Larger, thinner TVs seize the limelight at CES media day

By Chris Kudialis

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Extravagant displays, high-profile executives, televisions and robots were aplenty Wednesday at CES media day as technology companies showcased their latest and greatest products to nearly 8,000 media members on hand from around the world.

LG’s ultra-thin W-series TVs set the bar high early in the day at the first Wednesday news conference at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. At a thickness of just 0.15 inches and weighing just 18 pounds, the 65-inch model is the thinnest and lightest Organic LED TV ever made. LG President and Chief Technology Officer Skott Ahn also introduced a 77-inch model at Wednesday’s extravagant black backdrop presentation, weighing just 27 pounds.

“We wanted to develop the lightest, thinnest and most beautiful TV on the planet,” Ahn said.

Debuting at LG’s Wednesday news conference were two sizes of its Hub Robot, designed to provide information like the contents of a person’s refrigerator and perform functions like turning on the air conditioning or washing machine.

Panasonic debuted its own Organic LED TV, the EZ1002, which has nearly double the brightness of a normal OLED panel for peak HDR. Debuted among a handful of new cameras and zoom lenses, Panasonic’s OLED TV was built to compete with LG.

It unlocks “the full contrast and color potential,” of the OLED technology, resulting in “unprecedented accuracy and spectacular beauty,” Michael Moskowitz, Panasonic’s U.S. consumer electronics chief, said Wednesday.

A third competitor, Sony, revealed its own OLED TV, the XBR-A1E Bravia 4K TV, described by company president Kazuo Hirai as having “unprecedented black levels, rich and life-like color, dynamic contrast, blur-less image, and a wide viewing angle.” Sony’s OLED TV will be available in 55-, 65-, and 77-inch sizes.

Samsung on exploding tablets

Samsung President and COO Tim Baxter did not apologize to customers for the well-documented problems with the company's Galaxy Note 7 tablet, which is banned on airlines across the world because its battery explodes at high altitudes.

But Baxter did address the Galaxy Note 7 battery issues, telling viewers that the last year has been “challenging” for Samsung and that the company plans to share the results of an ongoing investigation “very soon.”

“We continue our intensive efforts, internally and with third-party experts, to understand what happened and to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Baxter said.

The company introduced perhaps the most futuristic TV of the day, the Quantum Dot LED, in sizes of 55 inches, 65 inches, 75 inches and 88 inches. The products are set to start shipping in March.

None of the companies at Wednesday’s media day announced pricing for their new TVs.

With 180,000 expected attendees and 34,000 exhibitors from 157 countries, the annual electronics show is the largest convention to hit the Las Vegas Valley each year. The five-day industry-only trade show started with a select few company presentations, like Faraday Future’s unveiling of its FF 91 station wagon on Tuesday, and followed with media day on Wednesday. The event continues with 2.4 million square feet of exhibition space opening Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Mandalay Bay and Venetian, through Sunday.