CES 2020

For years, the THX logo on a product meant you were buying something that was a cut above the rest, with the company’s demanding certification process guaranteeing that a component met a certain performance level criterion that ensured buyers they were getting the goods, especially when it came to home theater electronics or speakers. However, the certification became diluted over the years as THX seemed to start certifying products and systems well outside of their key areas, and the THX badge seemed to nearly become extinct. But the company is back at CES and has several new technologies, including the launch of Drop + THX Panda, the first audiophile wireless headphone to receive the THX badge.

Sony is bringing new audio- and video-enhancements to its lineup of 8K and 4K TVs, including a feature that optimizes audio and video playback for individual room environments, 4K/120fps high-frame-rate (HFR) playback, and reception of Next Gen TV (ATSC 3.0) over-the-air TV broadcasts.

TiVo is going to take on low-priced streamers like Roku and Fire TV with the introduction of its new streamer, the TiVo Stream 4K. Unlike all previous TiVo products, the Stream 4K will not have any traditional TiVo DVR functionality, but rather will be entirely dedicated to streaming.

Sound & Vision’s earlier post on Hisense’s CES product lineup included detailed info on the company’s 65XD9G 65-inch 4K LCD TV. What’s most notable about that model, shown above, is a dual-cell design that uses a 2K black-and-white panel as a backlight for a 4K full-color LCD panel, effectively giving the display two million local dimming zones.

I stopped into the Elite Screens suite in the Venetian to check out whether the company was offering any new video projection screens at CES (spoiler: there were! Two, in fact!). But the coolest thing in the suite turned out to not be one of the two new video screens on display, but rather the complete MosicGo outdoor theater entertainment system under the new Elite Projector brand!

If there is one thing you can count on at CES, it is to expand the world of smart, connected, Internet of Things devices. From smart salt shakers, to smart toothbrushes, to connected sex toys, to every kind of fitness/health tracker imaginable, CES has it all. To that list you can now add Robbox Tools’ world’s first Digital Smart Drill.