TV makers bet on bigger, brighter screens There are few better views in Las Vegas than the neon-sparkling Strip by night from the panoramic windows of a 64th floor restaurant, but Toshiba diverted eyes on Sunday to an equally engrossing sight, with its unveiling of an 84-inch "Ultra HD" TV atop the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Dancing models, luscious foliage, scenes of natural beauty dazzled like a Vegas show on the huge screen. The clarity of the picture was amazing; the colours were rich and vibrant. But the price was unmentionable. TV makers have been struggling since high-definition TVs peaked five years ago. Global shipments of flatscreen sets fell 6 per cent in 2012 and will probably be flat this year because of economic uncertainty and relatively high prices, according to NPD DisplaySearch, a research firm. It seems almost perverse, then, that the industry is going bigger and bolder by betting on Ultra HD as the next must-have innovation, and trying to make it the star of this year's International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Sony and LG have announced similar sets that cost around $20,000 - far beyond the pockets of most consumers. To revive sales, TV makers are also emphasising more internet services and improved Smart TV interfaces - the latter seemingly in anticipation of Apple attempting to teach the industry a lesson with its own take on TV later this year. We are tactically optimistic. We are targeting the right things," said Scott Ramirez, vice-president of product marketing, at Toshiba's event. Ultra HD is a new and meaningful category in 2013. But analysts say the technology - which offers four times the resolution of current "Full HD" screens - will not be meaningful in terms of sales. The Consumer Electronics Association expects only 23,000 sets to be sold in the US this year and, while the number could rise to 1.4m in 2016, that would still only be 2 per cent of the market. As well as price, a lack of content recorded in Ultra HD is likely to put off consumers. Broadcasters also worry that they do not have the bandwidth to transmit in the format. To continue reading, click here "Most people can't visually discern HD, much less Ultra HD, so unless they have screens the size of their walls and some content in 4K [the Ultra HD standard, which fits in nearly 4,000 pixels horizontally], I think the TV industry is going to find this will fizzle, much like 3D has done," James McQuivey, Forrester Research analyst, said. Ultra HD is not the industry's first attempt at a premium product that delivers sharper images. At last year's CES, Samsung and LG showed off stunning OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs that delivered a more noticeably vibrant picture without the need for squeezing in more pixels. Production problems, however, meant that it will be March before LG finally puts an OLED TV on sale in the US - priced at $12,000 for a 55-inch model. Samsung is also understood to be close to shipping this year. Analysts believe Ultra HD is being pushed now because of the difficulties in mass-producing OLED TVs. Other attempts at making the television more than a low-margin commodity product, from 3D TVs to energy-saving "green" TVs, have likewise failed. But one area where TV makers have found some success is in Smart TVs. Internet-connected TVs accounted for more than 40 per cent of TVs sold in both western Europe and China, the world's biggest TV market, in 2012, according to DisplaySearch. At the Mandalay Bay Hotel, LG unveiled new content as well as more gesture and voice capabilities for its internet-connected smart TVs, and showed off a much cleaner and easier-to-navigate interface for consumers. The initial phase of smart TVs was the race to have the most content. Now almost all connected TVs have the primary content partners and so the easy, intuitive user experience is our real opportunity to stand apart from our competitors," says Tim Alessi, director of new product development for LG in the US. The danger for TV makers is that they are facing an even broader range of competitors when it comes to consuming internet videos in the living room. Set-top box providers and game console makers both offer rival services - according to IHS Screen Digest research, games consoles are far more popular than connected TVs for watching online video in the UK. Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts that by 2017 more than half of the estimated 800m smart TVs will be used as dumb monitors, with consumers preferring consoles or streaming devices such as the Roku box or Apple TV. TVs are normally bought to last eight to 10 years, but Informa says they can go from being smart to dumb obsolescence in three years because their hardware does not keep pace with the demands of new applications. "The set-top box is proving itself the most versatile and best performing device and it comes to the market through service providers, where the consumer does not pick up the tab," says Nate Williams, head of product marketing at Motorola Home, the set-top box maker.