[an error occurred while processing this directive] CES 2013 TV Report by Manufacturer: Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio

CES 2013 TV Report by Manufacturer

OLED TVs, 4K UHD Large TVs, Huge LED TVs Abundant Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio

by and Jack Burden, editors/reviewers

Best of CES

Our editors Jack Burden, Robert Wiley and Phil Conner have decided on what they thought was the best of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Plasma, LED, 3D, and UHD, OLED TV. Their choices are not just limited to models that will be on sale this year since manufacturers are also showing off prototypes of future technologies that will be in our TV rooms before you know it. See the “Best of” categories below for more:

TVs by Manufacturer

Below are many of the new developments regarding each manufacturers TV Introductions and Offerings for 2013. Follow the links below or keep reading to see what each manufacturer has to offer this year.

LG TV CES 2013

LG focused a lot of their booths attention on their LG OLED TVs offerings as well as some UHD 4K, showing many different qualitative displays about how picture quality is produced on their OLED TVs. There is a large display of the curved OLED TVs to show how “flexible” the technology is and also it made a very eye catching display.

LG OLED TV
The 55EM9600 boasts amazing black levels and color accuracy on this OLED TV

There was a large number of LG Cinema Screen design displays on one wall, all showing passive 3D technology on-screen. In fact, nearly all the displays in LG's booth had passive 3D content on-board – even OLED and 4K TVs. There were large tanks of available passive 3D glasses for guests to grab to view the entire display. One display of a 4K UHD passive 3D display was especially improssive. It was from animated 4K 3D content.

2013 New LG Magic Remote
Here is the redesigned Magic Remote for 2013. The biggest additions are the mic and mic button for engaging voice recognition controls

LG showed their new Google TV with QWERTY keyboard remote on one side and Magic Remote controls on the other side. This is for the 55GA7900 and 47GA7900 series TVs. The other Google TV series also has the new remote, which works very well to speed browsing and Apps control. One model in this series is the 50GA6400. The Google TV options avail consumers that are familiar with and enjoy Android Apps all the choices that those Apps provide. It's another Smart TV offering to go along with the current suite.

LG 55GA7900 Google TV LED TV
This shot shows the Google TV menu the 55GA7900 is equipped with. This is the top tier Google TV model for the year and is very feature heavy

Notably missing from LG CES 2013 TV booth: LG showed no plasma TVs at their booth at CES 2013 but will produce a couple of models for 2013. In LED, the company steered clear of local dimming LED backlighting technology, opting to concentrate on edge-lit.

Samsung TV CES 2013

Samsung's CES booth was dominated in the front by Huge 4K UHD TVs. These were encased in large black frames. One or two were 110 inches. The picture quality on these varied a lot depending on whether it was showing 4K content or up-converting 1080p content (which was still impressive). There were several side booths set up to show how Samsung is obtaining better picture quality engineering techniques on their 4K UHD TVs. The size was quite impressive but from side viewing angles I though I detected some pretty severe contrast degradation on these TVs.

Samsung's 110-inch 4K UHD TV
Samsung's giant 110 inch 4K UHD TV shows impressive detail in this shot. Also notice the floating frame design

There was also a nice sized dedicated OLED TV section with self emitting RGB technology. The black levels produced are astounding. There was one display where viewers could test a joint-view active 3D OLED TV display where side to side viewers can see very different content on the screen at the same time. The call this “multi-view 3D” capability. It sends active 3D 1080p to each eye and it worked well. I dont know how useful such a feature is, but it worked well nonetheless.

Samsung OLED TV
This shot demonstrates the contrast range OLEDs are capable of. Samsung's OLED TV is particularly striking

Samsung announced that they are hoping for end 1st Half of 2013 to ship their OLED and UHD 4K TVs.

Samsung had a very nice plasma TV display for its PN60F8500 top of the line plasma TV for 2013 which showed some remarkable improvement in both black levels at 4 times prior levels and also peak white and brighness levels – now equaling their best LED TVs in contrast ratio. PN64F8500, PN51F8500.

Samsung F5500 Plasma TV
The F5500 plasma is the middle of the road offering for 2013/2014. For a mid tier plasma, the black levels and contrast are exceptional

Samsung's LED TV offerings were an extension of 2012's excellent offerings in terms of both styling and quality much like LG. Their top end UN55F8000 and UN60F7500 flagship LED models have a retractable camera and a remote control with voice interaction which works well for certain types of functions.

Samsung F7500 LED TV
This shot from the F7500 LED TV displays fantastic color rendition. Clarity and sharpness are strong suites demonstrated in this picture as well

Panasonic TV CES 2013

Panasonic also had a display showing a 4K UHD OLED TV (56inch), but there was only one piece on display and though it looked great, there was no ETA on delivery this year.

Their TV lineup was split evenly between LED TVs and Plasma TVs, with enhanced black levels in their new TC-P60ZT60 series which are pitch and look to be 20% better than the black levels of the VT50 series from last year which were an industry best. In a side to side comparison in a pitch black room, the ZT60 bested the VT50 by a large margin.

Panasonic ZT60 Plasma TV
The Panasonic ZT60 had some of the best picture quality characteristics seen at the show. Color accuracy and black levels are beaten only by OLED TVs

The glass and metal design is again a focal point of the top end plasma and LED TVs.

Panasonic ZT60 Glass and Metal Design
The appearance of the ZT60 is very attractive. The glass and metal design is elegantly executed and makes the TV stand out in any room

In the Panasonic LED TVs the same technologies from 2012 prevailed such as the super wide enhancement technology which helps wide viewing angles on LED TVs. The TC-L55WT60 replaces the TC-L55WT50 as the top of the line and has the addition of a retractable camera.

Panasonic WT60 LED TV
The design of the WT60 is very striking at first glance. Picture quality is not as strong as Panasonic plasmas, but the WT60 is a worthy contender

All of the top of the line TVs in both technologies from Panasonic have the Swipe and Share feature which is a connectivity enhancement that allows your smart devices (ipad, iphone, tablet) to swipe that content to the TV using the same Wifi connection. Then you can modify it using the new pen touch technology and swipe it back to the tablet or Smart phone in modified form. Voice recognition from the small touch pad remote control is also a new feature, which helps speed browsing considerably but does little else well.

Panasonic Touch Pen Feature
Panasonic's Touch Pen is a fun addition to Viera Connect. The pen allows you to draw on photos and videos then share what you've added with friends and family

Notably Missing from their booth at CES 2013: No LED 4K TVs

Sony TV CES 2013

Sony had it's new KDL-55W900A LED TV which will be one of the top of the line models for 2013 sharing space with the XBRHX950 series. This model was prominently displayed and picture quality techniques highlighted at several booths including one focusing on the X-reality Pro engine.

Sony KDL-55W900A 4K UHD TV
Color accuracy and reproduction bump up the 'wow' factor of the W900A significantly.

Sony really had lots of focus on the 4K UHD TV technology in their booth. There were many booths set up highlighting both the picture and sound quality of this impressive TV. They even have sizes already picked out, the XBR-65X900A, XBR-55X900A, and XBR-84X900A models. The included side speaker sound system is very impressive as is the passive 3D viewing on these TVs, which utilize LED backlighting.

There was also on display an OLED 4K TV which was very impressive.

Sony 4K UHD OLED TV
This shot shows off the amazing color and detail the Sony 4K UHD OLED is capable of producing

Notably Missing from their 2013 CES show: Sony Crystal TV introduced last year at CES.

Toshiba TV CES 2013

Toshiba did not have much in the way of OLED TVs just some small displays showing how OLED screens can bend. The differentiating display they do have is their Multiparalax passive glasses-free 3D display technology which is much improved from last year and easily enjoyable – at least with the animated content they provided.

Toshiba Glasses Free 3D
Toshiba was demonstrating their Multiparalax passive glasses free 3D at their booth

They also showed the L9300 series UHD 4K LED TVs in comparison to a normal 1080p LED TV display. A weakness we noted was side angle viewing contrast degrading. They stated that they are shipping 3 sizes of this TV in Summer 2013.

Toshiba L9300 4K UHD TV
The L9300 series is 4K UHD that produces a ton of detail as well as a good sense of depth

Notably missing from their booth at CES 2013: Passive 3D viewing stations and not much on OLED.

Sharp TV CES 2013

Sharp stays the course with it's super large sized LED TVs with 3 new lines for 2013. The company also stated that they will introduce a 4K UHD LED TV in 2013 and had prototypes present in 60 inch and 70 inch sizes. They also provided displays of their new IGZO energy saving technology that was displayed in a 32 inch size 4K TV. It's primarily function is saving battery life in the pixel-dense LCD portable TVs and tablets of the future.

Sharp 757U Series
The Sharp 757U series has a lot to offer in terms of features and picture quality

In addition the company again had its 7,680 pixel 8K LED TV on display. Last year, I was blown away but the detail offered, but this year after having seen some very good 4K OLED and 4K LED Televisions samples, I was not as impressed.

Sharp 8K UHD TV
The detial displayed in Sharp's 8K TV is impressive, but the colors were a bit washed out

Notably missing from the Sharp booth from 2012 CES: Their portable LED-LCD TVs, which they planned to introduce last year.

Vizio TV CES 2013

Vizio continued to concentrate and introduce their very large size LED TV offerings with Smart TV options.



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