FEATURE
MEMORIES OF LIVE 94
Six days of peace, love and consumer
electronics, though not necessarily in that order. That was Live 94, the
biggest, bestest shop window yet for home cinema, TV, video computers, video
games, musical instruments, in-car sounds and just about everything else to do
with home entertainment. No less than 186,484 people made the journey to Earl’s
Court in the third week of September -- 32% more than the previous year the
organisers are quick to point out --
and few went away disappointed. There was something for everyone,
including some tantalising glimpses into the future, but it was the home cinema demonstrations that seem to capture
most people’s imaginations. Upstairs, on the first floor, the cream of the
world’s AV manufacturers, and Home Cinema magazine, assembled to preach the
gospel according to Saint Dolby. Judging by the more or less constant crowds
along the Dolby Promenade the message was being received loud and clear.
Elsewhere in the body of the exhibition there
were numerous other surround-sound demos and at times the cacophony of music,
bangs and explosions must have come close to breaching health and safety
limits, anyone selling ear protectors would have done a roaring trade
There were plenty of new products to be seen,
including several dozen that were being launched at the show, here’s just a
very small sample. The eagerly anticipated Panasonic 3DO interactive
‘Multiplayer’ system made its UK debut at Live. The combination of stunning graphics,
highly playable games and eventually movies on disc suggest it could have a
very promising future. Channel 4 and Nokia chose to launch the first PALplus
widescreen broadcasts in the UK at Live 94, this too could have a far-reaching
effect on home entertainment. Acomex were demonstrating Control Plus+
multi-function remote control, the next stage in the development of the Video
Plus+ VCR timer programming system and Toshiba’s outstanding Quadryl range of
NICAM TVs and Dolby Pro Logic sets could were seen and heard in public for the
first time. There were also new home cinema products from Arcam, Celestion,
Denon, Linn, Mordaunt-Short, Polk
and Tannoy, to name just a few.
However, most people would agree that the
Sony stand was the high point of Live 94, though the word stand hardly does
justice to what amounted to a show within a show. It was the largest stand ever
to be seen in the consumer electronics industry and was reputed to have cost £1
million. The statistics are mind boggling; it covered an area larger than the
football pitch at Wembley Stadium; 55 tonnes of steel and 12 tonnes of sand
were used in the construction, and it consumed enough electricity (65,000
watts), to power a small town. Oh, and they had lots of interesting things to
see there as well...
Live 94 will be remembered for a lot of
things, including the atmosphere of optimism amongst the exhibitors, that the
recession was finally over and confidence was returning to consumer
electronics. No-one who saw it will forget the tunnel made out of TVs on the
Sony stand, Jeremy Beadle seemed to be everywhere, and the legend of the blue
Microsoft carrier bag was born. They were given to visitors as they arrived,
and cleverly self-destructed two hours later, spreading their contents over the
floor. (Note to the Microsoft -- don’t give up the day job, stick to making
computer software!).
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Ó R. Maybury 1994 3009
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