Fair in Tokyo Unveils the Latest in Electronic Gadgets

Much of the stereo equipment sold in the future will convert sound into computer-like digital pulses and use beams of light to transmit it from one component to another, exhibitors at this year’s Japan Audio Fair say.

Digital technology dominates the fair, which opened Wednesday, with displays of dozens of new compact disc players, digital CD-video components, video tape recorders with digital processors and tuners capable of receiving digital broadcasts from satellites.

Virtually every major Japanese manufacturer exhibited controversial digital audio tape recorders, which match the sound quality of CDs and also can make near-perfect tape recordings.

U.S. and European music industry groups have opposed the introduction of DATs, which they say will encourage home taping and reduce the royalties paid to artists and record companies. The industry groups have called for inclusion of a “copy-guard” circuit to prevent the copying of records, tapes or CDs containing a special signal.

Currently, DATs are available only in Japan, but Sony Corp. has announced that it will begin marketing them in West Germany in October without the special circuit.

Most new DAT models at the fair were at least as expensive as the first DATs released in the spring, contrary to expectations that they would fall in price as quickly as compact disc players did.

“We want to build them as well as we can before we try to make them less expensive,” a Sansui spokesman said.

Most DATs sell in Japan at list prices of about $1,400, but several makers showed new models priced at about $2,100.

Sony and Technics displayed portable DATs, each weighing about 3 1/2 pounds, to be marketed later this year in Japan.

Converting sound into digital format improves the dynamic range and greatly reduces noise, compared to traditional analog recording techniques.

Now, some companies are introducing equipment that keeps the sound in digital format until it reaches the speakers. The connectors can either be electrical cables or glass fibers, which carry pulses of light.

“We believe optical coupling is the wave of the future,” a JVC spokesman said. “For the best sound quality, the signal should remain in digital form until it’s converted into analog just before the listener hears it.”

But the fair wasn’t limited to digital equipment. Technics exhibited the “Rana Capsule,” which it described as an “intelligent AV (audio-video) capsule” about the size of a compact car, with reclining seats for two, air conditioning and sound insulation. Inside are 14 speakers, a CD player, video tape recorder, video disc player, amplifier, equalizer and a 28-inch television screen.

The capsule, to be marketed soon, will cost “about as much as a car,” a Technics official said.