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IFA 2009: Consumer Electronics Trends - Fascinating, innovative and in harmony with the environment (14/7/2009)

As the world's leading trade show for consumer electronics IFA 2009 is presenting the entire range of new products from a dynamic and innovative sector. Fascinating new screen technologies, three-dimensional images, entertainment, navigation and communication using portable terminals, wire-less media in the networked home - IFA introduces the latest trends from every sector of the industry.

The new TV screens: Greater contrast, less energy, more clearly defined movement

Energy efficiency, further improvements in picture quality, especially on LCD televisions, and even slimmer units - in 2009 at IFA these are the main trends in the continuing development of TV technology. LED backlighting for LCD screens, still more of a subject for the future at IFA 2008, is now becoming well established with a whole range of new models. The individual LED light cells can be controlled to match the brightness specifications of the picture content and this enables much higher contrast levels to be achieved while also conserving energy.

The plasma screens on show at IFA 2009 also have reduced energy consumption. With such developments manufacturers are continuing in the direction that they set in 2008. The new technology also enables slimmer units to be produced. As a result IFA will feature the prototypes of larger TV screens which are thinner than ever, as little as 9 millimetres (approx. 1/3 inch).

Another of the criteria for improving picture quality is that of natural, smooth-flowing movement with even sharper definition. All the major manufacturers will be presenting their own technical solutions at IFA 2009, with attractive new models that operate at many times the standard picture frequency and include cleverly calculated intermediate images. In this way they can even produce a clear and detailed picture when the camera pans across an entire football pitch in a fraction of a second.

Alternatives to the established technology used for plasma and LCD television screens are not expected to account for a large share of the market for several years but they can already been seen at IFA 2009. For example, the OLED screens on show in Berlin will include not only experimental units but also the first mass-produced models.

There is also a new screen format which points the way forward: one of the superstars among the latest television sets will be a model with a picture ratio of 21:9, the same as that used to screen movies in Cinemascope. So now movie enthusiasts can enjoy their favourite films as they were meant to be seen, without any black stripes, without losing any of the image, and filling the screen format in their entirety.

New on the screen: internet and the third dimension

Among the new televisions the top-of-the-range models really bring the internet into the home. videoclips from YouTube web pages, slide shows from the online photo service Picasa, weather reports, breaking news reports, sporting events and stock market prices: they are all now available at the click of a button. The manufacturers use a number of different technologies, such as standardised browsers or special widgets, but in every case the results are similar, making access to internet content as easy as it is to zap from one television station to another.

It will be a few years before we can see 3D television pictures in our homes, but the industry is already working on solutions that incorporate the entire infrastructure from programme production to distribution and the terminals. An industry-wide standardisation project envisages the Blu-ray disc as the future medium for 3D images. IFA 2009 will be reporting on the current state of affairs with a whole range of exciting exhibits.

Blu-ray disc: a mature market, a comprehensive range of terminals

The Blu-ray disc is being featured at IFA as a fully tried and tested media platform, with well established standards of the highest technical level, a wide choice of films and other media content, online access and an extensive range of playback units. Many different varieties and designs of Blu-ray player are now available as stand-alone components, including extremely flat units. Blu-ray drives are also being installed increasingly as standard equipment in fully equipped Home Cinema systems.

Wire-less and easy to use: pictures and sound in the home network

High definition images can now be transferred to the screen, wirelessly, without any compression, and with high definition multi-channel sound, in accordance with the new Wireless HD standard. Over short distances of 20 metres the radio link operates reliably and without any problems, and at extremely high frequencies of around 60 gigahertz. Wireless HD is likely to develop to augment the HDMI connection, and the first sets with built-in transmitters and receivers for wireless HD will be on show at IFA 2009.

IFA will also be demonstrating many new examples of streaming for audio and video applications, including a wide range of media players as well as many new media servers and NAS drives, holding images, music and films that can be played on all loudspeakers and screens throughout the home.

Hard disc archive, online music and internet radio: hifi and networks are inseparable

For hifi enthusiasts a network connection is increasingly being taken for granted. Nowadays music is mainly bought online, computer hard drives are gradually replacing racks of CDs as a sound archive, and network clients can either play a private repertoire by themselves or feed it to a hifi system. The next logical step is for devices which, via the home network, can be used to access the archive contained on a hard drive, as well as often also serving as receivers for internet radio services. Special providers can offer tens of thousands of radio stations from all over the world, sorted according to genre or region, and providing yet another attractive source of entertainment and information.

Mobile entertainment, navigation and communication: IFA presents the entire range

MP3 players, navigation devices, smart phones with browsers and email-programs - it is now virtually impossible to separate the different functions available on mobile terminals. IFA 2009 can offer new items to suit every kind of user: mobile jukeboxes which can also display digital photos or serve as dictation machines, pocket-sized multimedia players capable of playing movies with definition approaching TV quality, navigation devices with optional television viewing facilities, and telephones which, with a built-in GPS antenna, can also search the internet for information about the locality. Few other product categories provide a more convincing example of what convergence means today. They are all on show at IFA - comprehensively and with all their different facets.

A clear picture of all the different equipment categories: camcorders and digital cameras

For camcorders high definition resolution is increasingly becoming a standard feature, and this applies not only to the latest models at the top of the range, which use three separate image sensors to achieve a stunning picture quality. Even the most compact devices, with basic controls and features, making them ideal for beginners and for rapid shots, can often produce images with a highly acceptable 1920 x 1080 pixels. IFA will also be presenting the first combined camera and mobile phone capable of recording moving images in full HD resolution.

But a growing number of digital cameras intended primarily for taking stills can now take video shots too. And this applies not only to the pocket models capable of taking short clips in small formats for inclusion on Youtube. The very finest cameras, the SLR models, can now produce videos of a standard befitting their superior quality, with HD resolution taken for granted. Visitors to IFA are confronted by the question of what sort of camera to buy: a traditional video camera or maybe a still camera with additional video-filming capability? The extensive display of innovations in Berlin will make it easier to come to a decision.

Increasing popularity of flash drives: mechanical systems are on the way out

For televisions, DVD players and hifi components alike: an increasing number of consumer electronics devices not only have the usual interfaces but also slots for memory cards, or USB ports for conveniently sized memory sticks, reflecting the fact that these tiny and practical digital devices are now well established as multi-purpose systems for storing all kinds of media content. They can be used to bring photos from digital cameras or home-made movies from a camcorder directly onto a flat screen. Alternatively entire MP3 collections can be transferred with very little effort from a computer to a hifi in the living room.

The technology behind flash memory chips, which are the key components in these tiny, light storage devices, is developing at an astonishing pace: their capacity is doubling almost annually, while their prices continue to fall. Flash memories have already begun to supplant hard disc drives and other mechanical storage systems. Solid state discs (SSD) are being used increasingly as mass storage devices in compact notebooks. The first camcorder models with 64 gigabyte SSDs will already be on show at IFA. On the camcorder market in general the proportion of devices which can store moving images on chip cards rather than on hard disc drives or optical media is growing all the time. At IFA 2009 the industry will demonstrate that this is an ongoing trend, with numerous new, lighter and more compact items, with substantially reduced energy consumption too.

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