*** From the Archives ***
This article is from September 19, 2002, and is no longer current.
Under the Desktop: Wandering and Wondering at Seybold SF
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The main events at this month’s Seybold San Francisco conference and expo looked to be the latest in enterprise publishing with XML, although there was strong competition from PDF workflows. Some developers demonstrated a single tool while others showcased an entire solution, from soup to nuts. For those of us with a hardware bent, there still could be found many interesting products, including new proofing solutions and high-performance displays.
The Seybold show is always chockfull of useful products: There’s something for everyone in the content creation business. Its educational programs offer information applicable to a small design shop working on Web and print jobs as well as to managers who coordinate vast content resources.
Yet, I found moments in some “big picture” presentations that I considered absolute hokum. For example, there was an analyst’s vision of an XML content service-provider company that will track your data needs as you move from home to car to work and back again; and then provide you with the content in the correct format (and on the right page) for your particular application of the moment. All of this is due in just a couple of years. No way, right?
On the other hand, after a bit of retrospection, I decided that my negative judgment was hasty. After all, can we remember the reaction in the mid-1980s to the prediction that personal computers and laser output devices would spark a digital publishing revolution, supplanting the then state-of-the-art proprietary publishing systems? Same difference, maybe.
So, here are a few announcements and demonstrations that caught my interest both on and off the show floor.
On Display
A number of vendors took the opportunity to introduce new displays, including high-performance flat panels as well as color-calibrated CRT-based monitors. These products aren’t your run-of-the-mill displays for the mass market; rather, they offer features for professional image evaluation, such as expanded color range and calibration support.
Sony introduced its Artisan Color Reference System, a $1,799 package that features a high-performance monitor and an integrated color-calibration package (see figure 1). I was impressed by the Artisan’s many convenient details, from its stylish sensor (with an attractive holder) to software that lets users easily switch between calibrations for different color spaces and resolutions, providing the correct colors for both print and Web workflows.
Figure 1: The Sony Artisan’s USB color sensor fits into a small, silver-finished case, here pictured on the right hand side of the display. Its marketing materials describe the device as “sleek.” Regardless, it’s a welcome touch that keeps the cord out of the way and the puck’s sensing array out of the dust.Also on the CRT front, NEC-Mitsubishi Electronics Display added its SpectraView calibration package to a trio of its recently released SuperBright monitors — the change adds the letters “SV” to their product names. According to the company, these displays feature a double-lens technology that boosts focus as well as a special mode that can jack up brightness when viewing dim videos. Available next month, the 19-inch Mitsubishi 930SB-BK-SV will cost $799, and $1,299 for the 22-inch NEC FP2141SB-BK-SV and Mitsubishi DP2070 SB-BK-SV.
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