Panasonic hosted its CTO Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, Fox Filmed Entertainment CTO Hanno Basse and director, writer and actor Danny DeVito Wednesday for a panel on the intersection of technology and entertainment. The two CTOs covered the 4K push, the future of 3D and the relationship between electronic manufacturers and content providers, before making way for DeVito to discuss his view of technology in media production. Continue reading CES 2013: Panasonic and Fox CTOs Discuss the Future of 4K

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) launched a format extension study task force in late 2012 to evaluate the potential of emerging developments including 4K, 8K, High Frame Rates (HFR) and expanded color resolution. Each technology is being evaluated to determine tech feasibility, market demand and the potential impact on the installed base of Blu-ray players. Continue reading CES 2013: BDA Format Task Force is Exploring 4K and 8K

The International 3D Society and 3D@Home Consortium hosted a series of 3D sessions that sent a message that 3D has arrived. Conversations included 3D coming to CE devices such as TVs and mobile devices (MasterImage’s Matt Liszt showed a tablet playing 3D content). Speakers asserted that 3D is not just for entertainment, citing as examples education and medical applications. And speakers shared their views on how 4K fits into the 3D dialogue. Continue reading CES 2013: Stakeholders Share Their 3D Observations

Despite making no mention of Ultra HD or 4K at its pre-show press conference on Sunday, Panasonic made a big splash at its keynote today announcing an ultra-thin 4K tablet that arguably manages to outshine the heavy 4K promotional push of rivals like Toshiba, LG and Sony. The company also unveiled a 56-inch 4K OLED prototype that it claims is the world’s largest of its kind that makes use of a new electronic printing technology. Continue reading CES 2013: Panasonic Premieres 20-inch Tablet and 4K OLED

Kazuo Hirai — who last spring was named Sony Corp.’s president and CEO, succeeding Sir Howard Stringer — opened Sony’s press conference, noting that his focus remains on digital images, games and mobile, as well as turning around Sony’s TV business. As expected, Sony put emphasis on its commitment to 4K, highlighted by the unveiling of a prototype 56-inch 4K OLED display. It is also expanding its 4K TV line with LED displays up to 65-inches. Continue reading CES 2013: Sony Shows 4K OLED Display, Emphasizes 4K Efforts

Samsung is previewing 85-inch and 110-inch Ultra HD LED TVs; a new flagship Smart TV, the F8000 LED with quad-core processor; and a 55-inch OLED TV with Multi-View feature. The company is also extending its “Smart” capabilities including voice recognition and introducing its 2013 Evolution Kit to bring new features to existing Samsung displays without requiring a new television. Continue reading CES 2013: Samsung Launches Ultra HDTVs as Part of New Lineup

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem’s UltraViolet launched in October 2011 and at the 2013 International CES, attendees can expect to hear news and updates from consortium members about the rollout, support and its Common File Format. A booth located in the Grand Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center will offer live demonstrations and an opportunity for CES attendees to register for UltraViolet accounts. Continue reading CES 2013: DECE Counts 9 Million UltraViolet Account Holders

A favorite pastime of analysts in recent years has been attempting to forecast what will prove to be the top trends emerging from the annual International CES confab in Las Vegas. Of course, this year is no different, as consumer electronics continue to branch out from purely an interest of the technorati, become more intrinsically tied to our lifestyles and subsequently draw more mainstream media attention. As we get ready to hit the show floor when the exhibition opens its doors tomorrow, we take a look at some of the more interesting forecasts recently published. (One of our favorite pastimes is discovering who will be right and who will end up missing the mark.) Continue reading CES 2013: A Look at Some of the More Interesting Predictions

With entertainment spending growing to $18.7 billion according to IHS Screen Digest, the entertainment industry is reaping the rewards of offering consumers more choice and options in how they consume content. TV Everywhere’s multi-channel, multi-device approach is finally complementing rather than cannibalizing. The year saw strong growth in Blu-ray discs. UltraViolet’s 7 million households and 8,500 titles now position the format to grow significantly in 2013. Video streaming or SVOD tripled in the first three quarters of the year to an estimated $1.7 billion. And studios continue to experiment with their windowing strategies for electronic sell-through. In this environment, the CE industry continues to respond and innovate. Continue reading CES 2013: Entertainment Trends Drive New Technologies

CEA predicts that Ultra High Definition (UHD) will be “prominently displayed” at the International CES. The surge in interest followed an International Telecommunication Union-led agreement on two UHDTV standards (effectively 4K and 8K). That occurred in August and since then the focus in the U.S. and the majority of countries looking at UHDTV has been on the 4K flavor (the main exception being NHK, which is developing its 8K Super Hi-Vision system). Continue reading CES 2013: Ultra High Definition TVs Coming to Las Vegas

Engadget provides an overview of what it expects we’ll see at CES in early January in regards to display technologies. “The list of tech we’re expecting to see (Ultra HD — aka 4K/8K, OLED, connected TV and second screen interaction) is almost an exact mirror of the high-profile launches from last year’s show,” suggests the post. “The good news, however, is that there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that this is the year we’ll actually see the technology become available and/or more useful in our daily lives.” Continue reading CES 2013: Display Tech Expected to Highlight UHD and Connectivity

When people reference the number of pixels on movie cameras, they are not literally saying the number of pixels, but rather the type of camera, explains Panavision senior VP of Advanced Digital Imaging John Galt. For example, 4K means the camera has 4096 red, 4096 green and 4096 blue photo sites. But Galt suggests that not all cameras are marketed accurately and distinguishes between “marketing” pixels and actual pixels. Continue reading Panavision Exec Discusses Truth About 2K and 4K

To help get consumers interested in its 84-inch 4K Ultra HD TV priced near $25,000, Sony will loan buyers a 4K Ultra HD Video Player preloaded with 10 feature films in 4K format. According to the press release, the films include “The Amazing Spiderman,” “Total Recall,” “Salt,” “Bad Teacher,” “Bridge Over the River Kwai,” and “Taxi Driver,” among others.

The Ultra HD Video Player is designed to be updated with additional 4K titles and video clips, says the company. The Sony system includes the 84-inch 4K LED TV and an Xperia Tablet S that serves as a remote control.

“As a standalone unit, the Sony XBR-84X900 TV already upscales all video inputs, including the more than 7,000 Blu-ray Disc titles currently in distribution, to a near-4K resolution through the use of Sony’s proprietary 4K X-Reality PRO three-chip picture engine,” notes the press release.

“While there are other 4K Ultra HDTVs arriving this year — and we expect to see many more at CES in January — at the moment, this is the only one with a content delivery system in place, to go along with its upscaling chops, and the only studio pushing content at this res so far,” reports Engadget.