CES TVs wrap-up

TVs: evolutionary

The TV market is doing extremely well, manufacturers are making money hand over fist, and just about everybody who doesn't already have a new HDTV wants one, so why rock the boat? CES 2006's TV hardware-related announcements trended toward "bigger and cheaper," with lots of "higher resolution" thrown in, but there were some unexpected gems, as always. Nonetheless, there were some surprises among the normal blizzard of me-too TV-related product announcements.

New to me
I was pleasantly surprised by Samsung's announcement regarding a new lamp technology for its DLP rear-projection HDTVs. It may not sound very exciting, but LED lamps have the potential to really improve color reproduction, and their benefits for eliminating rainbows and extending lamp life are proven. That's why I chose the Samsung HL-S5679W as Best of CES in TVs--that and its relatively reasonable price. I just hope that the company can meet its stated release date of April, but I'm not holding my breath.

Sony's slim SXRD was another eye-opener I didn't expect, although it definitely makes sense, given TV buyers' desire for high-tech, low-depth displays. I'd like to see something larger than 55 inches, however, because 50-inch plasmas have come down in price far enough to tempt anyone looking for a TV in that size range. As 50-inch plasma prices approach $2,000 this year, people who say, "50 inches is too small," seem to me to be the only viable buyers of rear-projection TVs that cost more than, say, $1,500.

Speaking of 50-inch plasma, my third Best of CES nominee, the Pioneer PRO-FHD1 wasn't exactly a surprise, but I did expect rival Panasonic to announce a 50-inch 1080p model of its own (it showed a prototype at CEATEC and again at CES, but no pricing and availability were announced). Instead, it kept its 1080p plasma very large at 65 inches. I was also miffed at Panasonic's wanton entrance into the ridiculous "world's biggest plasma" sweepstakes. If you're keeping track, its 103-inch model is now the king, followed by 102-inchers shown by Samsung and LG.

Other surprises:

• Dish out-HD'd DirecTV by announcing a slew of new channels.
• LG's "wireless" plasma was actually working. You connect your gear to a box, which sends the A/V signals to the plasma via 802.11a. No pricing, though, and LG's reps were doubtful it would arrive this year.
• While new 1080p projectors such as the Optoma HD81 use a nonwobulated DLP chip, nobody announced any nonwobulated rear-projection 1080p DLPs that do the same thing.
• I didn't hear a word about the next generation of CableCard that would allow upstream communication with the cable provider, and in fact, according to an article in the CES Show Daily by TWICE, cable companies were considering abandoning CableCard altogether in favor of a system that allows HDTVs to download cable access without the need for a physical authorization card.
• Nobody built an iPod TV.
  
  

Reruns
Just about every TV manufacturer was pushing 1080p, and not surprisingly, most of the manufacturers I spoke with confirmed that, yes, their 1080p sets will handle 1080 sources via HDMI inputs. Hooray for that, but again, I don't think too many people will be able to tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p sources on a 1080p HDTV.

Prices for 1080p projection sets, meanwhile, are falling predictably. Samsung's 2006 line, for example, carries approximately a $500 difference between the 720p and the 1080p models, which is about half the premium you'd have paid in 2005. The "bigger and cheaper" trend continued to impact flat-panel display pricing too, with price-conscious announcements by nontraditional manufacturers such as Westinghouse, BenQ, and Vizio.

Panasonic's always a plasma TV pacesetter for major makes to follow, and its 2006 plasma lineup is modestly less expensive than the current one. For example, the new TH-42PX60U lists for $2,700, while the current TH-42PX50U lists for $3,000. See our CES TV coverage index for more.

As for next-generation technologies, there were plenty of OLED displays at the show--unfortunately, most were mounted in cell phones. In my pre-CES write-up, I predicted that Toshiba and Canon would announce availability for their joint SED display technology, but alas, that never happened. Too bad, since the demos of SED that I saw at the show looked really good, albeit under controlled conditions and dark lighting. Maybe the companies will announce something at CES 2007.