So what does COMDEX have to do with trading? I'm getting to it... I've been looking for some good flat-panel displays and figured I'd check out the latest and greatest on the showroom floor and see if there was anything else a trader couldn't live without. First off, I gotta hand it to Samsung. Their LCD's and Plasma screens just blew away everything else at the show. For monitors, they had six of their 19-1T model flat panels mounted together. The picture was razor sharp, I could read text from more than 20 feet away. The most striking feature about these monitors are the bezels being less than an inch thick which makes them perfect for multi-monitor displays. Try as I might, I couldn't find one other seller that offered a thin product. Not to mention, the scrolling demo included a sample of a trading display complete with charts, quote monitors and excel sheets which made me laugh. These will probably be on my xmas list. They also had slim 17" monitors, the 17-1N model looked just as nice but I have to admit those extra couple of inches make a world of difference as any girl will tell you. Samsung is also coming out with what they claim is the largest LCD (46") in 2003 - price not yet set. For the ultimate in wow factor, they were also showing a 50" plasma screen ($15K) and a 63" ($19K). Supposedly the plasma screens produce a clearer image at these larger sizes. I don't know, I'm not an expert, but I do admit the pictures looked nice. The only thing comparable to Samsung's offerings was a 46" plasma being sold by Benq (which from what I understand is the company that emerged after Acer filed for bankruptcy and screwed all their existing customers.) There were nice looking Pioneer plasma screens that different vendors were using but Pioneer didn't show up to this year's COMDEX. This 46" bad boy from Benq has a great picture and runs about $6K, but before you scoff, think about it for a sec... six of the 19" Samsungs will run about $4,500-$5,500, then you gotta pay a few hundred more for the stands for a multi-monitor setup. Almost the same price. I tried to get some more info on whether a plasma display could be used as a viable option for a trading setup. They must've had thirty or forty people standing around and NO ONE could answer my question. Best I could do was grab a tech sheet. For all you gearheads, it contains RGB3 and RGB4 optional input connectors to go with their standard RGB1 (analog) and RGB2 (digital) connections. Of course that doesn't answer the question about how the picture compares to LCD screens. The only person who supposedly could answer my question kept deliberately avoiding me so this place gets my first COMDEX award for having the dumbest staff I've ever seen at any trade show. Like my review so far? Want more? Then read on... Don't like it? Click the 'back' button.
My initial impression of this year's COMDEX was "where the hell is everybody?" The place was damn near empty as far as conventions are concerned. All the staff was just standing around doing nothing. This brings me to award #2, most overstaffed convention booth, which goes to Nokia who had (and I'm not joking) a staffer for EVERY single phone they had on display. It was hard to even get a look at the different phones as you had to crane your neck around the smiling staffer. Probably the coolest phone I saw there was their 6800 model which contained a numeric keypad on the outside. Flip it open and the inside contains a full QWERTY keyboard with numbers. It also has a full color screen, SMS or GPRS, voice dialing, voice menu commands, a 3min voice recorder and infrared PC sync. Slick, eh? The "best way to trap your consumers" award goes to Microsoft (who else?) for their innovative device I can only call the Ass-Pad Theater System. Yes folks, to watch their presentations, you had to line up and stand with your ass against this bar containing a pillow. Stand in comfort? Well anyway I guess they thought they'd be able to pack em in with this invention but judging from the numbers attending I guess they didn't need it. Xceedium wins the award for the most eye-catching booth that made me wonder what the hell they were selling (I still don't know.) I also quickly noticed that it's a COMDEX requirement that all vendors are required to blast techno and only techno. I mean, even the Mercedes booth blasting techno? Just seemed strange, but it was funny to hear their speakers duking it out against the AMD booth. Best looking booth babe award goes to American Express (and she wasn't even a blonde!) As perky as she was she still couldn't get me to sign up, even though I really wanted that *ahem* free coffee mug. More to come...
So you actually read everything? I'm impressed. Well for those of you who made it this far you're in for a treat because I saved the best for last. http://www.mypce.com This company creates "Personal Computer Environments." Yes, folks, first there were the couch potatoes... now there are the umm computer potatoes?? These things are super-ergonomic chairs with built in computer systems containing every option you can think of. The chair swivels around a base resembling a gyroscope so you can reach all the peripherals mounted around you. Funniest part is dual flat-screen monitors are mounted overhead and you swivel back and forth between them. The picture really doesn't do it justice. They had all kinds of crazy stuff there like massage chairs, surround sound systems, etc... imagine having a six monitor setup in one of these things. Trading would really turn into a videogame. Ok that's it. Hope you enjoyed my rambling.
MrD, no you cannot substitute any single large size plasma for your monitor. There is not a single Plasma screen of any size that is capable of doing SXGA or 1280x1024 or higher. So that 50" plasma can display at most, what a 191T LCD can display, but of course, you'll have to sit very far away. I read about the upcoming 191N, price to be around $1k, I don't know if it's wider, but do know it has a shorter response time for video imaging and game playing. Did you manage to see it? I hear there is also spec of a UXGA (1600x1200) version of the 191 that I got from a post by nitro.
EXE, Thanks for the info. The only thin bezel 19's they had were the 191T. They did have 171N monitors there. Other than size, I couldn't see much difference between the two. I should have more info once Samsung mails the spec sheets.
MrD, probably what you want is that Sam 40+ inch LCD. It should have a really high resolution. Care to guesstimate the price? A 22" IBM T221 which is a QUXGA-W screen, the highest resolution available thus far, cost around $9K. Of course, as the screen size increases, the price rises exponentially. And don't forget you'll need a video card capable of whatever the resolution would be. When you should acquire that Samsung, I'll be calling you Mr. Gecko, or Mr.G.
great stuff....going to look into that trading chair. I live on a boat and it might be a great solution.....
Only 10K?!! I guess the resolution would not be higher than QUXGA. Since the LCD is catered to the TV market, I also doubt it will have a higher than 1080 HDTV resolution. Which just means the pixel size would be large, probably >0.3.
Mr.D, here's an article on your Samsung giant LCD's: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,717229,00.asp And in it, it says "Perhaps more interesting was the huge, 40-inch LCD that's currently shipping. The Syncmaster 400T sports a native resolution of 1280x768, and at nearly $11,000, " You see that resolution, basically what you get on wide screen 17-19" LCD. The usual 1024x768 but for wide screen 1280x768. At 40", not a workable solution for trading.