Future TV technology

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - which takes place in Las Vegas every January - was this year dominated by one particular technology: the humble television.

High-definition LCD TVs are quickly becoming yesterday's news, soon to be as outmoded as the boxy tellies that dominated our lounges a decade ago.

Incoming is a scrum of new innovations. Manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, Sony, Toshiba, Sharp and Panasonic showed off Ultra Definition TVs, 4K Super HD resolution TVs, OLEDs, Super OLEDs, Crystal LEDs, auto-stereoscopic 3D TVs, gesture-controlled smart TVs and more at this month's CES.

But what does all that jargon actually mean? And what about those rumours of future TV tech from Apple, as well as futuristic innovations such as rollable screens? Read on for a straight-talking guide to all you need to know about the future of TV tech.

4K Super (or Ultra) High Definition TVs
Remember the bad old days, when our eyes wallowed in the murky picture quality quagmire that we now refer to as 'standard definition'?

These days, the vast majority of us enjoy movies, shows and games in the far-superior high-definition TV standards of 720p (a resolution of 1280 x 720 on-screen pixels) or 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels, often called 'Full HD').

The next major jump in picture quality is going to be 4K TV resolution. These screens (referred to variously as Ultra HD, Super HD or 4K Quad HD, depending on the manufacturer) will have a resolution of around 3840 x 2160 pixels. That's roughly four times more than current 1080p HD TVs. To put it another way, it's a TV image that is made up of eight million pixels (as opposed to Full HD, which is made up of a 'mere' two million).

This technology is in its infancy, but TV manufacturers and home cinema specialists such as Sony and Toshiba have been first to get their 4K projectors and TVs on the market.

At CES, LG showed an enormous 'Ultra Definition' 84-inch 3D-ready TV - a 4K-resolution screen that uses LG's own Cinema 3D technology. The cost? We don't yet know, but it's fair to say that if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it (yet)! Sharp went one further and unleashed its 8K prototype - an 85-inch screen with a resolution 16 times that of a 1080p TV.

Back to 4K, however, and there is that important 'cart and horse' question to consider - where is the 4K content? Even if the hardware is on sale, the lack of 4K movies and TV shows is likely to hamper take-up of 4K in the short term.

Glasses-free 3D TVs
There are plenty of affordable 3D TVs available now, but wearing the required 3D glasses seems to be a sticking point for many would-be buyers. Auto-stereoscopic ('glasses-free') 3D TV could be the next major step forward.

The likes of Toshiba are already introducing glasses-free 3D TVs, with the Toshiba 55ZL2 making use of the extra resolution offered by its 4K screen to give up to nine separate viewers a 3D effect, without the need for costly or uncomfortable specs.

Gesture-controlled smart TVs
Kinect-inspired gesture TV control was a popular theme at this year's CES. Companies such as Samsung and LG showed off smart TVs that make use of the latest hand-control tech. Want to change the channel? Just swipe your hand across to the left or right. Want to change the volume? Wave your hand up or down.

Another technology that threatens to do away with the humble remote control for good is voice control. LG is using Nuance's Dragon TV tech in some of its new TVs, so you can literally give your telly orders. Say the name of a programme you want to watch or web search you want to make and the TV gets to work. You can also use the technology to dictate updates to Facebook or Twitter.

Large-screen OLED TVs
OLED (which stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, fact fans!) promises true-to-life picture quality, no motion-blur and incredible colour reproduction.

It's a technology that has been around for a few years but, until now, only in small-size screens and mobile displays. At CES, Samsung and LG both showed 55-inch OLED screens.

Samsung's 'Super OLED' TV features gesture and voice control, as well as a super-speedy dual-core chipset, which enables it to easily run any of Samsung's thousands of TV apps.

LG's own 55-inch OLED TV was equally impressive, offering stunning picture quality and a screen that measures just 4mm in thickness.

The really big news, however, will be when these manufacturers finally reveal the price of these TVs, which are due to go on sale later in 2012.

Crystal LED
Meanwhile, Sony caused a stir when it unveiled a new TV technology called 'Crystal LED'. Apparently cheaper than OLED, this still offers far better picture quality than current LCD TVs.

Sony's 55-inch prototype Crystal LED TV uses millions of tiny LEDs which act as pixels and don't require any back-lighting from the TV. That means better colour, improved contrast ratios and no more motion blur. As an additional benefit, it should also offer a saving on electricity bills.

Sony's full HD screen uses over six million LEDs, producing 400 nits of brightness, putting it on par with the (probably) more expensive OLED screens.

If Sony can produce Crystal LED TVs that are as good as OLED (offering 'blacker blacks' and more intense colours than current TV tech), but at a cheaper price, it will clearly be on to a winner.

The future: Apple iTV, rollable screens and more
So what of the future? In coming years, our living rooms are likely to be home to 4K (or more) ultra high-definition smart televisions that are gesture- and voice-controlled and deliver a full cinema-style 3D experience, to boot.

Further along, we may see rollable 'Quantum Dot' screens. Even thinner and more malleable than OLED, these high-definition screens could be easily rolled away, enabling the biggest possible screen in even the smallest living space.

In the more immediate future, one company that may have a big say in how TV develops is Apple. In his authorised biography, the late Steve Jobs is quoted as saying he had "finally cracked" how to build an "integrated television that is completely easy to use".

Rumours have been flying ever since about what Apple's so-called iTV could be, with the latest whispers suggesting the company is developing a 50-inch iTV prototype in iPod design chief Jonathan Ive's lab.

So will the ever-thinner, better, faster, smarter and brighter TVs we're being promised in 2012 seem like yesterday's news when Apple reveals its own TV plans? We'll just have to wait and see.