The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas has just come to an end. This years expo was one of the biggest ever, covering more than 1.8 million square feet, and playing host to around 140,000 attendees.
The biggest names in the technology world (with the notable exception of Apple) are represented at CES, showing off and talking about their latest products and future plans. This year it was estimated that 20,000 gizmos, gadgets and products were launched at the show with everything from super ultra thin tablets to a voice activated fridge with a blast chiller which will cool a bottle of wine in 8 minutes.
CES is also where the latest televisions are unveiled and this year a new breed of TV's were launched. There were big ones, skinny ones, HD, 3D, 4K, OLED, SUPER OLED and SMART and all the major manufacturers were featured, including Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and LG. Televisions have come a long way since we started selling black and white ones in 1962!
The real stars of the show were considered to be Samsung's 'Super OLED' 55" and LG's 4mm thick (thin?) 55" OLED 3D HDTV. At 4mm thick it is thinner than most smartphones. OLED was definitely the 'buzzword' in TVs and it stands for 'Organic light emitting diode' producing clear, crisp, colourful pictures with deeper contrasts and finer levels of detail. And hot on it's shiny heels comes 4K TV which displays 8 million pixels…that's four times the pixel count of 1080p HDTV…plastic surgeons must be rubbing their hands with glee. Sony demonstrated a prototype 3D set that doesn't require the viewer to wear glasses.
Televisions in 2012 will not only be better looking and thinner, they're all going to get smarter too (sounds like my new years resolution). More TV's will be able to connect to the internet so that viewers can watch what they want, when they want and all will offer a wealth of online features and apps.
And finally, losing the remote control down the back of the sofa may become a thing of the past as manufacturers move away from the hard button remote to voice and gesture controlled TV and/or touchscreen tablets which will talk to your set.
As I finish writing this it has been announced that the LG 55' television won the 'best in show' accolade.
