Fall HDTV Trends: 3-D, Fewer Cables and Skinny LEDs

Move over, LCD -- here comes green, lean LED. Make room, too, for sets that dispense with unsightly cables, and get ready for a coming wave of 3-D sets.

These were the big HDTV tech trends on display at CEDIA Expo in Atlanta Sept. 9-13. CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association) is the trade group for people who install high-end home entertainment and automation systems, and its annual show has become the venue of choice for consumer electronics companies that want to show off their high-end wares.

One of the biggest trends is the emergence of LED backlighting as the upscale replacement for conventional, cold-cathode fluorescent LCD screens. LEDs are more energy-efficient than LCDs (many sets tout local dimming -- the capability to turn down brightness in dark spots -- and ambient-light-sensitive displays that get darker in darker rooms). LEDs also dispense with environment-damaging mercury, and their superslim screens are capable of richer color. But they also cost more than traditional LCDs, so most vendors are continuing to offer LCDs for those on a budget. Either way, the sets are now almost all 1080p (as opposed to the 720p resolutions that dominated the market earlier in the decade.

Sony, for example, announced a new pair of superskinny Bravia sets, the XBR10 series, with edge-lit LED backlighting. The sets come with either a 46-inch or a 52-inch screen. They boast speedy 240Hz screen-refresh technology to make action video look smoother.

The XBR10 sets feature another hot technology: WirelessHD. Designed to eliminate ugly cables dangling from wall-hung sets (although they still need a power cord), WirelessHD sets come with transmitter boxes that have the myriad inputs usually found on the back of the set. You hook up all your audio and video sources -- set-top boxes, game consoles, home theater receivers -- to the transmitter box, which beams their uncompressed signals (1080p and 7.1-channel audio) to the set over the unlicensed 60GHz band.

WirelessHD offers vastly more throughput than even the fastest Wi-Fi; backers say the first products, all based on chips by a company called SiBeam, move about 4GB per second (802.11n tops out at a theoretical rate of 600mbps). But WirelessHD lacks Wi-Fi's range -- it can cover only up to 33 feet -- which is why it's a cable-replacement technology, not a home networking technology.

All the goodies in the XBR10 series don't come cheap, however; the 46-inch set is expected to run about $4,500, while the 52-inch model will go for $5,000. Sony plans to ship both next month.

LG Electronics' new SL90 LED sets are also extremely thin -- less than 1.2 inches thick, with no raised bezel. They're due out later this fall with price tags of $2,599 for the 47-inch model and $2,099 for the 42-incher. Three new conventional LCDs, the SL80 series, are somewhat thicker -- 1.8 inches -- but also less expensive, at $1,599 for the 42-inch model, $1,899 for the 47-inch set and $2,799 for the 55-inch display.

LG is also bringing three WirelessHD sets to market. The top-of-the line 55-inch LED-backlit 55LHX is expected to ship shortly at a suggested price of $4,799, while a pair of conventional LCD sets, the LH85 series, is due later this fall for $3,199 (55 inches) and $2,399 (47 inches).

Panasonic recently began shipping a 54-inch plasma TV with WirelessHD, the TC-P54Z1, which it had announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The set/transmitter bundle runs $5,500.

However, 3-D HDTV took center stage at the company's CEDIA booth, in the form of a mobile theater showing dramatic 15-minute reels that included clips from the Pixar film "Up!" and sports footage. Insisting that its technology is poised to become the industry standard for 3-D, Panasonic said it expects to begin shipping 3-D-enabled TVs and Blu-ray Disc players next year. The technology requires wearing special glasses, which Panasonic says are superior to those provided for 3-D movies in theaters.

Panasonic isn't the only vendor to set a stake in 3-D. Jeff Goldsmith, Sony Electronics television vice president, says the company is committed to 1080p content in 3-D.

"You can bet that we're bullish on the technology as 2010 approaches," he told reporters at the company's CEDIA news conference. Samsung, meanwhile, has for some time been shipping 3-D aftermarket kits.

Sharp's new offerings include a line of four LED-backlit Aquos sets, the LE700 series, all 1080p sets ranging in price from $2,800 for a 52-inch model to $1,100 for a 32-inch set.

The company also announced a pair of larger conventional LCD sets at what the company described as attractive price points, given the dimensions involved. The 65-inch LC-65E77UN will sell for about $4,500 when it ships later this month, Sharp says, and the 60-inch LC-60E77UN will run $3,500.

JVC, meanwhile, announced only one LED HDTV, a petite 32-incher weighing a mere 12.5 pounds.

As skinny as one-quarter-inch at its leanest point, the 1080p JVC LT-32WX50 is slated to ship in November -- but there's nothing skinny about its price (except maybe the effect on your wallet), which JVC describes as "less than $3,000."