CES 2012 Video: TV highlights include OLED, 4K, Smart TVs, and voice/gesture control

Who knew that 2012 would shape up to be such a potentially interesting year for televisions? But if companies are able to live up to their CES promises, later in the year we'll be seeing the first real TV-sized OLED TVs, plus a few big-screen 3D TVs with 4K technology. In the nearer term there will be a dramatic expansion in the number of sets that include Smart TV technology that can bring an ever-growing array of new content into our living rooms.

Based on the demos we've seen from LG and Samsung, OLED (a type of LED that works without a backlight and allows manufacturers to make thinner, lighter sets) could be a TV game-changer, offering the kind of jump in TV performance that has many TV enthusiasts crushing like pre-teen girls at a boy-band concert. After all, what's not to like: ultra-thin designs, deep, great contrast, vibrant colors, and virtually unlimited viewing angles. The only thing likely to cool our ardor: price tags that could be double or triple similarly sized and featured conventional sets. We'll find out real pricing later in the year.

We've also heard a lot about 4K sets, with four times the resolution of current 1080p TVs. While the extra resolution may help some people get bigger TVs or allow passive 3D sets to provide full 1080p views to each eye—something they can't currently do—the lack of native 3D content for the home means that 4K will be a discussion topic rather than potential purchase for most of us.

Smart TVs offering new services and content will likely big the bigger draw in 2012, as manufacturers roll out full-blown Internet TVs into more models in their TV lineup. These new Smart TVs include full Web browsers and access to app markets in addition to a growing number of streaming video and music services. We' re also curious to see if the recently updated Google TV will get the kind of boost it needs to succeed. A few companies have announced support, but it's still not clear that enough will come aboard to make it a rousing success.

To help manage and control all the new content, many new TVs have new easier-to-use dashboards, more intuitive interfaces, and the ability to customize what each family member sees when they turn on the TV. We're also seeing some cool new ways to interact with the TV though gestures, voice control and even facial recognition, which is either built into the TV or the remote control.

We're also seeing more attempts at allowing the content we own or rent to move across multiple devices. With a growing number of cloud-based services, access to content is becoming more ubiquitous, and companies are finding new ways to send music, photos and movies from cell phones and tablets to TVs, or let consumers watch TV-based content on these mobile devices when they're away from the home. To make things easier, companies are developing common interfaces and single user IDs that are the same across all devices.

One of the great things about working at Consumer Reports is our ability to actually put all these new products to the test in our state-of-the-art labs. We're looking forward to seeing if they're able to live up to the promises made here during the show.

Consumer Reports TV coverage from the Consumer Electronics Show:
CES 2012 Video: Could 4K TV technology bring better 3D TV?
CES 2012: What the heck is 4K and should you spend $25,000 to get it?
CES 2012 Video: New HDTVs from LG for 2012
CES 2012: Why is it taking so long to get good 3D content on TV?
CES 2012: Toshiba TVs get smarter, 3D goes all passive
CES 2012: Hands on with Sony's Personal 3D Viewer
CES 2012: Vizio to offer CinemaWide (21:9) 3D TVs
CES 2012 Video: Sony's prototype 'Crystal' LED TV offers sharp picture
CES 2012: Westinghouse bows 70-inch LCD, first passive 3D TV
CES 2012: Sony announces Crystal LED Display technology, 4K TVs
CES 2012: Panasonic shows off Smart Viera, Skype for TV, and Justin Timberlake
CES 2012: Samsung announces 55-inch OLED TV, adds voice control, face recognition to Smart TVs
CES 2012: Dish Network "Hopper" records six shows at once, gives every room DVR control, finds your remote
CES 2012: Samsung to place ads on Smart TVs
CES 2012: Sharp's new HDTV lineup includes monster 80-inch Aquos
CES 2012: LG adds Google TVs, Smart TVs get voice and gesture control
CES 2012: Lenovo to release an Android-powered HDTV
CES 2012: LG announces thinnest, largest OLED TV
CES 2012 Video: An RCA sound bar that streams online videos too

—James K. Willcox