Infocomm Show report

Fiber Optics Weekly Update, June 20, 2003 by Ken Eben

The Infocomm Show took place on June 2, 2003 in Orlando, Florida. Infocomm is the premier show for the audio video industry. The show encompasses commercial video projectors and a variety of video apparatus that would include LCD, plasma, and HDTV screens. All the major suppliers exhibited: Infocus, Sony, NEC, Phillips, Mitsubishi, etc.

Mitsubishi International (MI) exhibited plastic optical fiber in both a point-to-point application of a fiber optic intercom that could be used up to 175 meters, and its POF IEEE 1394b S200 approach to networking. Although networking in the home remains in its infancy, except in very high-end homes, it was very clear from this show that the Home Theater market will be one of the first groups that will be installing fiber in the home. The MI presentation was actually well-received, with the simplicity being the aspect most admired by the show attendees.

Mitsubishi also presented a new Digital Video Interface (DVI) cable which uses hard-clad silica fiber. The DVI standard only permits the use of copper cable for video 15 feet before the signal is supposed to be regenerated with a box. The MI cable comes in plug & play and a field installable version, which permits digital video transmission of 150 to 500 meters respectively. This system was connected to the POF 1394 network within the exhibit, and was very well received.

It appeared that many of the attendees of the show were aware of POF, but not its simplistic method of use.

For further information, please contact Ken Eben of Mitsubishi International at (212) 605-2392 or kem.eben@mitsubishicorp.com.