Now that's a bookshelf speaker! The ICS designation indicates that this speaker is designed with in-cabinet use in mind, Snell's ICS 1030 LCR speaker is a work of art. Literally. Snell works with a talented artist and will paint any scene the customer wishes on the grill to make the speaker disappear into its environment. The speaker pictured here is obviously painted like a set of books and the effect is nothing short of striking.

Tough talk isn't confined to the Blu-ray camp when it comes to sales forecasting and some impressive data on current titles.

Toshiba is clearly promoting its Regza LCD sets above other technologies as there were only two DLP sets shown. The new Regza line has some impressive innovations which could push Toshiba to the LCD forefront. Even the 720p sets have a dynamic backlight to improve contrast ratio by a factor of 5 and advanced 14-bit video processing (instead of 8). All 1080p models have a wider color space but the Cinema Series sets (available up to 57”) also have XVycc technology for enhanced color space conforming to the new IEC standard plus a 120 hz refresh rate. Most models are coming by April but the Cinema Series will be delayed until June/July.

Sharp was showing a side-by-side comparison of last year’s 1080p LCD sets vs the new models. One comparison showed the advantage of 120 hz refresh rate vs standard 60 hz with 120 having a very obvious advantage in maintaining focus during movement. The second comparison showed the far darker blacks of the new sets, which have 3000:1 contrast ratio enhanced to 15,000:1 by the dynamic backlight. Many sizes are offered (most available now) to directly compete with plasma including a 65” model (coming early summer). The premium D92 series also features a 5-wavelength backlight for improved color. The step-down D82 series has slightly less contrast and a 4-wavelength backlight. A mega-contrast (and mega-expensive) 37” model was also shown boasting a million to one contrast ratio.

We don't normally cover home video production and editing, but with a new generation of affordable HD camcorders comes new editing tools. Sony's VAIO RM Hi-def Video Editing System (VGC-RM1) has a Blu-ray Disc read/write HD drive, 1 TB of hard disc storage, and Adobe Premier Pro editing software.

I had hoped to see a new 1080p projector from Yamaha. Since that company's 720p DPX-1300 is probably my favorite DLP projector of that flavor, I eagerly anticipate a 1080p design from them. But it was not to be at this CES. CEDIA 2007? A Yamaha rep suggested that might be the case, but he wasn't all that emphatic.