News: The future of Jeopardy at CES 2009 Video

News: The future of Jeopardy at CES 2009 Video Transcript

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>> What's up guys, Brian Tong here with CNET.com at CES 2009 with a First Look at the new Jeopardy set. Now you see here we've got like 36 42-inch flat panel displays. A lot of tech all over, even a bunch of OLEDs for their judging table. We were lucky enough to get a chance to talk with executive producer Harry Friedman to talk about the evolution of Jeopardy and all the tech that's packed in here. ^M00:00:28 [ Music ] ^M00:00:35

>> It's window dressing really to what is essentially a tough answering question show. Because of the fact that we're owned by Sony we have extraordinary access to all the latest technology. So we would have been foolish to not take full advantage of that. The game board consist of 36 HD, LCD, display devices, low power output, they're commercial grades, so they're not available to people at home, but this new game board is part of that larger than the previous one because the previous one was made up of industrial monitors that were four or three. Everything here is 16-9 so that made the whole game board about three feet longer. ^M00:01:22 [ Music ] ^M00:01:23

>> Now there's a ton of other makeovers here on the set. For example the contestants table where everything is now packed into here in one single screen.

>> This is all one screen. So, it's taking several inputs it's taking the name from the telewriter on the contestant podium, it's taking the dollar amount from scoring and obviously it's all digital. And then during game play these two areas turn white to let Alex [assumed spelling] and the viewers know who rang in first.

>> Now, when we watch Jeopardy no one ever even sees this table. We don't even know what goes on here, but I do see it's littered with OLEDs. ^M00:02:07 [ Music ] ^M00:02:12

>> We really wanna see the best representation of what we're shooting and it made absolutely no sense to continue trying to see high def images on a 4 by 3 screen or even on a larger 4 and 3. We needed something with a very low profile that doesn't take up much space, but yet allows us to -- to do our work. So, now we're also using them on the jib cameras for reference. So it -- it makes a lot of sense to use the best quality monitors for production.

>> Now, one of the roles here at this desk is called the Enabler. This is the first new -- makes the little button pressers active. So if I wanted to play god I'll just enable right now. ^M00:02:54 [ Music ] ^M00:02:55

>> Now, as cool as this set is you won't see it anytime soon, but producers say it's comin'. So there you have it, the all new Jeopardy set here at CES. Now this is the first time they've ever showcase it with a live audience, but it's something that we'll be looking forward to see in the future and just a great way to celebrate their 25th anniversary. For CNET.com, I'm Brian Tong with a First Look at the new Jeopardy set at CES 2009. ^M00:03:20 [ Music ]