CES 2012: HDTV's

Despite the popularity of tablets and smartphones, CES has always been about TVs. Bigger TVs, thinner TVs, Full HD TVs, 4K TVs, OLED TVs and smart Internet-connected TVs. CES 2012 is no different.
One of the stars of the show is LG's new 4mm-thick 55-inch OLED 3D HDTV, which has got Vegas crowds dribbling down their free promotional T-shirts. Only 4mm. That's thinner than your smartphone. It's quite simply stunning and still shots don't do it justice.



Not to be outdone (although it clearly has been), Samsung also has a 55-inch OLED telly of its own. Check out our photos and video.
Could this finally be the year that OLED becomes more than a headline-grabbing technology demo? Our fingers are crossed. Again. Just like last year...
As for Sony, it pressganged Hollywood star Will Smith to look impressed by its prototype Crystal LED technology. Fusing LCD and OLED, the futuristic TV works by packing in six million LEDs to give it OLED levels of clarity, colour and brightness.
In the battle of the BIG screens, LG and Sharp duked it out for the 'largest 3D TV of the show' award. Sharp came close with its 80-incher, but LG just nabbed the gong with its 84-inch ultra definition (3,840 x 2,160 pixel) set. The 1mm bezel "enhances the illusion that the 3D is borderless".



And if you think 4K2K TV is impressive, wait until you clap your eyes on Sharp's prototype 8K panel, which boasts 7,680 x 4,320 pixels. That's 16 times the resolution of HD.
Of course, the next generation of TVs will also be smarter. Sony has plans to play around with Google TV STBs, LG also has a Smart TV running Google's Android telly system, while Opera has unveiled more about its television app store.
While we wait for a Siri-powered Apple iTV, Samsung and LG have both been pimping Kinect-style gesture technology as a replacement for the remote control.



In fact, LG's system uses an add-on camera (pictured above) that looks suspiciously similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 peripheral. Samsung's tech uses the camera that's built into its 8000-series HD TVs.
Panasonic, meanwhile, enlisted the help of Justin Timberlake to launch MySpace TV, which will feature on new Viera HDTVs. Does anybody still use MySpace? And can any of them afford a TV? We're not convinced. Panasonic also has a big OLED TV in the works, but it just wasn't ready for this year's show.