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When it comes to high definition and big TVs, CES is the king of all shows. Every year everyone tries to beat everyone else at producing the biggest and best products. Last year, two products from Apple managed to dominate the show, even though they weren’t even there. That’s right — Vegas is a crazy place at the best of times, but never more so during CES.
So what are we expecting to see there in January? Well, it’s impossible to predict accurately, but we’d certainly like to see a new contender for the increasingly stupid ‘World’s Largest Television‘ record. Last year, Panasonic and Sharp were fighting it out, with Sharp ultimately edging it. But we have every faith that someone will have been beavering away all year, trying to better the record. We think 120 inches is the size they should be aiming for.
We’re also expecting to see a little more of Sony’s much talked-about OLED screens — hopefully in larger sizes — but we’re absolutely certain there won’t be any SED screens, which has to get an award for best vapourware ever. Mitsubishi, however, is promising a look at its new laser TVs, so we’ll be keen to have a sniff around their booth.
Now that Ofcom has given the nod to ultra-wideband wireless in the UK, we’re going to be keen to have a look at products such as wireless USB and HDMI, both of which make cables a thing of the past — at least, in theory. If there’s one thing we don’t like, it’s stupid cables hanging around everywhere.
It wouldn’t be a consumer electronics show without Blu-ray and HD DVD trying to out-shout each other about whose product is better. We have no reason to doubt that will be true at this year’s show. But the interesting things won’t be coming from either camp — unless another studio switches to being format exclusive. We think the cool stuff will come in the form of cheaper Blu-ray players, and maybe someone other than Toshiba will make an HD DVD player — all of the non-Toshiba players so far have been based on existing Tosh models.
Whatever happens in Vegas, we’ll be telling you all about it right here. So keep us in your bookmarks and use the comments section below to tell us what colour to put all our money on. -Ian Morris
