest motherboard manufacturers, at CeBIT 2005.
We were pleased to visit this year also, the GIGABYTE stand (Hall 23, Booth A22) where we spoke with Sue Wu. As always, GIGABYTE has a very extensive range of motherboards starting with their P4 Titan series Intel Chipset based Motherboards for socket 775 with PCI Express and AGP versions.
There's also the K8 Triton series socket 939, SLI, PCI Express and AGP motherboards for the AMD Athlon Processors.
The impressive and large GIGABYTE booth.
This photo gives a good indication of the range of motherboards on offer from GIGABYTE.
Two of the newer, soon to be released motherboards using the Intel 955 chipset. Further information regarding this motherboard has not yet been disclosed by Gigabyte, since the company awaits Intel to officially release the 955 chipset first.
Impressive water-cooling systems were on display on Gigabyte's motherboards, ensuring smooth operation of a PC.
In optical storage, the company presented the 16X dual format burner, capable also of 8X DVD+RW, 6X DVD-RW and 4X DVD+R DL.
The VGA cards from Gigabyte inlcude both ATI's and NVidia's latests chipsets.
Impressive servers were also present at Gigabytes booths.
3. Club 3D
Club 3D
CDRinfo meets with Club 3D to discuss upcoming designs.
Club 3D was founded in 1997. It was originally called Colour Power but changed its name to Club 3D only this year. They offer several graphics card solutions from a number of Graphics Chip manufacturers, including ATi, nVidia, S3 and SiS. We visited Club 3D at their booth (Hall 23, Booth C33) and spoke with Product Manager Raymond Koning and Issa Shum from Sales & Marketing.
Among the new releases from Club 3D is the impressive ZAP-TV4 Series which can turn your PC into a multimedia centre. Features include a stereo TV tuner with 125 channels, HDTV output, THRUVIEW (Video Desktop technology which allows users to click through live TV windows to access the desktop without having to move the active window), radio frequency radio control and TV-On-Demand to name a few.
Another interesting bit of news is that Club 3D will be releasing a 512MB card in about 3 months time. CDRinfo will be receiving a sample as well as the ZAP-TV4 in our labs to test and review.
Mr Koning also informed us that Club 3D will be including Colin Macrae 2005 in their bundle packages, thanks to a recent CDRinfo review in which one complaint, albeit a minor one, was the fact that one of the included games was the "outdated" Colin Macrae 2004. It shows that Club 3D is committed to delivering a better product to the buying public.
4. LiteOn - Page 1
LiteOn
One of the most important representatives of the Taiwanese Optical storage market, LiteOn -IT, could not be absent from the show. From the very beginning back in 1995 (as Lite-On Technology Corporation), the company has focused on the production of ODD products and nowadays its monthly output reaches over 4,5 million units.
In 2005, and after the agreement between Lite-On IT and HP, Lite-On IT has become the authorized agent to ship DVD writers under the HP name. Just for reference reasons, according to the aggreement, HP will retain ownership of the product roadmap, go-to-market plan, and customer satisfaction and it will continue to invest in research and development and provide intellectual property for future products.
The first HP-branded DVD writer from Lite-On is the HP dvd640i/e, with LightScribe technology.
The drive's specifications include the following:
Write: 40x CAV CD-R, 24x Z-CLV CD-RW, 16x DVD+R, 2.4x DVD+RDL, 4x DVD+RW/-RW, 8x Z-CLV DVD-R.
Read: 40x CD-ROM, 16x DVD-ROM.
Ligthscribe approximate times (full label):
- Best quality mode, <36min
- Normal quality mode, <28 min
- Draft quality mode, <20 min
For those not familiar with the LightScribe technology, we will provide a brief description. LightScribe is a disc-labeling solution that allows burning labels directly onto the upper surface of your CD/DVD media, which is the same disc you burn your data on. After burning your data on the disc, just eject it and flip it over so the drive's laser can "burn" your label design on the top surface of the disc. So three factors are involved here; LightScribe hardware (drive), LightScribe-enabled software and LightScribe media. This media uses a thin dye coating on the label side of the disc that absorbs laser light, triggering a chemical reaction which produces your photo on the disc's surface.
HP branded DVD writer with Light Scribe technology, the DVD640i/e will be launched on the European market by Lite-On IT in March 2005. The HP DVD640i/e will be available for approx €99, incl VAT.
After the introduction of the internal writer, an external version of the HP DVD640i/e will be launched by Lite-On.
The following drive is another DVD recorder with 4x recording support for DVD-RDL/+RDL and 8x for DVD+RW. CDRInfo will publish the review of the new SOHW-1693S very soon.
External slim-line DVD and Combo drives were also on display at the company's booth.
5. LiteOn - Page 2
Equipped with a 160GB hard disk, the LVW-5045 can record up to 198 hrs of video program. Other advanced HDD-related features include TimeShift, Record & Play and HDD to DVD and DVD to DVD copy capabilities:
6. Albatron - Page 1
Albatron
Albatron had a large booth next to NVidia, showing off all the latest motherboard and SVGA cards.
Albatron was founded in 2002 from the ex-CEO of Gigabyte and during three following years managed to gain the respect of the overclockers community and at the same time present quality, low priced products. Of course Albatron has many Taiwanese competitors and nowdays the profit margins are really low for almost all manufacturers. The main product that Albatron was demonstrating was their new Nforce4 motherboard with a double 6800GT SLI and an AMD Athlon 64 4000+, this should be a very powerful system for hardcore gamers!
Albatron also demonstrated a new Intel 945G motherbord with SATA2 connection interface. It's not known yet, when this motherboard will hit the market:
Another new motheboard from Albatron comes with Socket 939 under the K8X890 Proll codename:
7. Albatron - Page 2
Below are several SVGA cards from Albatron, using NVidia chipsets, 6600, 6800, 6800GT, 6800Ultra, etc. Clicking on each picture will unveil a higher resolution image (warning, big size):
8. BenQ - Page 1
BenQ's presence at CeBIT 2005 was impressive, with a very large booth covering all areas of BenQ's production. |
Our attention was immediately drawn to the big logo on the wall and an array with the various editor's choice awards,
including, CDRInfo's Editors Choice award:
The main attraction of the booth, for optical storage lovers, was a working PC Blu-Ray drive along with a desktop Blu-Ray recorder. The PC Blu-Ray prototype drive is the BW1000, and is identified as a "PHILIPS BLU-RAY" under Windows:
Below we can see the lens/pickup unit of the prototype drive, along with Blu-Ray media:
According to BenQ/Philips, the Blu-Ray format is the way to go for the future, since the format has higher capacity (30GB) than HD-DVD (15GB) and can have interactive content. The used filesystem is UDF 2.60 revision (announced this week!) while future Blu-Ray plans include Double Layer, increasing capacity to 50GB! The used error correction is still Reed Solomon, while the writing speed of the prototype was 2X (CLV) and BenQ said that 4X and 5X should also be possible, but 6X is not possible since the data density is very high. The protection mechanism of Blu-Ray and HD DVD is more or less the same, with a strong encryption method using a large key...
We asked BenQ if the codec used by the Blu-Ray format would be H264 AVC or Microsoft's WMVHD codec. The answer was not very clear, but Blu-Ray can use either Mpeg2 or Mpeg4 AVC content, although we wouldn't bet our odds in favor of Microsoft...
The first commercial drives are expected end of 2005, original schedule was for Q1 of 2006, but it seems the competing HD DVD format changed plans, with a push for an earlier shipment. We asked BenQ for an estimated price for the drive, but don't expect low prices, where an initial price of $400 could be considered as safe, although we should wait a while until the drives hit the shelves, or it has been tested by our labs. The media could be another issue, although users will be able to burn 25GB with either BenQ/Philips or TDK Blu-Ray BD-R media and hopefully MKM will have released media by that date as well, after its announcement at the CeBIT 2005 Blu-Ray seminar.
9. BenQ - Page 2
BenQ - Page 2
The desktop Blu-Ray recorder from BenQ has more or less the same internal mechanism of the PC Blu-Ray drive:
At the CD/DVD formats, BenQ main attraction was the DW1625, the first LightScribe drive of BenQ/Philips side, we already have the drive at our labs and hopefully soon you will read a full review of what you can expect from the LightScribe technology. We asked BenQ if they will eventually support DVD-RAM, which should be considered as to the "To Do List" (end of 2005).
BenQ's upcoming DW1640 drive will support 16X±R, 8X+RW, 6X-RW, 8X DVD+R DL, 48X CD-R, 32X CD-RW, 48X CD-ROM. Another new drive, but this time, slime line portable, with the codename TW200D will be released, no information was given about date/time of retail market:
BenQ for the first time, also demonstrated several desktop DVD, HDD DVD Recorders:
10. BenQ - Page 3
BenQ had a full range of CD/DVD media displayed at their booth:
11. BenQ - Page 4
BenQ also demonstrated several Joybee MP3 players:
Several digital cameras were displayed too,
TFT/LCD TFT are expected to become very popular in 2005, while BenQ also demonstrated 4ms TFT and a 3D TFT screen too:
BenQ Style.
12. HD DVD Seminar - Page 1
HD DVD Seminar
On 11th of March 2005, the DVD Forum held a HD DVD Press seminar to inform press journalists about the current status of HD DVD and of course, answer several quite interesting questions...
The main speakers were from NEC, Toshiba, Sanyo and Memory Tech:
Below you can see each of the above mentioned persons:
In a pre-recorded message, the president of Warner Bros Studios and Home Video, James Cardwell, announced that Warner Bros, Paramount and Universal plan to immediately release over 50 HD DVD titles of new and old movies, such as Troy, The Polar Express, Harry Potter and The Matrix trilogy!
Mr Y. Tsuchiya from Sanyo Electric Co. LTD explained why Sanyo believes that HD DVD is a better and more cost effective solution than Blu-Ray. Sanyo will be able to provide HD DVD pickups to all hardware manufacturers who wish to make HD DVD recorders. A three-format compatible playback pick-up system, using a single optical pickup unit has already been achieved, making it possible to create slim-line drives for laptops too.
Mr Otsuka's speech from Memory-Tech, was mostly about the manufacturing process of HD DVD and the reduced cost. According to Mr. Otsuka, Memory Tech had 6 production lines installed in 2004 and 4 more in 2005. The 2.8 seconds for HD DVD Dual production cycle, 92~94% yield, achieved (20% cycle improvement since May 2004), while 2.6 second production cycle will be achieved by May 2005. Mr. Otsuka's presentation included a very interesting video from a HD DVD-ROM manufacturing process, where it was shown that at the press of a button, the entire production of HD DVD could be switched to DVD and via versa...
By June 2005, Memory Tech said that it will improve and stabilize the manufacturing process for the mass production of HD DVD media. Collaborating with leading replication machine vendors like Sumitomo, Origin, Singules and Hitachi, will enable the implementation of the HD DVD process in DVD replication machines. Further information can be found at this webpage.
In the press kit that was given to all journalists, included was a HD DVD-ROM disc, which was compatible with our NEC ND-6500A drive, demonstrating the history, benefits, manufacturing process and general information about the HD DVD format.
Concluding, according to the speech, the advantages of HD DVD are:
- Low media cost, compared with DVD format
- Backwards compatibility with CD/DVD formats
- The format would be there at the announced time (see working PC HD DVD-ROM drive at NEC's booth..)
13. HD DVD Seminar - Page 2
Next was the Q&A session, with several interesting findings:
A) Stand alone recorders have HDMI interface, but PC drives won't include such a feature. Will there be any additional protection schemes? T. Nedder from NEC Europe, replied that nothing has been finalized, we should wait until 2005, but the HD DVD PC drives can also be used for data storage. It's possible that PC drives may need Internet authendication to playback HD DVD movies, but then again we will have to wait and see the final decisions of the DVD Forum
B) What about a future roadmap? A PC HD DVD-ROM drive can be expected around September of 2005, while a PC HD DVD-R drive around December of the same year. We asked Mr. T Nedder about quoting drive/media prices, nothing can be said with 100% certainty, users should expect the first batch of PC HD DVD-R drives to cost around $500, the PC HD DVD-ROM drives around $300 and the media around 1.3 times the price of current DVD+R DL media. As you can understand, prices are very high for normal users, but since the production cost is high, at least during the beginning, media/drive prices would be higher too.
The DVD Forum expects that the 2nd generation of HD DVD format will reach up to 60GB with the use of double sided, double layer HD DVD (30GB) discs! We assume that this will probably come around 2007~2008.
C) What about the production lines? As we said before, one of the biggest advantages of the HD DVD format is that current DVD production lines can be used for the production of HD DVD format, with of course the corresponding modifications. But what will happen with the 2nd generation HD DVD format? Mr M. Otsuka from Memory-Tech replied, that the DVD Forum has studied the requirements of the Hollywood Studios, as a long term platform for movie use. Its quite possible that the HD DVD Data storage format will have different production line and physical format, so users may be forced to buy new media/drives, within a timeframe of 10 years. We feel that this is absolutetly correct, remember the first generation of DVD players will be able to play DVD-Video content even after 10 years from now, but in the storage area, drives change frequently (DVD±R and then DVD±R DL format, new media/drives...).
D) Is it possible that drive manufacturers could make a drive that would support universally both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats? This was a very interesting question, unfortunately the answer showed the differences between the two formats. Mr. T Nedder replied that such attempts won't be very successful due to the technical difficulties, creating increased costs, which not many users will buy after all. Remember that manufacturers create products that will be sold to the public mass at a reasonable price and not for some hundreds...
E) How can users write High Definition content, since there is no such connection interface (USB/SCSI/Firewire) on desktop sattelite receivers? Again we got the reply, that DVD Forum is discussing this issue with makers of sattelite receivers and by June of 2005, a final decision should have be made.
F) When can European users enjoy High Definition content? According to T. Nedder, the first European TV Channels will offer High Definition content around November of 2005 and especially the Moundial of 2006 in Germany will boost the broadcasting of High Definition content around Europe.
14. HD DVD Seminar - Page 3
Concluding, the advantages for HD DVD would be:
- Low media cost, compared with DVD format
- Backwards compatibility with CD/DVD formats
- Working PC HD DVD-ROM drive at NEC's booth
At the end, we took some pictures of several discs that were displayed along with an NEC HD Writer with its top exposed:
15. NEC - Page 1
NEC - Page 1
NEC's booth at CeBIT 2005 was big enough to show all NEC products
Apart from the projectors, laptops, and LCD-TVs, we were focused at the optical storage drives, NEC demonstrated working HD DVD drives with High Definition content!
You should expect NEC HD DVD-ROM drive around September of 2005 with a retail price of....$500! This drive can read CD, DVD and of course HD DVD media. At the end of 2005, users can expect a PC HD DVD-R burner, at similar price range of $500. Hopefully by middle of 2006, the PC drives will have much lower retail prices so more users can afford to buy them. NEC PC HD DVD drives will include mostly components from NEC Electronics, while NEC may user at limited quantities Sanyo's pickups.
NEC displayed the major differences between DVD and HD DVD formats:
,while a more detailed information can be found below:
NEC also demonstrated, HD DVD-R, HD DVD-RW media:
and HD DVD OPU and HD DVD SLI chipsets:
16. NEC - Page 2
NEC - Page 2
At the CD/DVD formats, NEC displayed the already well known ND-3520A:
and the newly announced, ND-3540A and ND-6650A. The ND-3540A should very soon, after CeBIT, start selling around Europe, replacing the ND-3520A model. Its main differences compared with ND-3520A are the higher recording speeds for CD-RW (32X ZLCV) and DVD+R DL (8X ZLCV):
The ND-6650 will come end of April and its major differences, compared with the ND-6500A are the increased writing speeds for DVD-RW (6X), DVD+RW (8X), DVD+R DL (4X) and of course the adoption of DVD-R DL (4X).
Both ND-3540A and ND-6650A will tested by our website, when are available from NEC! Another new drive, is the CB-1100A, a CD/DVD combo with 52/32/52/16 writing/reading speeds...
Concluding our coverage, we should note that NEC will introduce its own "printing" technology, comparable with LightScribe (LS), which has been licensed by Yamaha (do you remember DiscT@2?). According to NEC, their solution would be much faster than LightScribe (5mins to print an entire disc), and will be offered at two colours (Silver and Blue). We are waiting to see how this technology would be named and how will actually work, compared to the LightScribe...
17. UmeDisc
UmeDisc
Founded just a couple of years ago, UmeDisc is the largest optical media manufacturer in Hong Kong. With more than 100 production lines working on a daily basis, UmeDisc produces more than 1,500,000 media pieces per day.The company's expertise in the manufacturing process combined with sophisticated production facilities, guarantee high media quality as well as professional technical support to OEM partners and clients.
The media demonstrated at CeBIT was at the very least impressive, although most of it has not yet gone into production. Currently, 8x DVD+R as well as 8x DVD-R are available under OEM brands, such as Intenso and Nashua. New 16x DVD+R/-R are expected later this year, and will be based on dye from MKM.Regarding the DVD+RW discs, they should be expected in June. In addition, development of DVD+R DL media has started and is currently in the R&D stage. Availability of these discs is planned for Q3 2005.
18. Galaxy
Galaxy
Galaxy was established in 1994, and is dedicated in the manufacturing and distribution of quality computer components.
The company's head office is in Hong Kong and its factory is located in China. This combination of business structure offers us the very competitive edge. It combines all the advantage of technology vision, technology know-how, and the cost competitiveness of production in China.
We met Ronnie Chow, Senior Regional Sales Manager, at Hall 23.
The product line of Galaxy includes VGA cards based on the NVIDIA's solutions.
- GLACIER cooling system, this smartly designed fan cooling is the great work from Arctic-Cooling and GALAXY to adopt on NVIDIA GeForce 6800 solution, guaranteed superior overclock ability on card, cool and quiet.
- design in glacier cool appearance by integrating the same icy blue color tone on PCB, fan and components.
Soon we will have the chance to test Galaxy's products.
What you don't usually see is the presence of such interesting girls between VGA cards...
19. Sparcle
Sparcle
At Hall 23 we visited Sparkle's booth. There we talked with Joe Lo, Marketing Department Manager, and Victoria Yang, Marketing Department Specialist.
Soon the new series will be ready for release. The price will be approximately EUR 250.
20. KISS
KISS
Bo Lustrup, Marketing Manager of KISS, at Hall 20, presented us the new products of the company. He also told us that they have already entered the US market, by creating their new offices at California.
We saw the new DP-600 and DP-608 players. Both devices supports Windows media 9 files as well as DivX (all versions), MPEG-4, MP3, Ogg Vorbis and other. Ethernet/wireless connection is built in while the DP-608 has also an 80GB HD.
We also saw a 42" High Definition Plasma screen of as well as the Coolview monitor. The HDTV screen supports 16.7 million colors and has a built-in dual TV tuner. Amplifier for speakers, Progressive Scan and Wirless interface to stream media from PCs are also some of the strong features of this device.
The DP-678 and DP-688 High Definition recorders with Ethernet/wireless connection will be available in the market in the near future.
21. Optodisc
Optodisc
The third larger Taiwanese manufacturer of optical disc media demonstrated its proposals for data archieving on CD, DVD and blue-laser media.
Although not in production yet, both 20GB and 25GB HD-DVD mock-up discs were demonstrated, scheduled for production later this year.
Blu-Ray discs could not be missing from the booth:
According to the company representatives, Optodisc will not produce any DVD+RDL or DVD-RDL media, claimimg that the demand for the specific technology is not high.
22. RWPPI/RDVDC Seminar
Joint Round Robin Test for Recordable DVD's Seminar
CDRinfo.com was kindly invited by the RW Products Promotion Initiative (RWPPI) and the Recordable DVD Council to make a presentation on the importance of DVD compatibility, on the Joint Round Robin Test Seminar for recordable DVD's, in CeBIT 2005. The main subject was the "Importance of the Recording/Playback Compatibility". However, in this article, you can read the results of the tests conducted for the needs of this seminars. You can always get the Windows Media Video file of the CDRinfo's presentation on this seminar by clicking on the image below, or by choosing low resolution or high resolution video file below.
The main speakers and the agenda of this seminar is shown below:
- Agenda
- Welcome Speech
Mr. Masaji Okubo, Representative of the European Liaison office (RWPPI)
- Welcome Speech
Mr. Terry Shimada, Director of Europe Office (RDVDC)
- Introduction to the Joint Round Robin Test
Mr. Kuniharu Fujiki, Victor Company Japan, of Limited
- Product compatibility for DVD-R/RW/RAM
Mr. Kuniharu Fujiki, Victor Company Japan, of Limited
Mr. Yongchae Joeng, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Summary & Next Steps
Mr. Hiroyuki Yamaguchi, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Co., Ltd.
- The Importance Of The Recording/Playback Compatibility
Mr. Sotiris Kokkos, Technical manager of Home Entertainment & Optical Storage Department, CDRInfo.com
The RW Products Promotion Initiative (RWPPI) and the Recordable DVD Council have completed their DVD compatibility tests jointly conducted since September 2004. These tests were for products compatible with recordable DVD: 4x DVD-RW, 8x
DVD-R, and 5x DVD-RAM. The test results were jointly announced on March 11 at
CeBIT 2005 held in Hannover, Germany. The current round of tests represents a
continuation of the compatibility tests jointly conducted by RWPPI and RDVDC
since September 2003. In the previous round, tests were conducted on 2x DVD-RW,
4x DVD-R, and 3x DVD-RAM products, and their results were announced in June
2004.
54 companies participated in the joint compatibility tests and 449 items on a total of 142 product models were tested. Examinations regarding recording/playback compatibility at targeted recording speeds were conducted for the participating equipment and products that represent almost all of the world?s major manufacturers of hardware, media, PC applications, etc. in the recordable DVD industry. Joint compatibility tests were conducted by members of both the RWPPI Round Robin Test and RDVDC Compatibility Working Group without restriction being imposed by the organizations they belong to.
A total of 282 product models have been confirmed for their compatibility with regard to 2x DVD-RW and 4x DVD-RW, 4x DVD-R and 8x DVD-R, and 3x DVD-RAM and 5x DVD-RAM.
As a result of the current test round and the previous one, a total of 282 product models have been confirmed for their compatibility with regard to DVD-RW 2x speed and 4x speed, DVD-R 4x speed and 8x speed, and DVD-RAM 3x speed and 5x speed.
23. RWPPI/RDVDC Seminar - Page 2
Joint Round Robin Test for Recordable DVD's Seminar
This year , there were many addition to the Joint Round Robin tests, like 8x DVD-R media, 4x DVD-RW media and 5x DVD-RAM media related products. There is a total of 142 products of 54 different companies, and a total number of 449 tested items. For DVD-R and DVD-RW tests, physical format, logical format writer, logical format recorder and playback compatibility tests were conducted.
The physical format test performed compatibility evaluations on 1x to 8x speed writing using 24 8x DVD-R discs from 22 manufacturers and 12 writers from 12 manufacturers. At the same time, compatibility evaluations on 2x and 4x speed writing was performed using 8 4x DVD-RW discs from 8 manufacturers and 12 writers from 12 manufacturers. The number of media company participants increased to 23, up from the 18 who participated in the previous tests. The DVD-R market share of participants approached 91%, while DVD-RW market share was 85%. For 8x DVD-R media, the confirmation of disc and writer compatibility exceeded 95%. This included major characteristic tests such as Jitter and PI error. However, there were some combinations that showed poor compatibility, but this was not because of fundamental writer or disc defects. Of course, this can be improved by adjusting the writing strategies associated with discs. For 4x DVD-RW, good compatibility was obtained for almost all disc and writer combinations.
The logical format writer tests reported a high degree of compatibility among participating writers for both DVD-R and DVD-RW media. All drives were able to read the DVD-R NBCA of one or more test media. of course, the tests helped develop common understanding regarding interpretation of format specifications.
24. RWPPI/RDVDC Seminar - Page 3
Joint Round Robin Test for Recordable DVD's Seminar
For the logical format recorder tests, 316 combinations were tested, 256 in Video mode, and 60 in VR mode. In Video mode, 92% combinations were passed without retest, and only 8% combinations had some minor issues. In VR mode, 82% combinations passed without retest, and 18% combinations reported some problems. However, 31 combinations with issues were analyzed and fixed in the re-test phase.
The most interesting tests are the playback compatibility tests. 4 different kinds of NTSC Video mode was used (finalized discs), and all tests achieved a perfect 100% compatibility score for DVD-RW. In another compatibility test, finalized Video on DVD-R with CPRM, PAL Video on DVD-R media, and CPRM contents (VR mode) on DVD-RW were used. this test reported a 95% compatibility score, and the 5% of items on which comments were made have already been resolved through analyses and improvement measures.
In the last series of tests with DVD-R and DVD-RW media, 2x, 4x and 8x media was tested, and only very few problems were reported under combined conditions of high jitter and low asymmetry within the "Not Acceptable" area (6/190~3%). The total scored achieved was 97%.
For DVD-RAM, only good words were heard in the seminar, achieving a 99% compatibility score.
25. E-Net
E-net
We managed to meet Mr. Shaf Rasul at Hall 20, the Managing Director of E-Net Distribution Europe. Since its beginning in 1999, E-net has been at the forefront of the evolution in
data storage technology.
In order to further promot their products, E-net Distribution, in conjuction with InfoSmart, made a large competition between all major colleges in the U.K. to find the best amateur artists. You might think that this is completely inrelevant to DVD media storage solutions, but, take a look at the following images.
They introduced a whole range of optical media, featuring artwork from contemporary young artists, under the brand name of Datawrite.
This range of media is called Scribbles, and is offered as "limited edition" media. The name of the artist is shown below the picture in any case.
The highlight of the E-Net's booth was a piper, playing his bag pipe every hour, making clear E-Net's origin.
26. Samsung - Page 1
Samsung
Samsung "dominated" in Hall 21 with one of the largest booths we have ever seen at CeBIT. The Korean giant demonstrated new TFT and LCD monitors as well as the first working stand-alone Blu-Ray recorder and Blu-Ray player.
In the picture below you see the BD-R1000 Blu-Ray DVD recorder:
Samsung is currently supporting the Blu-Ray group. According to company representatives, Samsung has followed the strategy of entering the "Blue" laser market by directly introducing a recording device, in order to fulfill the upcoming market demand for storing data/movies, at high volumes and capacities.
Entering the market with a -ROM (player) Blu-Ray device would not be a wise decision, according to Samsung. The case is very different than it was in the past, where releasing a reader first, was the normal way to proceed.
Commenting on the HD-DVD format, Samsung said that it has the sufficient resources to additionally support it in the near future. Current target of the company is to be ready for a super-combo recorder, capable of recording on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media.
Such a project would be the solution everybody needs, in order to avoid the confusion of different formats . However, the development of such a device and the hardware requirements would possibly make it expensive, at least in the beginning.
The price of the BD-R1000 has not yet been decided. Availability is expected in Q3 for the US market initially, where the demand for storing High Definition content is higher.
Below you can see the loading tray of the recorder. Although the initial idea of the cartridge for the Blu-ray discs has been rejected, the recorder is able to suppport both bare and cartriged discs.
TDK hard-coated media could not be missing from the Blu-Ray stand:
Click to enlarge
The BD-R1000 is "powered" by a Sony Blu-Ray chipset. As for the BD Pick-up unit, it currently uses a dual-laser set, in order to be backward compatible with red laser media (CD/DVD). A single-lense set is planned for the next model.
The BD-P1000 Blue-Ray player is ready and will playback your HDMV content:
For PC use, Samsung plans to release the SH-B022A blu-Ray Disc recorder. Available in 2006, the drive will offer 2x BD-R/RW, 2x BD-ROM and is compatible with CD/DVD media for read and record.
In addition, Samsung released new external DVD burners, with an updated and stylish design.
The front bezel has also changed. All the logos are now placed on the tray:
27. Samsung - Page 2
Have you ever seen a 102" Plasma TV? Well, we have...
...and an 82" also :-)
This full HD image quality TFT-LCD panel was developed at the company's new production complex in Tangjeong, Korea. The soon-to-be operational 7th-generation production facility uses glass substrates that measure 1.87m x 2.20m.
Samsung can produce two 82-inch panels from a single substrate. Previously, technological limitations prevented the development of LCDs at this size and competitive technologies, such as PDP and DLP technologies, were used to produce such large-sized panels.
Samsung's latest large-screen TFT-LCD offers a variety of features. The company applied its patented Super Patterned-ITO Vertical Alignment (S-PVA) technology to achieve extra-wide viewing angles. In addition, the product boasts a low-dispersion color filter and ultra high aperture ratio, achieving a contrast ratio of at least 1200:1 and brightness of 600nit (cd/m 2 ). Response times are at 8ms or faster, providing clear moving picture images. A high-color-saturation backlight raises color saturation to 92% to produce a premium image quality.
28. AOpen - Page 1
AOpen - Page 1
AOpen had a strong presence at CeBIT 2005, with new products and a gaming space for enthusiasts, where they could compare their gaming skills with other players, which more or less, promoted the XCube mini PCs:
AOpen didn't introduce any newer optical storage drives, and their current, full line of CD and DVD recorders was ondisplay:
29. AOpen - Page 2
AOpen - Page 2
AOpen has partnered with Nvidia (no plans to support ATI), so various 6600 and 6800 cards were displayed:
30. AOpen - Page 3
AOpen - Page 3
AOpen as a leading manufacturer also had several motherboards, based one of Sis, Via or Intel chipsets:
AOpen will release many new XCubes, and will further promote the XCube lifestyle, with expansion bays, half size and bigger sized XCube boxes, aimed to cover all users needs:
AOpen offers the XCube in various colours:
The new XCube EZ915 on display:
31. AOpen - Page 4
AOpen - Page 4
AOpen offers cases, either for desktop, gaming or server use:
What AOpen plans to offer a media center PC around Q3 of 2005:
32. DivX Networks
DivX Networks
DivX Networks was founded in 2000 by Jerome “Gej” Rota, Jordan Greenhall,
Joe Bezdek, Tay Nguyen and Darrius Thompson. DivX Networks at CeBIT 2005, demonstrated DivX 6.0 with new features and hopefully better compression.
Most products supporting DivX were also displayed,
while a big Plasma screen showed the High Definition DivX content.
The main feature of DivX is the adoption of the .divx Media Format with:
• Interactive menus that offer unprecedented convenience and
control letting the viewer quickly navigate between various
scenes and bonus features, and letting them select from
multiple audio track and subtitle options
• Chapter points providing flexibility, allowing viewers to quickly
jump through movies to find the scene they want to watch
• Multiple audio tracks allowing for native language versions
and separate audio tracks for specific speaker configuration
within a single DivX 6 file
• XSUB subtitles that let viewers choose between subtitle sets in
multiple languages
• XTAG video tags that contain descriptive information like title,
author and the video specifications used in the file’s creation,
streamlining organization and providing valuable information
for customer support inquiries
• The .divx file extension helps consumers easily recognize
DivX content and further differentiates the advanced
features of the DivX 6 format
According to DivX Networks, over 20 million DivX certified players have already been sold. To help fight piracy, DivX is employing DRM (Digital Right Management) for content validation and hopes to further promote the online DRM services meaning, users can safely download original content to their PCs, play them back on desktop DivX certified players at much lower cost than the price of a retail DVD-Video pressed disc. Don't expect to see pressed DivX content at your local stores however, since that would directly conflict with the DVD-Video format. DivX Networks heavily promotes the format as an online service.
Users will have to register their player with DivX in order to be able to playback DRM certified content. The DRM protection scheme, doens't protect the copying of the movie, but rather restricts, its playback in all devices except for those that have been registered. DivX Networks believes that with DRM, and the low prices of online movies, piracy will be reduced.
We have to wait and see if what DivX Networks and some Holywood companies promote, will find its way into consumers living rooms or not...
We asked DivX Networks what is their opinion about Xvid and Nero Digital. The answer was that, Xvid is a very good open source project, mostly for academic use (lack of DRM features and many options to tweak output results), while NeroDigital is mainly focused for the PC market.
When we return to our labs after CeBIT, we will test the new DivX 6.0 codec and present it in article where we will compare its performance against well known Mpeg4 encoders.
33. TUL
TUL
TUL was also present at this year's CeBIT.
The company owns the brand PowerColor, which is the world's third largest provider of graphics cards and the number one supplier of graphics boards powered by ATI graphic processors.
All of Pwercolor's product line was on display at the booth.
34. Ritek
Ritek
Dr. Wang, who presented a very interesting and informative lecture to a closed group of Ritek managers and Ritek customers, regarding the latest in current optical storage media as well as an insight into future technologies and their implementation. CDRinfo was very priviliged to have been invited to Dr Wang's presentation.
35. MSI - Page 1
MSI
We met Angelique Berden, the Marketing Manager of MSI, who kindly introduced all the new technologies that MSI is about to release.
MSI promises to deliver a wealth of exciting news, activities and fascinating products that will definitely enhance the user’s digital experience and productivity.
The MSI's booth is well loaded with a wide range of new products, from motherboards to graphic cards, and from MP3 players to notebooks. Especially in the portable solution scene, MSI was manufacturing notebooks for OEM for quit some time now, according to Angelique Berden, and now decided to further expand their product line with their own branded "MegaBook" series.
Their newest motherboard that will be released real soon, is the P4N diamond model, with the new NVidia SLI chipset, aimed for Intel CPUs. The main advantage of this motherboard is the new way to change from Dual SLI mode to Single SLI mode. The MSI P4N Diamond can detect and automatically switch to SLI mode, without the need of the switch card. Everything can be done through the system's BIOS.
P4N Diamond exclusively equips Creative 7.1 Ch annel High-Definition Audio with Dolby Digital EX certification.
This is the new 955X Diamond motherboard, based on the new 955 chipset from Intel...
... and the MSI 945P Platinum, based on the new Intel's 945 chipset.
And since everybody is talking about the new BTX motherboards, this is MSI's solution, the micro BTX 915GMB motherboard.
As you can see in the picture below, there is a wide range of motherboards based on several Intel chipsets.
36. MSI - Page 2
MSI
For the AMD CPUs enthusiasts, MSI offers several motherboards, based on the new NVidia's nForce4 chipset.
This is the K8N Diamond SLI motherboard, featuring advance cooling system. Unfortunately, the motherboard uses a small interface card to use two cards in dual SLI mode, meaning that the SLI mode cannot be set through the BIOS.
The K8N Neo4 Platinum uses the new NVidia nForce4 Ultra chipset, aimed for the AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Athlon FX CPUs.
And finally, the micro BTX K8NMB motherboard, using again the NVidia nForce4 Ultra chipset.
37. MSI - Page 3
MSI
MSI uses both ATI's and NVidia's chipsets for their graphic cards. You can see below the MSI's flagship model, using the ATI's 850XT GPU, offering the highest quality graphics available.
Below you can see some other ATI based graphic cards.
Of course, the NVidia's flagship was also there, the NX6800 series (SLI ready) with the well fitted cooling system...
... and finally, the best selling 6600GT model.
38. MSI - Page 4
MSI
In MSI booth, you can also see a wide range of innovative products, like bluetooth solutions, MP3 players and motherboards for servers.
In order to further demostrate the durability and the performance of the MSI cooling system, there is an oven with a motherboard inside, running at stabilized high temperature.
There is also some colling system demostration. The system shown below is their fanless sollution.
On the other hand, there is nothing new in Optical Storage devices. Their latest product is the latest 16x burner.
There was also a small MSI robot walking, dancing and standing around the booth.
39. Gainward
Gainward
Gainward is one of the NVidia's partners, but for making their products unique they are developing their own cooling systems.
Gainward's products have gain many awards from several websites and magazines. Our award is also visisble at the first line in the middle :-)
Some impressive hi-end PC systems were at Gainward's booth:
Gainward has already released in the market the 6800 for SLI mode.
40. Zalman
Zalman
Very interesting and impressive PC peripherals from Zalman.
41. Abit - Page 1
ABIT
We met Marta Piccoli, the Marketing Manager of ABIT (South Europe). She was kind enough to make a small walk with us in ABIT's booth, and discuss their new products, with the help of ABIT's technical stuff.
The Fatal1ty AN8 motherboard uses the nForce4 chipset, designed for AMD Athlon 64/FX processors platforms. μGuru technology delivers optimum overall system performance and innovative AudioMAX 5.1 channel pure audio technology helps you zero in on your prey. By using a different interface card for sound reproduction, and not a chipset built on the motherboard, ABIT delivers one of the best sound quality available on the market, eliminating all noises from motherboard signals.
The AN8 SLI motherboard has all the features of the Fatal1ty AN8 model, but users can use two graphic cards in dual SLI mode, combining their graphic power for better gaming performance. It also uses the AudioMAX 7.1 channel pure audio technology.
This is the SLI motherboard, designed for Intel CPUs. Again, it is loaded with features, like the AN8 model.
ABIT offers a wide range of motherboards for any processor. In the following pictures, you can see their latest suggestions.
42. Abit - Page 2
ABIT
ABIT uses the ATI GPUs for their graphic cards solutions. You can see below their ATI 850XT based card.
To point out the great performance that ABIT motherboards and PC parts introduce, they had two PC overclocked, using advanced cooling systems. The overclocking potential of ABIT motherboards seems to be unreachable.
There were also some demostration PCs powered on the ABIT's booth.
43. Plextor
Plextor
After spending quite some time navigating across the booths, we finally found our way to Plextor's booth at Hall 21. The "King Of Quality" was there, showcasing some of the products already released on the market and a couple of new ones, mostly related to video encoding and data storage.
The PX-M402U ConvertX PVR is a hardware personal video recorder, which offers DivX as well as MPEG-2/1 compression for video content, connected through the USB 2.0 interface to your video source (camera, VCR e.t.c). In addition, the built-in TV tuner allows real-time recording from a TV source directly to DVD:
The PlexFlash series has currenltly reached 2GB and comes with a USB 2.0 interface:
A new product here is the PX-EH25L network hard disk. Available with 250GB capacity, the device offers LAN connectivity with 100 Base-TX /10 Base-T (RJ45 connectors). Its weight is only 1.4kg and of course, it is portable:
Plextor's preference with hard disks continues with a couple of external hard disks, available in 40GB and 80GB:
We were not surprised when we saw this DVD player, illustrated in the picture below. Plextor will possibly work with other manufacturers as an OEM partner, in order to expand its line of products in the market. The specific player has been manufactured by the Japanese I-O Data and supports DVD-Video and DivX playback.
In optical storage, we could not hide our dissapointment since there were no new proposals for the PC user.
With DVD recording, the company had faced problems in the past with the implementation of the Sanyo chipset and its eventual integration into the Plextor drive. This was clear when the company delayed the launch of the PX-716A, although its strong technical team in Japan managed to overcome any issues and delivered a generally good DVD recorder. But the resources spent for this effort did not allow Plextor to come up with a competitive price on the market at a crucial time period. In addition, there is no doubt that the PX-716A was not a profitable project for the company, despite its market demand. In order to remain competitive in the marketplace, Plextor released cheaper versions of certain drives.
The company seems to have made a strategic mistake here, by choosing the Sanyo chipset for red laser DVD recorders, although Sanyo has been proven reliable and very strong in the R&D area in the past. It appears that the traditional Japanese cooperation of Sanyo-Plextor is a dead end. We hope that if the company enters the blue laser market, their efforts will meet with better fate.
The PX-716AL shown below is a slot-in DVD recorder, based on the PX-716A.
A S-ATA version of the same drive is the PX-716SA.
44. DFI - Page 1
DFI - Page 1
DFI was founded in 1981 and has become well known in the last few years through its powerful and overclockable motherboards, going by the codename "LANPARTY".
DFI currently has three lines of products:
- for high end users and LAN games the UV-Sensitive LANPARTY
- the LANPARTY UT series for the vast mainstream market with high performance and UV-sensitive features but with a friendly price
- the GENERAL series, aimed for the lower market, with good features and much lower prices than the competition
DFI had at their booth, new motheboards based on Intel's 915P, 925X and 945P chipsets for P4 socket 775 processors:
45. DFI - Page 2
DFI - Page 2
While the main attraction was their new LANParty NFX-SLI-T2R powered by Nvidia's nForce 4 chipset, enabling SLI video mode for P4 socket 775 platform:
DFI also has an SLI solution for the AMD Athlon FX platform (socket 939) with the LANParty UT NF4 SLI-D model:
while the 855GME-MGF supports Pentium/Celeron M processors:
DFI, in order to demonstrate the overclocking capabilities of their motherboards, had two open systems running at very high speeds, the first one overclocking memory from DDR400 to DDR600
The system seems to be running stable, as the MemTest 86+ test results show:
and an SLI system, based on the NF4 SLI-D motherboard,
and a watercooled 925X-T2, overclocking a P4 from 3.7Ghz to 4.6Ghz!
46. Info Source
Info Source Multi Media
Info Source Multi Media Ltd, a manufacturer of CDR and DVDR media, is based in Hong Kong, with 10-years experience in optical media production. The company provides media, mainly on an OEM basis worldwide.
The 16x recording speed for DVD+R/-R is supported with the corresponding media and was displayed in the company's booth:
For more information, visit the company's website at www.info-source.com.hk
47. Epox - Page 1
EPoX - Page 1
EPoX Computer Company was established in February 1995. At this year's CeBIT, EPoX demonstrated several new products, mainly focused at the motherboard and barebone PC markets.
EPoX offers basicaly two lines of motherboads, the Macrocosm and Element series.
The Macrocosm series Mainboards support the AMD platform, with motherdboards such as the 9NPA+SLI, 9NPA+Ultra and 9NDA+3. EPoX demonstrated the 9NPA+SLI, an nForce 4 based motherboard for AMD 64FX (socket 939) platform:
EPoX demonstrated in real life action tests, an SLI system with the EPoX 9NPA+SLI motherboard and two Gainward graphics cards:
48. Epox - Page 2
EPoX - Page 2
The Element series supports the P4 platform, where we saw the 5NVA+SLI:
the 5LWA+
the 5EPA+
EPoX also produces various barebone PCs
With graphics cards, EPoX mainly supports ATI chipsets and presented the X700, X800
Lastly, EPoX demonstrated an SLI powered PC with Gainward Graphics cards, cooled with the Vapochill system:
49. FIC - Page 1
FIC - Page 1
FIC was established in 1980 as a manufacturer of motherboards.
Dr Ming J. Chien's (Chairman) vision was "...At FIC we strive to meet the challenges of this new era. In short, it is our goal to provide Internet solutions for the Internet age...". How can a motherboard maker, provide Internet solutions?
The answer is pretty simple. One of FIC's main products was the Spectra Entertaiment PC, a co-operation with Intel and Microsoft to develop a Consumer Electronic Solution.
According to FIC, "...Spectra addresses the need for an end user consumer electronics level of functionality, ease of use, and instant availability to a complete assortment of media functions on Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005..."
The Spectra CE device, is based on Intel's 915G and Microsoft's XP Media 2005 edition. The device offers AV playback, recording along with Broadband gateway and on-line gaming. Stay tuned for an upcoming review...In addition, FIC demonstrated the CE PC which is a PC housed in a 17" Wide FTF screen, the Piston a "portable" gaming PC with innovative design and is easily transported, as well as several other case solutions:
With motherboards, FIC showed the P4M-945G based on Intel's 945G Express chipset with 1066 MHz FSB and PCI-Express video card support.
50. FIC - Page 2
FIC - Page 2
Lastly, FIC also manufactures a large range of SVGA cards based on different chipsets, such as ATI X850, nVidia 6600, 6600GT and XGI V3, V8:
51. Blue Laser Devices - Page 1
Next Generation Optical Recording Devices - CeBIT 2005
Beyond DVD
The need for High Density recording is undoubtedly the driving force for introducing and promoting HD applications. Broadcast companies have been seeking for some answers to their problems, for digital bradcasting of HD content and of course, an appropriate format for efficient reception and transmission through ground channels for HDTV use. On the other hand, movie companies need a new format and media to store and distribute their HD content.
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray have both been proposed by the industry to fulfill the requirements mentioned above. Through their respective supporters, with advantages or disadvantages in each system, they are currently implemented by manufacturers in their recorders and players.
Many different opinions have been expressed and here at CeBIT 2005, the "hot" question regarding which format will dominate, is definitely circulating inside CeBIT's halls. Here, we do not intend to come up with an answer, we will just present you with the players and recorders that were demonstrated by both the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD camps.
Facts:
- Matsushita, Sony already have BD RE devices in the Japanese Market
- Sony is producing single layer 23GB BD-RE disks
- Matsushita is producing Double layer 50 GB BD-RE disks
- Toshiba and NEC announced that they will have commercial machines available at the end of 2005
- Memory Tech has HD DVD ROM production line ready for production
- Blu-Ray offers 25GB on single layer, HD-DVD offers 15GB
- Both can do double layer, BD says it can do triple layer
- Blu-Ray has been the recording tool since 2003 (Japan)
- There is no pre-recorded Blu-Ray material available to date
- HD-DVD is technologically closer to DVD
- 100 HD-DVD Hollywood titles by Christnas 2005
- 45% of Hollywood supports HD-DVD
- HD-DVD players promised for Christmas 2005
- Blu-Ray recorders available at 2006 the earliest
Factors affecting the disk market:
-
HDTV penetration rate
-
HDTV programs
-
HDTV movie titles
-
Format competition,
BD or HD DVD
- Device price
-
Media price
Hollywood studio support:
HD DVD
Warner Brothers, Universal Studios, Paramount, New Line Cinema, HBO
BD
Columbia, MGM, Fox, Disney
Devices
Sony Blue Ray Drive
- Blue Ray Disc, DVD, DVD-R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW
- Mode HR (3 hours), SR (6 hours), LR (12 hours)
Sony BDZ-S77 Blu-Ray Disc recorder
- Blue Ray Disc, DVD, DVD-R & DVD RW discs
- Records to 23 GB Blue Ray discs
- 2 hours HD quality at 1080i or 720p
- 5 hours of standard DVD quality
Panasonic DMR E700BD
- Plays pre-recorded DVD's & CD's
- Records on Blu-Ray Disc Blank Media (Only compatible with Blu-Ray Disc Players), DVD-RAM and DVD-R
- Uses the single layer 25GB discs and dual layer 50GB discs
- Records in real-time using MPEGII compression-Up to 12 hours per Blu-Ray Disc
- Digital hi-vision broadcast approximately 4.5 hours - BS digital 24Mbps, and 6 hours - terrestrial digital 16Mbps
- CD-R & CD-RW Playback
BenQ
BenQ unveiled a triple writer codenamed BW1000 that supports Blu-ray as well as rewritable CDs and DVDs. The device utilizes a Philips triple-laser optical pick-up module in which the separate blue, infra-red and red lasers share the same optical pathway to provide Blu-ray Disc read/write capabilities, as well as read/write compatibility with DVDs and CDs. Philips Nexperia chipset also powers the device. Initial shipments of this product are expected at the end of this year, while availability for the mass market is scheduled for 2006.
Hitachi
LG Electronics
52. Blue Laser Devices - Page 2
NEC
Samsung
Sanyo
Sharp
Toshiba
53. GeCube - Page 1
GeCube - Page 1
"GECUBE" is a brand name of Info-Tek, Taiwan's Multimedia Business Unit. Info-Tek Corp., established in 1990, has been primarily devoted to contract manufacturing services for motherboards and interface cards. Over the years, it has developed its business to establish four main production centers, both in Taiwan and China.
GeCube had a large booth at CeBIT 2005, demonstrating all the latest products, including SVGA cards and storage devices. GeCube has exclusive parternship with ATI:
and presented the latest SVGA cards.
The X850XT
X800XL
,X600XT
54. GeCube - Page 2
GeCube - Page 2
Apart from the SVGA cards, GeCube had the very intersting PMP (Portable Media Player):
55. Leadtek - Page 1
Leadtek - Page 1
Founded in 1986, Leadtek Research is a research and development company, which specializes in SVGA, Video and motherboard solutions.
LeadTek offers a wide range of products from 3D Graphics, Multimedia, Motherboards, platforms for Video Conferencing, Video Surveillance, GPS Navigation and Wireless communication. We visited the Leadtek booth and found several interesting products.
First, we saw a 6800 Ultra, with Nvidia reference board design and cooling system. Nothing out of the ordinary here
Next, we saw the Leadtek PX6800GT TDH, the fastest Leadtek SVGA card, with their own cooling system and higher clock speeds,
But the most interesting card, was the WinFast Duo PX6600 GT Extreme, a dual GPU card! This card has PCI-Express connection and consists of two GeForce 6600GT GPUs. The card comes with 256MB DDR3 memory and its rated at a core clock of 550MHz and a memory clock of 560 MHz. HDTV output is there and the exquisite Ultra cooling system will give plenty of room for overclocking along with low noise levels, below 30dB. The card is still under development but hopefully we will be a ble to test it soon...
Leadtek recognizing the need for more power, will offer the PX6600GT TDH, which includes two 6600GT cards in order to create a very good and fast SLI setup to enjoy all the latest games at very high resolutions with fast frame rates.
56. Leadtek - Page 2
Leadtek - Page 2
Several other cards were also displayed, mostly for the middle to lower end users,
Apart from the SVGA cards, LeadTek announced several other products at CeBIT 2005:
- WinFast Walkie TV
This is a peronsal multimedia center for video editing and authoring. The WinFast Walkie TV intergrates hardware Mpeg-1/2/4 capture format, 9-bit video decoder, stereo sound, EPG (Electronic Program Guide), Messenger, PIP (Picture in picture), Time-shifting, Remote control and VCD/DVD/SVCD authoring.
- My Smart Voyager
The Leadtek My Voyager is a Global Positioning System Receiver with Bluetooth wireless technology. This Bluetooth GPS receiver allows you to receive GPS data on mobile handhelds wirelessly. The package comes with software package for both the navigation user and technology developer. My Smart Voyager will be available from May.
- VideoPhone BVP8882
The LeadTek BVP9992 is a Videophone product which uses H.323 or SIP protocol for high performance and good quality video communications, that works without the need of a computer. It integrates a vibrant 5" LCD screen and a CCD camera that provide sharp contrast even in a dim light environment. The LCD and CCD are mounted on a platform that can be rotated and tilted.
57. Intenso
Intenso
Intenso has been a leading European supplier of optical storage media. This year, the company demonstrates new 1x-16x DVD+R and DVD-R media, as well as 1x-8x DVD media with printable surface.
The company's first 2.4x DVD+RDL media was on display as you can see in the picture below:
For additional information, visit the company's website at www.intenso.de
58. LG - Page 1
LG - Page 1
LG had a really big booth this year, demonstrating all the latest LG technological achievements, from LCD TVs, laptops, PDA, TFT monitors to Optical storage drives and media.
LG didn't exhibit any new drives besides the new GSA-4167D, which is more or less a GSA-4163D with LightScribe technology. LG demonstrated a working GSA-4167D drive, printing images of visitors on LS CD-R media!
LG also had an 8X Slim Super Multi DVD re-writer, the GMA-8080N
59. LG - Page 2
LG - Page 2
LG didn't have any HD DVD or Blu-Ray recorders, but did demonstrate Blu Ray media. Despite this, it's not clear yet, whether LG will support one of HD DVD or Blu Ray, or both...
LG also had DVD+R DL media, 16X DVD+R, 5X DVD-RAM, 4X DVD+RW:
Certainly the most interesting devices at the LG booth were the LCD TVs. We have to say that their 50" LCD TV had the best image quality we ever saw! Very impressive...
Lastly, LG had on display a whopping 71" PDP LCD TV:
60. DataTronics
DataTronics
Datatronics Technology, Ltd. was founded in 1987. The company offers External Modem, Internal Modem, USB Modem, PCMCIA Modem, Leased Line Modem, LCD Modem, IPC Modem, ADSL Modem, Rackmount Modem, Lan Cards and Hubs.
Considering that data storage and duplication have become the inevitable trend of modern society over the years, Datatronics has now launched its diversified product - CD/DVD Auto Duplicator to satisfy customer needs. Datatronics at CeBIT presented the MiniCubis, a low priced duplicator for home, small office use in the $500 price range.
According to DataTronics, "...its the world’s smallest auto-loading system that could fit perfectly in any office space. Its patented tray enables users to duplicate 12cm, 8cm, and business-card discs upon their needs with one easy turn on the disc holders. The compact device combines auto-loading robotic arm and USB2.0 connection that offers a fast and hands-free duplicating process..."
Up to 25 CDs or DVDs per job, MiniCubis is designed for small businesses, music studios, as well as schools who have a need for duplication but with a small budget to spend. Its Command Set is also available at no charge to qualified software developers.
Two MiniCubis models are available:
- The MiniCubis DA5600-6030 with a 52x CD-R recorder, priced at € 499 (MSRP).
- The MiniCubis DA5600-7030 with a 16X DVD ±R/CD-R recorder, priced at € 665 (MSRP).
DataTronics also showed off a higher end duplicator, called Pronto, which works standalone, without the need for a PC. The system is "smart", meaning it can reject any bad media from the recorder and perform various other operations. Datatronics plans to offer a new Pronto system that will include USB2.0 too, so users can use it with a PC...
61. ZenSonic
ZenSonic
Zensonic was formed by entrepreneur Raaj Menon in early 2004 following his successful launch of the Billion and Minitar brands of computer networking hardware into Australia. Zensonic has many interesting plans and we were able to trial their upcoming Network DVD Media player, the Z500 series.
The player's concept is very interesting, support as many features as it can, starting from:
- High Definition 1080i/720p playback
- WMV9 HD and DivX HD playback
- USB2.0 hard drive support
- Remote with joystick for easy navigation
- Software for Windows, MAC OS and Linux
- 802.11g wireless and Gigabit wired networking
- HDMI technology
We were able to play a while with a beta version of the player, the interface looks very interesting, the player could playback without any glitch WMV9HD, DivX HD and several other Video/Audio formats. The specifications of the Z500 are very competitive against other similar players (IO Data AvelLink Player2) and the developers are open to any customer request. There is a high possibility that a newer model will be based on the Sigma Design chipset...
Hopefully soon, we will be able to test the player and present a report on our website. Zensonic promised to make the player very good, with online firmware updating and at a competive price. Just before leaving the booth, we heard that the player will be able to support both NTSC and PAL formats, with just firmware flashing, very good move we should say :-)
62. XFX
XFX
XFX is a division of PINE Group that specializes in video cards and motherboards. PINE is the leading technology company in Hong Kong founded in 1989 and listed on HKGEM board in 1999. It engages in the design, development and manufacture of high quality digital audio, video devices and computer peripherals. PINE also distributes branded computer and communications products. It has 16 sales branches around the globe, 4 R&D centers strategically located in the Asia pacific region and 2 factories in China, covering over 50 countries with premier products and services.
XFX probably had the most radically designed booth we saw at Cebit. XFX targets certain people, those who are looking for the most overclockable graphics cards and flashy retail box design.
The main attraction at the XFX booth was the working PC with two 512MB 6800Ultra running in SLI mode... Certainly this setup will enable very high frame rates, even at 1600x1200. No information was given as to when such cards will be available on the market...
Apart from the impressive 512MB 6800Ultra SLI mode, XFX demonstrated all their product line:
From what we were told, the average age of XFX staff is under 35, meaning XFX products are made by enthusiasts for gamers. XFX is constantly looking at website reviews, forums, in an attempt to further improve its retail products by testing each card that is sold on the market. After all, when you are going to spend so much money on a 6800 Ultra card, you have to be sure that it will work 100%, without any problems. Hopefully soon, we will be able to test XFX products, stay tuned!
63. Plasmon
Plasmon
We met Plasmon's Director of Marketing, Mr. Steve Tongish, who was kind enough to present us the latest Plasmon's products. Instead of talking about DVD media and several other products, we had a very interesting conversetion about UDO technologies and professional optical storage devices.
Plasmon's latest product is the UDO (Ultra Density Optical) desktop drive, that supports up to 30GB media capacity. These drives offer the most secure archival storage technology at an affordable price. The 30GB disc capacity is more than enough, aimed for professional data storage. There are Write-Once and Rewritable media formats.
Unlike magnetic storage media, UDO tolerates a wide range of environmental conditions and can be safely stored for decades in a typical office environment. A stable Phase Change recording technology delivers media life in excess of 50 years, minimising the frequency of data and virtually eliminateing media maintenance.
Of course, there is UDO Library Compatibility, and Plasmon offers a wide range of library solutions to further increase media storage capacity. One of them is the G-series, which consist of 5.25 inch Optical Libraries, powered by UDO.
64. City of Hannover - Page 1
Town of Hannover
INTERCITY EXPRESS HIGH-SPEED RAIL NETWORK, IN GERMANY
You can find more information here: .railway-technology
Down Town Hannover
Down Town Hannover
The central town square as you walk out of Hannover Central Railway station.
65. City of Hannover - Page 2
Gallery from Hannover 2005 (Cebit)
66. City of Hannover - Page 3
Gallery from Hannover 2005 (Cebit)
Outside Hannover Central Rail Station in Down Town
This tunnel leads from train to Messe (Cebit)
One of many entrances to Cebit
Another Cebit entrance
67. CeBIT in general
Cebit in General
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An array of globally active firms stacks
up to make CeBIT the world’s unchallenged
flagship trade fair for IT and
telecommunications technology. |
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In March, 2005, the Hannover exhibition
complex functions as a global marketplace
for the entire gamut of offerings in
information technology, telecommunications
and software. |
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The Dance Music Award at CeBIT 2005. |
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The Dance Music Award at CeBIT 2005. |
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A happening in the huge LG's Booth |
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One of the most popular booths at CeBIT.
No prizes for guessing why. |
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Gamers in Action |
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Michael Schumacher wasn't there, but his car
was on show at
Vodaphone's Booth |
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The Audi Car from the movie I Robot |
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A mime at Samsung's Booth |
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A satisfied Sony Product Manager,
presents their products to
CDRinfo |
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No comment... |
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68. Opening Ceremony
Opening Ceremony
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at the Opening Ceremony of CeBIT 2005
A lively opening act, Ulla van Daelen music and Natalie Koslowa Body Art
onstage
for the CeBIT 2005 Opening Ceremony at the Hannover Congress Center (HCC).
Dr. h. c. Herbert Schmalstieg, Lord Mayor of Hannover at the Opening Ceremony
of CeBIT
69. Business Processes
Business Processes
Microsoft's Booth in Hall 1
The world’s largest selection of System Software is featured at CeBIT
2005 in Hannover Germany
Current software solutions are on show in Hall 1 and Halls 3 to 8.
70. Communications
Communications
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Visitors to the ”Communications” section of
CeBIT 2005 (10 – 16 March) in Hannover,
Germany, can find out all about the latest
trends in voice, data, text and image
communications. |
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The mobile communications industry is
gearing up to announce its next wave of
developments at CeBIT 2005
Manufacturers are mainly located in
halls 11, 12, 26 Pavilions 32 to 36 and on
the open-air site. |
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This is a mobile phone (probably made for Shrek...) |
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We like it but mostly when it's Interractive |
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Visitors can find out all about the latest
trends in voice, data, text and image
communications. |
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Visitors can find out all about the latest
trends in voice, data, text and image
communications. |
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Communications booth in Hall 11 |
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GPS Communications installed in a bike |
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Human or not? |
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BMW Connected Drive |
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71. Digital Equipment & Systems
Digital Equipment & Systems
72. Banking & Finance
Banking & Finance
The focus within ”Banking & Finance” at CeBIT 2005 Hannover
is on
equipment and systems for commercial and savings banks.
ATM Systems
Automatic Bill payment Systems
24 Hour Bank network Systems
73. Public Sector Parc
Public Sector Park
European ICT Solutions for Government and Public
Services" is targeted at public sector users.
This special presentation at CeBIT 2005 represents the world’s biggest
competence center for IT applications for government, business and science.
the world’s biggest competence center for IT applications for
government, business and science
74. future parc
Future park
The ”future park” innovations center at CeBIT 2005 features original
ICT developments and ideas from
universities, spin-offs, startups and research institutions.
Germany's Federal Minister of Education and Research, at a gathering for the
winners of
the “Jugend forscht” (Youth researches) contest
Technology and Medicine
75. Special Events
Special Events
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World Cyber Games 2005 — Samsung
Euro Championship at CeBIT 2005 |
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Computer games at
CeBIT 2005 in Hannover. |
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Samsung in Games Hall |
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I robot |
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The Final countdown at Games Championship |
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The special display Bank-Finanz-Systeme in Hall 6 at CeBIT 2005 |
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The special display Human Resources Competence Center in Hall 6 |
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The Enterprise Applications Forum in Hall 5 |
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The Digital Imaging Area in Hall 1 |
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The Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management in Hall 3 |
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The SME Forum in Hall 6 is a central
contact point for small and medium-sized
companies at CeBIT 2005 |
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Germany's Federal Minister of Education and
Research, at the opening of the future talks
at CeBIT 2005. |
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76. Point Of View
Point of View
Point of View, established in the year 2000, has quite simply been a success story. Since it's inception, the sales of Point of View graphics cards have grown exponentially and our brand can now be seen in more than 25 European countries. In November 2003 Point of View became an official NVIDIA Board Partner. It is a
partnership that will not only benefit Point of View and NVIDIA, but just about
everybody we do business with. Both our distributors and end-users will have the
assurance of two highly reputable brand names.
Silent SOLID COPPER cooler
Point of View also presented its new cooler made out of solid copper. Copper is known for its excellent thermal evacuation and so it keeps your GPU up to 10 degrees cooler!
77. Sony - Page 1
Sony - Page 1
Sony corporation was founded back in 1946, in Tokyo, Japan. Now, Sony Corporation is one of the leading companies in consumer electronic products, Audio and Video entertainement systems, camcorders, digital cameras, and many more. Sony Corporation manufactures almost anything that can be powered up by electricity, or even without electricity. We visited its big booth at CeBIT, waiting to see their new 2GB and 4GB memory stick Pro DUO, and of course the BlueRay players/recorders, along with large Plasma monitors.
Unfortunately, the 4GB memory stick was not introduced. However, a wide range of new products kept us smilling through out the whole presentation of the Sony's booth by Sony engineers and product managers.
Of course, a wide range of new Plasma and LCD monitors were introduced, promising lower response times and higher resolutions. Do you know how a Sony Vaio laptop really looks like? If not, you can see it in the following picture...
Below you can see Sony's devices that acompany the memory sticks, the "photo vault" series. You got pictures? Through them in the vault:-)
With these devices, you can see thumbnails of the pictures you have taken, see them on you TV monitor (slideshow), print them (you do not need a PC to print), or even write them to CDs...
78. Sony - Page 2
Sony - Page 2
Of course, the PS2 could not be missing from the booth. Sony had the latest thin design of the PS2 console, pluged in a rather big monitor, for maximum gaming experience. Great graphics, great sound, great display, and get the motors running.
Sony also had the already known "CyberShot" series of digital cameras, but nothing new was introduced.
7.4MPixels (7.2MPixels effective) in your hand, 32MB internal memory, 3x optical zoom, 6x digital zoom and 14x Smart zoom is all you 'll need....
.. and you can even take it underwater!
And for the professionals of digital imaging, take a look of what the DSC-F828 has to offer.
The HandyCam DCR-HC39 uses miniDV format media, 1.070.000 pixel CCD, Carl-Zeiss objective "Vario-Tessar", 12x optical zoom, 480x digital zoom and Super SteadyShot.
The DCR-DVD203 uses 8cm DVD-R/-RW/+RW media with 1.070.000 pixels CCD.
79. Sony - Page 3
Sony - Page 3
BlueRay devices were introduced by many companies in CeBIT 2005, and Sony, as one of the main supporters of Blue laser, had some blue laser products to present.
The BD-Rom player was a prototype, and unfortunately it was not powered on, so we could not see the full potentials of BD-Rom. Sony also had the BlueRay media ready....
... along with storage media for professional storage devices...
... and, of course, simple data/video storage media like DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW.