LAS VEGAS--Google TV has a way of disappointing expectations, and one strong case in point is the Vizio's VIA Plus platform for TVs.

At CES 2011 we named the VIA Plus models as our favorite TV product of CES. They used Google TV to deliver what the company described as interoperability between the TV and Android-equipped phones and tablets. Among other features, Via Plus was also said to support the OnLive gaming service. Those extras, along with the same kind of full-array local-dimming backlight we know and love, was enough to convince us that the so-equipped TVs were going … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Do you think your wide-screen TV isn't wide enough? Vizio's 21:9 TVs have you covered.

The company's CinemaWide models, dubbed the XVT3D0CM series, offer three screen sizes (50, 58, and 71 inches) that have an aspect ratio of 21:9, which in person is noticeably wider than the normal 16:9 rectangle shape used by typical HDTVs.

The advantage of the shape, according to Vizio, is that it allows the sets to display 2.35:1 (CinemaScope) movies without any black bars. As the company points out, many big-budget Hollywood flicks are shown in CinemaScope, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Despite the increasing ubiquity of the 3D feature, we get plenty of e-mail from people interested in "non-3D" TVs, or TVs that couldn't support 3D. In 2012 such TVs will be even rarer, but one will be the Sony EX640 series.

This relatively bare-bones LED TV lacks most of the other fancy step-ups of the higher-end HX750, such as local dimming, Monolithic styling and Gorilla Glass, but it does keep the Internet extras. Unfortunately, you'll need to either connect an Ethernet cable to the TV or invest in Sony's dongle since the EX640 lacks … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As a rule, no company divulges pricing at CES anymore, but we still have reason to suspect that when its price actually does get announced, the Sony HX750 series might represent a good picture-quality-for-the-buck proposition.

This set is the least expensive in Sony's admittedly small 2012 CES announcement lineup to offer the edge-lit local dimming we liked so much on the NX720 from last year.

Sony has slowly begin competing in price in some TV categories over the last couple of years, and the HX750's feature mix eschews the MotionFlow 960 of the step-up HX850, settling for … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Much like Samsung this year, the best LCD-based TV Sony announced at CES is a non-full-array model, relying on edge-lit LEDs to produce its picture.

That's the bad news for videophiles expecting a full-array follow-up to the excellent XBR-HX929. The good news for said videophiles? Judging from the picture quality of the NX720 from 2011, Sony knows how to eke great black levels and minimal blooming from an edge-lit configuration.

It's curious that Sony didn't name the HX850, a TV its press release identifies as a "flagship," with the traditional "XBR" moniker. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Forget what you know about those "faker LED" technologies, because Sony has just announced a television that actually does use LEDs to display an image.

Here at CES 2012, Sony has unveiled a "Crystal LED Display"--a 55-inch prototype TV that actually uses miniature light-emitting diodes in place of pixels. Up until now, the LEDs you have heard of have actually just been vanilla LCDs, just with an LED light source.

If you've ever been to a professional baseball, football, or basketball game, and seen the giant screens above the stands, you will be familiar with LED displays. That's fine for an image measured in furlongs, but this is the first time a company has been brave/stupid enough to try it on a television.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Last year Samsung introduced a TV with a bezel just 0.2 inch wide, and I couldn't help but gush that "the picture comes as close to naked as you'll ever see outside a projector."

This year the company offers that sexy all-picture look on three series of high-end LED TVs announced at CES, the least-expensive of which is the UNES7100. Available in three sizes, its main differentiator compared with the other two--the UNES7500 and the flagship UNES8000--is lack of the company's new Smart Interaction voice/gesture control feature.

By the way, if anybody'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--New for 2012, Samsung says it will include two pairs of active 3D glasses with its 2012 3D-compatible HDTVs, and the least-expensive such LED will be the UNES6500 series.

Available in six screen sizes, the UNES6500's major step-up over the 2012 UNES6100 models will be 3D compatibility. Otherwise both will feature the company's Smart Hub interactive TV suite as well as a thin 0.5-inch-wide bezel around the screen.

All of Samsung's 2012 3D TVs will utilize active 3D technology, as opposed to the passive variety employed by LG and others (more info).

Its features peg … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If Samsung and LG have their way, CES 2012 will be forever known as the show of the dueling 55-inch OLED TVs.

Just like cross-peninsula rival LG, Samsung says it, too, will ship a 55-inch OLED TV to the U.S. market this year. Samsung confirmed it would aim for sometime in the second half of 2012, while LG narrowed its release date down to the third quarter.

Neither company divulged pricing, but I expect both 55-inch OLED TVs to retail for at least $7,999.

Even basic details on Samsung's TV, such as a model number, are … Read more