Still, some themes kept reasserting - great minds and companies thinking alike, and products evolving at a certain pace. So here are some of the more important trends I saw playing out at the show, with apt examples.
Screens grow sharper, bigger, smarter: There's strong incentive for TV display manufacturers to up their quality again. HDTVs are now in a majority of homes, while China keeps building more factories to make 'em cheaper. So this year, the more seasoned Japanese and Korean brands unveiled a host of premium grade TVs - including so-called "4K" or "Ultra-Definition" displays boasting eight times the resolution of today's HDTVs, plus 55-inch AMOLED screens.
Currently found in some smartphones and tablets up to 7 inches, active matrix light emitting diode panels boast gorgeous color, contrast and off-axis viewing, plus low-energy consumption, a super-slim profile and minimal heft. LG's 55-inch prototype weighs a scant 16 pounds.
Sony surprised with a new-tech "Crystal LED" TV display, basically a downsized Jumbotron boasting 6 million LEDs and probably costing as much as a luxury car to build. Don't hold your breath waiting for that one.
Fine-tuning of today's TV tech also is ongoing. Panasonic will enhance the brightness of neo-plasma screens 50 percent, while Sony is winding up its image-clocking circuitry. Both efforts will make 3- (and 2-D) look better. Samsung is adding a dual-core processor to its Smart TVs; LG is going quad-core, for more dexterous multitasking.
And everyone, even second-tier marketer Coby, touted BIGGER screen models at CES. Sixty-inch flat panels are almost being treated like the new big-screen "standard." Sharp and rear-projection-TV lone wolf Mitsubishi also have a bunch of 70-, 80- (and in Mitsubishi's case) 92-inch models.
