TVs grab spotlight at Consumer Electronics Show 2017

Though sales of televisions globally have been slipping, those who do buy TVs in 2017 are expected to prefer 4K high-definition models.

LG Electronics vice-president of marketing David VanderWaal presents the LG Signature OLED TV W at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

LG Electronics showed off a “wallpaper” thin television as TV makers vied for the spotlight ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show officially opening in Las Vegas on Thursday.

As in years past, the South Korean consumer electronics giant staked out the opening slot in a day rich with back-to-back press briefings by industry titans.

LG and rivals touched on hot themes at this year’s show — including robots, appliances equipped with artificial intelligence, and self-driving car technology.

A surprise star of the presentation was a strikingly thin LG Signature OLED flat-screen television simply branded “W”.

The super high-definition TV measured just 2.57 mm thick in a 65-inch screen model. LG boasted that a larger screen model garnered a CES Best of Innovation Award.

“Why the ‘W’?” LG Electronics USA marketing vice-president David VanderWaal asked rhetorically during the presentation.

“Wallpaper. Window. Wow,” he said.

The screens are designed to affix to walls with magnetic brackets, protruding less than 4 mm.

Pierre-Francois Tissot wears an In & Motion smart motor bike vest during CES 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The vest works like a personal airbag by monitoring the rider and if it senses a fall will automatically inflate.

The Hover Camera Passport drone uses facial recognition software to automatically follow the user around and shoot video.

Flow, a smart air quality sensor (left) and its companion app. The wearable device measures dust, exhaust fumes and other harmful gases, as well as temperature and humidity, according to Engadget. With these devices and monitoring stations, Plume, the lab behind flow, plans to map pollution levels in real time across most countries,

The Sleep Sheep, a kid-safe stuffed toy sheep that helps deepen sleep with music and gets smarter over time to ease troubled sleep for children. It is manufactured by AcousticSheep LLC.

Taclim VR shoes by Cerevo can be paired with virtual reality headsets and have haptic feedback which supposedly gives the user the feeling of the virtual surface on which they are walking.

The Olly personal assistant by Emotech is designed to adapt how it interacts with a person based on the person's mood and personality.

The Chrysler Portal, an electric-powered concept mini-van focused toward the millennial generation. The Chrysler Portal with modular components can be adapted for autonomous driving.

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Sony OLED shines

The new Sony XBR-A1E BRAVIA OLED series 4K High Dynamic Range TV is on display during a press event for CES 2017 in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Sony used CES to introduce a stunning A1E series Bravia OLED television in a shift to image technology that had been terrain ruled by LG in the U.S. market.

“It renders every detail of an image,” Sony chief executive Kazuo Hirai said of the new flagship TV at the company’s booth on the CES show floor. “You will see more than you every thought possible in a display.”

Sony eliminated speakers from the A1E series, creating technology that generates rich sound by making the screen vibrate in what Mr. Hirai boasted to be an industry first.

Google’s Android TV software for accessing internet content was also built into the screens, according to the Japanese consumer electronics and entertainment titan.

Mr. Hirai promised a rising sea of 4K resolution content for high-definition screens.

TCL out to grow

China’s fast-growing television maker TCL was at the show with a mission to expand its market.

TCL unveiled 25 new Roku-enabled TV models heading for North America, boasting improved high-definition imagery and enhanced audio.

“We are here today because we are investing in the future of technology, specifically smart TVs,” TCL marketing executive Ranjit Gopi said during a press briefing. “We are, as of 2016, one of the fastest growing brands in the world.”

TCL partners include internet powerhouse Google and its Android TV offering.

TCL is investing some $7.7 billion in high-quality television screens and is aiming to make the world’s slimmest curved television, according to Mr. Gopi.

He introduced a new flagship “X” series television that will launch first in China and then be rolled out elsewhere.

Eye-grabbing screens

The new Samsung QLED TV is on display during a press event for CES 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung unveiled a new 75-inch QLED TV model at its CES press gathering, along with a company-first gaming laptop.

“Despite some challenges, we’ve made big strides in 2016, gaining market share in TVs, home appliances, wearables and smartphones,” said Samsung Electronics America chief operating officer Tim Baxter.

“We are delivering on our vision of the future.”

Samsung ramped up its smart TV platform with an offering tailored for sports lovers, and added a new entertainment application. Features in the new models included being able to recognize who is speaking while being commanded by voice.

The South Korean device maker also showed off a new television built with “Quantum Dot” technology.

Sales of televisions globally have been slipping, a seeming result of viewers turning to smartphones, tablets, and computers for video, according to Steve Koenig, senior director of market research at the U.S. Consumer Technology Association trade group behind CES.

Mr. Koenig forecast that $105 billion will be spent on televisions in 2017, down from $108 billion in 2016.

However, those who do buy televisions are expected to prefer 4K high-definition models, with the number of those screens sold jumping to nearly 82 million in 2017 compared with just shy of 53 million in 2016, according to Mr. Koenig.