The TV is the most ubiquitous device at CES. They're big, they're bright, and they're everywhere -- the show is historically an audio/video show, and the every year the top TV manufacturers in the world show off their latest and greatest.
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That's why CES is such a great temperature-take of the state of display technology. In recent years, screens appeared to brush up against the limits of progress. Like audio tech did in years past, display screens have reached what many believe are the limits of human vision. Manufacturers are claiming pixel counts and color gamuts that are absurdly high -- the visual equivalent of having the loudest dog whistle.
If you think that means progress has peaked, you'd be dead wrong. The industry had a swing and a miss with 3D TV a few years back, but it's come back with features that consumers actually want to have. It seems there are other ways to get people interested besides having the most pixels and the best quality.
Not that ever-improving display tech is failing to impress. The cost-benefit equation of moving to Ultra HD and beyond is certainly arguable, but humans are primarily visual creatures, and there's something inherently satisfying about having a more realistic-looking screen, even if the improvements are slight. Everyone can appreciate a better picture.
Put simply, progress in display technology is alive and well. Here's what CES 2015 had to say about it.
1. 4K isn't the end
When 4K (aka "Ultra HD") began to take over as the standard in high-quality video, some pointed out that 1080p displays were already "retina" quality at reasonable screen sizes and viewing distances (i.e. unless you have a 60-inch or bigger TV, you won't see the difference). But manufacturers pushed forward, and TV buyers are responding. Everyone wants their next set to be a 4K model.
The message is clear: consumers will respond to increased resolution. Little wonder we're seeing more demos of 8K TVs -- including "virtual" ones -- which have four times the resolution of 4K. On a practical, level, this is getting crazy, and if 8K ends up succeeding 4K someday, we'll need to revamp the whole content ecosystem again, challenging Moore's Law to keep up.
Looking at the response to 4K, though, that feels inevitable. Our thirst to have the most pixels appears to have no limit.
2. Quantum dots are real, and they're spectacular
It's not just about the pixels. Hard to believe, but as good as the best TVs have been up until now, they're still not quite "real." But we're closer than ever before now that quantum-dot technology has arrived in full. TVs with the feature have an extra layer of extremely tiny (like, 20-atoms-thick tiny) crystals that boosts color performance by as much as 30%.
It initially looked like quantum dots would be limited to just few models at CES, with models from LG and TCL showing what the tech could do. Then Samsung put them in every model in its flagship line SUHD TVs. That means economies of scale are already kicking in on the tech, and it'll probably get much more common in the coming months.
3. Big and thin are a given
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Sony_Press_Electronics-1.jpg" caption="Sony's "floating" 4K TV is just 0.2 inch thin, slimmer than even its Xperia smartphones." credit="" alt="Sony floating 4K TV"]
In the early 2000s, manufacturers raced to be the one with the largest possible display, which shifted to having having the thinnest. But we've passed the point where claiming victory in either of these two areas is meaningful.
Sony's ultra-thin "floating" TV, which is actually thinner than a smartphone, is technically impressive, but unlikely to move any needles, especially since the electronics still add an inch or two to the lower part of the TV (where would the power cable go in a 0.2-inch-thick TV?). LG's hard push into OLED might make sense for other reasons, but the design benefits (OLED panels can be thinner than LCDs) are negligible. For regular people, all TVs -- even cheap ones -- are big and thin enough.
4. Curved isn't a fad
Samsung bet big on curved TVs in 2014, and it's paid off. According to the company, about half the 4K TVs it sold last year were curved. It's responded with curves everywhere in its flagship SUHD TVs, and it's going further with its bendable models, too. Rivals like LG, Hisense and others are responding with curved TVs of their own.
Samsung claims 60% of UHD TV market; half UHD sets it sold were curved. #CES #MashCES #CES2015 pic.twitter.com/diS2csvsg9— Pete Pachal (@petepachal) January 5, 2015
As with 4K, the visual benefits of a curved screen are questionable, but it's a design option that unquestionably delights some consumers. And a curved design actually makes more sense for a computer monitor, and virtually every major manufacturer debuted a curved model at CES.
Finally, LG's marquee debut of its second curved smartphone, the LG Flex 2, shows that curves have an audience in mobile, too. Because of the touch-first nature of phones, it probably won't be anywhere near as large, but for a top player to christen a curved phone as its "flagship" means the arc of this trend is still on its way up.
5. Smart is expected, but not desired
Every TV maker offers smart TVs now. Indeed, app interfaces are present in almost all of the TVs on display at CES. But no one buys a TV for its "UI," and, in any case, no matter how good they are, smart TV systems still can't access your cable-box DVR, so we won't be free of those anytime soon.
The systems have improved, incorporating services like Netflix, YouTube and even your own content in a visual and logical way. Also, Samsung and LG used CES to formally promote their smart TV systems to smart home system, so users will continue to seeing benefits of progress. But all the interfaces are very much the same, and smart TV as a concept will never be exciting.
6. This is the year of the 4K laptop
Is 4K overkill on laptops? Doesn't matter -- we're here: Dell, HP and others are making 4K a viable option in PCs, thanks to Intel's powerful fifth-generation Core "Broadwell" processors. This further cements 4K as the format to aspire to in any content ecosystem, and it gives buyers bragging rights on a new device… at least for a little while.
7. Content is still king
Dish's announcement of Sling TV is easily the biggest TV-related news to come out of CES 2015. By offering subscribers a package of live TV channels over the Internet -- including key cable networks like CNN and ESPN -- without needing a cable subscription, Sling TV has the potential to usher in the cord-cutting future for real, and without the baggage of Aereo.
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