LAS VEGAS ― The world’s top TV makers are battling for attention at one of the biggest international tech trade show with screens getting bigger and clearer compared to the previous years.
The world’s top TV manufacturer Samsung Electronics on Tuesday showed off the biggest TV at the show ― its 110-inch display Ultra High Definition television ― and its rival LG Electronics pointed to its 55-inch organic light-emitting diode TV.
They both held global press conferences at the show, highlighting their own competitiveness to thousands in the crowd.
Samsung left the 110-inch model at its booth due to its weight and size, but it featured the 85-inch display UHD TV, pointing out that it had the biggest screen among the displayed products.
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A show attendee photographs an image displayed on an LED television at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday. (AP-Yonhap News) |
The 85-inch model was also awarded the CES Best of Innovations this year.
“UHD TV is the next frontier of TV,” said Joe Stinziano, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics America.
The tech behemoth also released the F8000 series, which is the first smart TV with a quad-core processor ― three times faster than last year’s models ― along with the Evolution kit that upgrades the software of older TVs.
LG Electronics announced the U.S. launch date for its OLED TV, which it claims to have superior brightness and clear picture quality as well as a good contrast ratio.
“I know you have been patiently waiting for this commercial launch (of OLED TV). The wait is finally over,” said LG’s chief technology officer Skott Ahn.
The new model, which has been receiving preorders from Korean consumers since Jan. 2, will be offered to U.S. consumers for about $12,000 in March, according to LG officials.
Ahn also said that its 100-inch display laser TV will be available in Korea by the end of this month and in early March in the U.S.
James Fishler, senior vice president of marketing at LG Electronics USA, added that the company was moving completely towards light-emitting display TVs. In addition, seven new models of its Google TVs will be available in five screen sizes.
Sony, the No. 3 industrial player, also showcased a prototype of what it called the “world’s first 4K OLED TV,” referring to the 4,000 pixel-wide resolution, but it failed to conduct a successful demonstration at its press event.
Shortly thereafter, its president and chief executive office Kazuo Hirai introduced the 56-inch model at the very end of the show. The blue screen turned on, switched to a black screen with white letters and then abruptly shut off.
Shaken by the surprise, he stuttered a bit, but went on to say, “Our goal is to create an emotional rush when consumers use our product.”
Hirai also introduced the new 55-inch and 65-inch UHD TVs ― insisting on calling them 4K TVs as well ― and stated that the sales of its 84-inch model “exceeded expectations.”
“We know what contents look like and we’re at the forefront of content creation,” he said. “We will work so that 4K could be adopted across different industries. 4K is not the future, it’s now and Sony is leading the way.”
Sony held the top market share in the global TV industry until yielding to South Korea’s Samsung Electronics in 2005.
By Cho Ji-hyun, Korea Herald correspondent
(
sharon@heraldcorp.com)
