Preparing for the Big Show: Behind the Scenes at CES 2013 (pictures)

Here we see the advertising going up outside the Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall.

Building the connected home. CES is sure to showcase new ways to wire the entire home with music, TV, and Internet.

Curious if these guys will be dressed up later or if this is the look they're going for...

Inside the South Hall you'll see a maze of crates and containers strewn about as companies' hurry to construct their booths.

Only exhibitors are allowed on the floor right now, and companies still want to keep their surprises under wraps. Here, Samsung security moves in to shut my camera down.

TCL's colorful booth showcasing their LED HDTVs and LCD HDTVs.

If I had a nickel for every square foot of fresh carpet laid down in this place...

An interactive tree at the Intel booth is being setup.

All the lighting and signage hanging from the Convention center ceilings has to be manipulated by workers up on these cranes.

GoPro unloads their latest versions of their personal adventure cameras.

To begin with, it all starts with a lot of unpacking of shipping containers...

Hanging signs at the Polaroid booth Sunday in the Central Hall at CES.

So many cords...

Unboxing Polaroid's 3D lettering for their booth in the Central Hall.

When you go up the escalator and head toward the entrance you can't miss CNET's stage. Here are some members of our team getting prepared.

The hall is filled with sounds of forklifts, hammers and saws, and the air smells like sawdust and new carpet.

Feeling the beauty at the Sony booth as a cart buzzes by.

Everyone here is hard at work but happy to smile for a camera.

Dozens of monitors being unboxed at the Hisense booth in the Central Hall Sunday.

Some booths are closer to being finished than others.

Many of these booths are designed especially for this year's CES. Whole teams of designers and construction workers are employed in this endeavor.

Displays are being set up at the Voxx booth which will soon be filled with hundreds of thousands of people.

Unpacking crates at at Casio.

Plastic wrapped gadgets sit on a pallet waiting to be unloaded at the RCA booth in the Central Hall.

The Nikon booth setup is underway.

DISH and Slingbox unload their next generation of connected TV products.

Setup at Samsung, a huge space in the Central Hall where dozens of people are building booths.

Crates of cameras coming in at Canon.

Setting up at the Sony booth in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center on Sunday before the start of the Consumer Electronic Show.