CES Draws More Than 116,000

More than 116,000 attendees from around the world flocked to CES 2003 in Las Vegas last week, signaling an upturn in attendance from 2002, which drew approximately 100,000.

Hailed as "The World Cup of Technology" by CEA President Gary Shapiro, the event served as a showcase for a range of new technology, much of it wireless and including a large handful of DTV products.

The HDTV Sports Bar targeted the DTV craze by mixing attendees, sports figures, HDTV products and the NFL playoffs broadcast in HD. Home entertainment weighed in with HDTVs, large and small plasma screens, LCD and projection monitors, digital imaging and PVRs from the likes of Panasonic, Sony, Pioneer Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Zenith.

Samsung displayed The Thin Film Transistor (TFT) LCD 54-inch TV that weighs in as the world's largest TFT LCD TV. Decked out with 1920 x 1080 resolution and 16:9 screen ratio, it has a brightness of 550 nits, a contrast ratio of 800:1 and, at two inches thick, weighs 44 pounds. The display, with a DVI-I port, can double as a computer display.

Sony debuted a 30-inch widescreen, hi-res WXGA Model that incorporates a WEGA Engine System, DVI-HDTV Interface and Memory Stick Media Slot. The KVL-30XBR900 model features 1280 x 768 resolution and an LCD panel driver. The model is a two-piece LCD panel and media receiver unit that incorporates a floating panel display.

A total of 2,283 exhibits occupied more than 1.25 million net square feet of exhibit space.