| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Laser movie projector to get first permanent commercial home | | | by Alex Stedman, Variety | | | The theater taking on the endeavor is the Seattle Cinerama, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The theater is the first to acquire Christie's laser projectors after the FDA recently approved the system for sale to theaters. Seattle Cinerama purchased a 4k digital laser projector, and accordingly to theater manager Greg Wood, they plan for the laser projector to be up and running on their 68-foot wide screen in February or early March 2014, replacing their current Christie digital projection system. More»
Why This Matters: Christie and Barco started doing private demos of laser light source digital cinema projectors last year. They were stunning. I saw the Barco demo in January 2012 at the Moody Gardens Digital Cinema Symposium. But as eye-popping as the demo was, there was still the "prototype" feel to it all– throughout 2012 and into the beginning of this year. But things are heating up with FDA approval and a bona-fide installation. 4K, HFR– all the most recent large venue projection milestones will pale in comparison to the stunning brightness and contrast ratio these new generation projectors provide. -David Keene |
| | #2 | Microsoft's lost decade | | | by Kurt Eichenwald, Vanity Fair | | | To the saccharine rhythm of a Muzak clip, Steve Ballmer crouched into a tackling stance and dashed across a ballroom stage at the Venetian Las Vegas. A 20-foot wall of video screens flashed his name as the 55-year-old Microsoft chief executive bear-hugged Ryan Seacrest, the ubiquitous television and radio host, who had just introduced Ballmer's keynote speech for the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show. More»
Why This Matters: This long-form feature from exactly a year ago sets the scene with Ballmer's bizarre keynote spectacle at CES, and goes on to analyze why the company was foundering on his watch (though making lots of money on legacy products). Now Ballmer is in his last year; of all the ink spilled on that topic, this article is one of the best, even if it is from 2012. One thing that stood out was Ballmer's out-of-touch HR practice of stack-ranking which Slate highlighted last week as a contributing factor to Microsoft being chronically late to market. Ballmer famously didn't "get" the iPhone and it seems he didn't get people either. On the other hand: this from a Ballmer fan at PC Magazine.–Cynthia Wisehart
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| | #3 | The Radical Challenge of Building a Dorm for the Deaf | | | by Liz Stinson, Wired | | | Gallaudet University's newest residence hall was designed specifically for deaf students by New York City-based LTL Architects. The 60,000-square-foot building is the first to fully employ architectural principles that cater to the communication and spatial needs of the hearing impaired. More»
Why This Matters: What can AV designers and integrators learn from this space that's meant to be unobtrusive as possible to sightlines and improve communications? It's not game changing by any means but simplistic and well thought out, smart foundations for any design plan. –Jessaca Gutierrez |
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| | | | | Pro AV Today Editorial Team
SOUND & VIDEO CONTRACTOR
CYNTHIA WISEHART, Editor
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