I’ve been attending electronics trade shows since my first Consumer Electronics Show in 2001 when I was the editor-in-chief of Electronic House magazine. Talk about a kid in a candy store. While my mission for attending shows is to cover the exciting new innovations to share with my readers—I can’t help but to shop for myself—even if sometimes it’s only a pipedream.
In 2010 I attended my first InfoComm. No less exciting, but the products shown are not marketed for the home consumer. That’s what they say!
When I saw the following three products at InfoComm 2022, all I could really see was how they would look in my home and the joy they would bring me.
The Mother of All Desktop Monitors
I am a Mac user. Since Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007 and then the first iPad in 2010, I have been anxiously awaiting a touch-enabled iMac. It makes sense, right? Seriously, Apple—what's up? Why not? I go from using my iPad to my iMac and want to pinch-and-zoom. But no.
I purchased my current 27-inch iMac in 2015. I have been waiting for a 32-inch iMac to come out before I upgrade. But that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon either. Instead, Apple came out with a 32-inch, Retina 6K display for $6K. Undeniably a stunning display, but it’s still not touch-enabled.
But then, in Barcelona at ISE and again at InfoComm 2022 in Las Vegas, I saw it. The mother of all desktop monitors—the Pana 34, a spectacular 34-inch, 4K / 21:9 monitor with 10-point multi-touch, 165Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, dual articulating arm, VESA HDR400, eight array microphone, 24-watt speakers, and a 4K/60Hz camera with swing and tilt. But wait, don’t let me down now. Eureka—it supports Mac OS (in addition to Windows, Android, and Linux)!
I long for the days when I can work more naturally and pull my work surface closer to edit video in Premiere Pro or draw Illustrator—by hand, not with a mouse and keyboard.
The Pana 34 is part of Jupiter’s lineup of 21:9 displays. You’ve got to see the 105- and 81-inch displays. But I’ll leave those for the office.
The Wall (my wall)
Oh, I have been eyeing this big baby since seeing it for the first time at ISE in Amsterdam in 2019. This falls in the pipedream category—but if I ever win the lottery, I will have a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall—The Wall.
All-new for 2022, Samsung’s, The Wall IWB was shown at InfoComm 2022. This spectacular micro–LED display is available in 0.63, 0.84, 0.94, 1.26 and 1.68-pixel pitches. I will take the 0.63, thank you. It can accommodate 4K movies for 110-inch and up to 8K for 220-inch. Yes, 220-inches, please. The 120 Hz frame rate, HDR 10/10+, and LED HDR are powered by a Micro AI processor, which analyzes every second of content instantly and optimizes picture quality while removing noise.
This new model also has Multi View, allowing simultaneous multi-source playback from up to four sources on the single screen without an additional splitter. Yes, and yes.
Eye Spied
While roaming the South Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center in 2001 during the Consumer Electronics Show, I saw this guy tossing paint onto speaker cabinets reminiscent of Jackson Pollock. Since that day, I have been in awe of the art, industrial, and speaker design of Leon Speakers, president, and founder, Noah Kaplan.
I always save visiting the Leon booth until the last day of a trade show. It's less frantic, and I can spend more time looking at the details of what I know will be thoughtfully and beautifully designed speaker and camera enclosures. Leon entered the commercial space several years ago when they realized meeting spaces needed a higher aesthetic. And they delivered.
But at Leon's booth InfoComm this year, just sitting there outside the entrance to the Airstream used for meetings, as if it had been placed like a figure of a lion outside a mansion, was a modern sculpture—a standalone speaker—an eye. And I want it.
It didn't have an identifying label and wasn't hooked up to anything for listening, but knowing Leon, it would sound out of this world. And the design, oh my. The design is brilliant, and the lines of this speaker are absolutely sumptuous. I had to find out more.
As it has been aptly named, the Eye is a one-off creation by Noah Kaplan and Leon's senior industrial designer Rob Waissi. It took the efforts of the entire Leon engineering and shop team to fabricate it. Built of formed solid mahogany and the speaker cabinets of Baltic birch with welded steel base—it's Leon's version of a Bluetooth speaker.
Just wow.
[ Designing Collaboration Spaces with Great Style and Outstanding Sound ]
