By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The technology world seems convinced that three-dimensional (3D) television is the next big thing, and Samsung Electronics claims it has the most convincing products.
The company said that its lineup of 3D televisions, including several models with light-emitting diode (LED) backlit displays, will highlight nearly 900 of its new products, which will be displayed at the International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES) in Las Vegas this month.
ICES, the technology industry's largest annual trade fair, sees companies from around the world descend on Sin City to announce thousands of new products every January. And Samsung, looking to cement its lead as the world's biggest flat-screen television maker, is certainly under pressure to impress.
It's debatable whether 3D television is ready for prime time, as the industry has yet to sort out incompatible approaches from competing technologies and has failed to provide a more comfortable alternative to forcing everyone to wear 3D glasses.
The products' outrageous prices and the lack of content at the moment aren't providing consumers with much motive to pay the premium for 3D televisions, although the recent success of the 3D action flick, ``Avatar,'' does offer hope on the content front.
Nonetheless, it's in the high-tech industry's DNA to push out new products and technologies in waves, whether or not consumers are ready to digest them, and Samsung is eager to secure early bragging rights.
Samsung benefited from getting out of the gate early in LED-backlight liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions, which provide better picture quality than conventional flat-screen televisions while consuming less power. The company is now focused on introducing stereoscopic 3D into its LED-backlit television models.
At the edge of Samsung's 2,667-square-meter display booth at CES will be a ``3D Cube,'' a massive video screen consisting of 36 55-inch 3D LED backlit televisions that intend to provide visitors with a smacking 3D experience. Aside from the 3D LED-backlit televisions, Samsung is also displaying 3D televisions with regular LCD screens and plasma displays.
And in addition, Samsung will also unveil eight new LED-backlit television models, sized from 19- to 65-inches, and also new products in regular LCD and plasma display televisions.
``We want to convince consumers that a Samsung LED television will be the best 3D television,'' said a Samsung spokesman.
Samsung and Japanese heavyweights Sony and Panasonic usually get most of the press on the 3D television front, but LG Electronics is now seeking to bring itself to the forefront.
LG, the runner-up to its bitter domestic rival in the global flat-screen television industry, unveiled a 55-inch LED-backlit LCD television, which is part of its new ``INFINIA'' premium television series, in Las Vegas. The company's 3D television lineup also includes a 72-inch model with a regular LCD screen and a 60-inch model with plasma display. The company also displayed a 3D projector designed to support a 150-inch screen.
LG dedicated about one-third of its display space at CES to its new INFINIA televisions, which include the LED-backlit model with a 480 hertz refresh rate, a plasma display panel (PDP) model equipped with a ``true black'' filter, and another ``ultra-slim'' LED-backlit model that is just 6.9 millimeters thick.