Imagine a PhotoPlus Expo or NAB devoted to one company. Canon has taken over the entire Jacob Javits Center in New York for its once-every-five-year Canon Expo–a must-see two day event September 2 and 3.

There are enough new products and concept designs to occupy both days. The press conference revealed some interesting figures: Canon is a $40 billion global business; $10 billion in the US. They make everything from input to output: cameras, scanners, printers, the sensors, electronics, software, lenses, everything. I don’t think outsourcing is in the vocabulary. They have  20.5% of the compact digital still market, 48.5% of the DSLR market, and are 4th in the world in patents. Over 40 million EOS cameras have been sold. These are staggering numbers for most of us in the motion picture business, where a couple of hundred units is impressive.

What’s also remarkable is how much synergy is derived from Canon’s other industries. At the Expo, you’ll see mixed reality, where you interact with real objects while viewing through a head-mounted display. It goes beyond games. A demo takes you on an amazing journey in 3D through an EOS camera–traveling like a firefly through the lens, past the mirror and all around the sensor. Medical imaging analyzes the eye in ways never before possible, and a new DNA analyzer is possible because of new technology.

It’s definitely not a 2K world any more, as we’ve belabored before. New liquid crystal panel display units were on display, with 8K, 4K and 2K high-resolution liquid crystal panels. For anyone in the “my grandmother couldn’t tell the difference” argument mode, 4K and 2K displays were positioned side-by-side. The 4K was absolutely stunning and even more life-like than, dare I say it, current 3D. These displays aren’t only intended for us as prime users. They’re targeted for professionals in color management, image editing, the printing industry, image quality management, retouching, and high-definition medical imaging.