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CES 2012: LG TVs go big, Vizio goes wide and Sony goes ape

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As always, the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has been filled with new TVs and home entertainment product announcements.

In fact, there have been so many announcements that it might be tough to keep up with them all if you’re actually looking to CES to help you decide what your next TV set will be.

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No worry, we’re here to help sift through the noise. We’ll have more on TVs and Google TV products coming, but here are some of the highlights from LG, Vizio and Sony thus far.

LG

As we reported ahead of CES, LG had big-screen plans for this year’s Vegas show with a new 55-inch OLED TV that is just 4 millimeters thick and an 84-inch LED-backlit LCD TV with 4K-display resolution.

For those who don’t know, 4K resolution is what many in the TV industry believe will be the next bump up in high-definition standards for TVs and Web video. Current top-of-the-line HD TV sets available to consumers now are either 1080p or 720p -- each number indicating the number of vertical pixel lines of resolution the HD sets can handle. The term 4K resolution identifies displays with about 4,000 horizontal lines of resolution. There isn’t a ton of 4K video content out yet (most HD TV channels are 720p), but many filmmakers are moving toward shooting in 4K with newer digital cameras.

As promised, LG unveiled both the 55-inch and 84-inch sets at CES this year, each set falling into what LG is calling its Cinema 3D series of TVs, which will range in size between 55 and 84 inches and feature a super-thin bezel when they hit the market later this year. I saw both sets in person here at CES and they looked big, bright and clear.

Of course, how a TV looks on the showroom floor and how it looks in the living room can vary. But LG, as well as many other TV makers, seems to be producing thinner and lighter TVs with increasingly more detailed and accurate pictures displayed on screen.

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Another announcement from LG this year was wider implementation of its Magic Remote, which was shown off at CES in 2011 too. As my colleague David Sarno noted in his reporting on CES, the Magic Remote acts much like the Wii remote used by Nintendo’s Wii video game console.

With the motion-sensing Magic Remote in hand, a user can navigate on-screen TV menus, settings and even channel changes with a combination of gestures and button presses.

LG is also showing off Google TV sets that will launch in the U.S. in the first half of 2012 and later for the rest of the world. Among LG’s Google TV offerings will be a 55-inch model, and each Google TV set from LG will come with a Magic Remote with a built-in keyboard.

Google TV will run on LG’s TVs alongside its Smart TV platform unveiled last year. Since 2011’s CES, LG said it has added more than 1,200 apps to its Smart TV offerings.

Just as it was last year, 3-D is a major theme at CES this year, and LG also said that about 50% of its 2012 TV line would be made up of 3-D TVs. But like Vizio, and unlike many other TV rivals, LG’s 3-D TVs won’t use active-shutter 3-D glasses. Instead, LG’s and Vizio’s 3-D TVs will work with passive 3-D glasses that are more like the glasses often found in movie theaters.

Vizio

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Irvine-based Vizio also showed off a newer, wider vision for home TVs. Dubbed Cinema Wide, Vizio is releasing a line of new TVs with a 21:9 aspect ratio. Nearly all TVs currently being sold have a 16:9 aspect ratio.

So, what’ll this mean when you’re actually watching TV on a Cinema Wide display? When watching a movie in a wide-screen format, no more ‘letterbox’ black bars above and below the image.

However, if you’re watching TV on a Cinema Wide set, you’re almost guaranteed to see black bars running to the left and right of the screen, since most TV shows and sporting events nowadays are broadcast in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Vizio says it will release its Cinema Wide sets (which will also be 3-D TVs) in both 50-inch and 58-inch sizes in the first six months of the year, with a 71-inch size to follow later.

The bargain-priced TV maker is also releasing a lineup of Google TV products including TVs running the Google TV software, Google TV Blu-Ray player and a set-top box called the Stream Player that will enable Google TV to run on any HD TV.

Sony

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In 2012, Sony’s Bravia line of TVs will be divided into three series -- BX for entry-level models, EX at the mid range and HX at the top.

The high-end HX line will be made up of LED-backlit LCDs with 3-D and built-in Wi-Fi for Skype and Sony apps. The even higher-end HX850 series will also feature screens made of Coring’s Gorilla Glass, which is easy to clean and scratch resistant, as well as thin and light. The HX series will be available in 46-inch and 55-inch sizes, each with a 1080p resolution.

The EX line won’t have Gorilla Glass or 3-D, but these TVs will have built-in Wi-Fi and Sony apps and will be available in 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch sizes, each with a 1080p resolution.

The entry-level BX line from Sony will be made up of some pretty basic TVs. The BX450 series,will offer 1080p resolution in 46-inch and 40-inch sizes while the BX330 series will consist of one 31.5-inch set with a resolution of 720p, the lowest resolution that can still be classified as high definition.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles on Google+

Twitter.com/nateog

Top photo: LG’s press conference at CES 2012 in Las Vegas on Jan. 9. Credit: LG

Second image from top: LG’s Google TV Smart TV set. Credit: LG

Third image from top: Vizio’s Cinema Wide TV. Credit: Vizio

Bottom image: Sony’s HX850 TV at an angle. Credit: Sony

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