Top 10 Over/Under-used PC/IT Display Terms at CES

By Chris Connery – Vice President, PC and Large Format Commercial Displays, DisplaySearch

Without a major US tech conference devoted just to personal computers or IT products, many brands take liberties with the “C” in CES and showcase commercial products as well. In doing so, many fail to differentiate between consumer and commercial products, rather showing any product that promotes what they consider hot technologies. This approach often marginalizes features and trends that are truly relevant to the personal computing space. Let’s look at areas where there was too much hype and then where there was not enough emphasis.

Overused

1. 3D: Too much written about this already…. Quite naturally, the focus was on TVs, so monitor and notebook companies seemed to feel compelled to jump on the bandwagon and show 3D for gaming, watching video, etc.
2. Slate: While the industry often recycles terms and technologies, it seems that everything was being labeled or re-labeled a “slate”. From tablet PCs, which are less than 1% of the total notebook PC market, to new products like the convertible hybrid IdeaPad U1 from Lenovo (very innovative!), to e-readers such as Samsung’s new entry, “slate” seems here to stay. Apple’s January 27 announcement can’t come soon enough.
3. LED: Most monitor and PC companies promoted their forthcoming LED-backlit LCD monitors. Samsung even showed their LED backlit 46″ and 55″ digital signage products.
4. AIO: All-in-one desktop PC (AIO) portfolios are growing significantly with companies from Lenovo to MSi showing a wide variety of new offerings. Interestingly, ViewSonic noted strong adoption of their AIOs in commercial, as opposed to consumer, environments.
5. HDMI: Notebook and monitor companies were quick to point out the addition of HDMI ports on their 2010 products. Most companies stated that they did not have plans to have different connectivity solutions for consumer vs. commercial products (see DisplayPort).

Underused

1. Touch: While there was much hype (and debate) surrounding touch as a interface for AIOs, notebooks and monitors with the announcement of Windows 7, it seemed that most product pitches noted touch as an option rather than as a primary feature.
2. Monitor: Not much new in the way of PC monitors-with two exceptions:
   • Samsung indicated that in addition to expanding their notebook portfolio, they will also extend their “LapFit” displays (which have a low profile to enable them to be viewed seamlessly next to a notebook display) and begin bundling them.
   • LG’s IP displays allow 30 or more monitors to run from one host. While impressive, this solution is hardly for consumers, and was lost in the noise of CES
3. Desktop PC: Q4′09 showed stronger than expected desktop PC sales, but when people at CES said “PC” they meant notebook PC.
4. Convergence: While there were many AV and PC dual-functionality products, I did not hear “convergence” at all. Monitor brands are pushing display sizes up (Dell introduced a 27″ display), yet there are indications that some retailers are hesitant to carry monitors larger than 24″, as a way of avoiding confusion over multi-function monitors.
5. DisplayPort: While there has been significant development work on this new digital interface, and there was a press conference at CES, DP seems to have little awareness from brand and marketing managers, let alone the general public.