CES 2011

As I was wandering around the 3D Tech Zone, I stumbled upon a small booth with an autostereoscopic 3D LCD TV—in other words, no glasses. Technicolor was demonstrating its algorithm that takes in right and left images, derives depth information for each pixel, and interpolates six additional views between the right and left images, a process that cannot yet be performed in real time.

I profiled the KEF Concept Blade speaker <A href="http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultimate-gear/blades_of_glory/">here</A>, but since there's only one pair in the world, there was no way for me to hear it until the company brought it to CES and set it up in a room at the Hilton with an Audio Research CD5 CD player and DSi200 integrated amp. Listening to Patricia Barber in a live recording and a tenor sax with rhythm section, it sounded quite good overall, with very clean, tight low bass, but the upper bass and vocal range was slightly congested. The KEF rep agreed and said it was the room, and I couldn't disagree—hotel rooms generally make lousy listening environments.

About a year ago, Philips introduced an LCD TV with an aspect ratio of 21:9 (2.33:1), but it was never made available in the US. Now, Vizio is working on the same idea as demonstrated by this concept piece. It measures 58 inches diagonally with a pixel resolution of 2560x1080, perfect for displaying movies without the hated letterbox bars. The prototype uses CCFL backlighting, but the final version could use LEDs. I was told it could become an actual product by the third quarter of this year and that it would be "Vizio priced."

The model number may be a mouthful, but this mammoth LCD TV from Vizio is certainly an eyeful. Measuring 72 inches diagonally, it offers Sensio 3D with active shutter glasses, Vizio Internet Apps (which provide access to online content from a wide variety of sources), WirelessHD connectivity (the 60GHz variety of wireless HDMI), LED local dimming, and 480Hz refresh rate (actually 240Hz with backlight scanning). It should be available in the third quarter of this year at a cost of&#151;wait for it&#151;less than $4000! The XVTPRO will also be available with screen sizes of 55 and 47 inches for even less.

When the 3D Blu-ray spec was announced, everyone said it would require HDMI 1.4, which implied the need for new HDMI hardware. But then I learned that the Sony PlayStation 3, which has HDMI 1.3, can be updated to provide 3D capabilities with new firmware. That seemed odd, so I visited the HDMI Licensing booth and found out that all the versions of HDMI are merely specifications that define what features they will support, and manufacturers are free to implement all, some, or none of them. Also, HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 are capable of the same maximum bandwidth—10.2Gbps.

As you may already know, the intellectual property rights for HQV video processing were purchased by IDT some time ago, and the company has been working on new chips since then. I've seen demos of prototypes a couple of times, but I was under NDA (non-disclosure agreement) until now. I can finally talk about the HQV Vida chip, which will soon be available in AVRs, Blu-ray players, and video processors.

I'm very happy to report that Samsung is still bullish on plasma, introducing three new slim lines and two standard-depth lines. All five lines feature a new Clear Image Panel, in which the outer filter glass is affixed directly to the plasma panel with no air gap. This allows them to be thinner and achieve lower black levels in the presence of ambient light.