CES 2012 roundup: Televisions

The four-day CES 2012 (10-13 January 2012) is being held in Nevada, Las Vegas. A flurry of pre-show conferences and announcements gave a hint of what is to come this year. Here’s a quick round-up of televisions – a dynamic gadget frontier this year.

They will come smarter, bigger but thinner.

LG's stunning 55" OLED EM9600 measures only 4mm thick, thinner than a smartphone.

LG's stunning 55" OLED EM9600 measures only 4mm thick, thinner than a smartphone.

The most impressive offerings come from LG. It has unveiled its 55″ EM9600 measuring just 4mm thick – that’s thinner than a smartphone.

The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) system offers a ‘refresh-rate’ that is 1,000 times faster than most current sets – this means that moving images will appear much smoother.

The TV weights only 7.5kg.

LG will also be launching an 84” TV with ultra definition, as well as voice control remote controls, and a 3D gesture-control interface like that of Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect.

Samsung is pushing its 55" Super OLED TV, the ES 8000.

Samsung is pushing its 55" Super OLED TV, the ES 8000.

It’s Korean rivals, Samsung, is offering its flagship Super OLED TV – the ES8000.

It comes with an integrated camera for video conferencing and “smart interaction”; content from its GALAXY smartphone platform including Angry Birds; as well as 3D, voice, gestures, facial recognition.

Powered by a dual-core processor, users can surf the web while using or downloading multiple apps simultaneously


Lenovo, from neighbouring China, has announced the world’s first television based on Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

The 42” and 50” versions of its Google Android TV will initially only be available in China.

These will have a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running at 1.5Ghz, 1GB Ram, SD card storage and a 5-megapixel webcam.

The remote control will feature a touchscreen and an integrated microphone for voice control.

Something interesting was demo-ed by Lenovo’s fellow Chinese company – Haier.

Haier has demo-ed a a 55-inch television which uses magnetic resonance coupling to draw power wirelessly, as well as having wireless data connectivity. No more messy mains cables.

No more data cables as well, because data exchange will take place wirelessly using Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) video technology, which enables a non-compressed 1080p HD image to be transmitted over a distance of 30m at a speed of 3Gbps.

Across the sea, offerings from the established Japanese makers seem to be more of the same, with some still trying to push 3D.

I’ll update here on smart TVs as more announcements are made during CES 2012 over the next few days.

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One Response to “CES 2012 roundup: Televisions”

  1. […] Electronics unveiled  the 84-inch 3D Ultra Definition TV at the International Consumer Electronics Show 2012. The TV is set to launch in Singapore in Q4 of 2012. World's largest 3D Ultra Definition TV: […]

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