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Sony amazes CES with TV prototype

A man looks at the Sony OLED 27-inch prototype TV at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday. PHOTO: AFP

High definition TVs (HDTVs) are slimming down while their pictures and capabilities are beefing up.

Innovations at the world's largest consumer electronics show in Las Vegas underscore the trend, with Sony wowing visitors with a 3mm-thick Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) TV.

While liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs use backlights, OLED's picture-creating pixels come from screens that can be made paper thin and bendable while using less power.

Sony of America chief executive Howard Stringer proclaimed OLED a new industry standard, saying "even the name sounds like a Viking warlord."

"This is the future of television," Jose Albanez of Sony said on Wednesday while guarding a roped-off OLED display on the exhibit floor of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

OLED TVs hit store shelves in Japan last month and were launched in the US market this week at a price of US$2,500 dollars.

Albanez told price-conscious visitors that the cost of the TVs would drop "eventually."

Samsung revealed at the conference a pair of OLED TV prototypes it envisions having to market in a couple of years.

Pioneer showed off a "concept model" 50-inch LCD HDTV just 9mm deep, saying it intended to have it ready for consumers within three years.

Hitachi's 1.5-inch-thick LCD model is already on the market.

Philips and Texas Instruments presented flat televisions with 3-D images.

Texas Instruments eye glasses link wirelessly to TVs and alter slightly the images reaching each eye.

The principle behind seeing 3-D images is that each of a person's eyes sees a different perspective and the brain combines the images to create a sense of depth.

"The glasses sync to the TV and then your brain kicks in and sees 3-D," Ken Bell of Texas Instruments said while demonstrating the TV sets.

Texas Instruments uses the same technology in a "dual view" TV that lets video game players compete head-to-head in racing or shooter games, but only see their character on the screen.

"Each player gets the full screen and no more screen cheating," Bell said, referring to being able to take premature peeks at what opponents are doing.

"It's pretty neat," he said.

Philips's 3-D TVs don't require special glasses. The sets split image signals so different pictures hit different eyes.

"It can see a little blurry at first, but your eyes need to adjust to it," Bjorn Teuwsen of Philips said as he and others gazed at a model on the CES show floor.

"It appeals to your senses. You get more excited. We see it in studies -- people start sweating because it is so immersive," he said.

Philips began selling the 3-D TVs in Europe last month and will offer them in the US sometime this year.

Early interest in buying the Philips 3-D sets has come from casinos, taverns, shopping centers and other businesses due to their hefty price tags, Teuwsen said.

The smallest model, 20-inches diagonally, is priced US$3,670.

Among the dizzying selection of slim flat screen TVs are many that boast online connections, bypassing computers when it comes to watching Internet streamed TV shows, films or video clips.

A Toshiba TV incorporates online social networking by letting people watching a TV show link online with others viewers.

Friends can exchange instant messages on their screens during the shows.
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