CE Pro March 2024 - 51

BACK IN THE OLD DAYS, getting a new TV meant a
trip down to the local TV and radio shop and purchasing
a TV with a screen that was likely 15 to 20 inches. The
small size of those old TV screens forced families to huddle
around the ole " boob tube " - placed within large cabinets
or consoles - to watch their favorite shows such as I Love
Lucy and Leave It to Beaver.
By the 1970s screen sizes grow slightly to approximately
19 to 25 inches, before plateauing in the early-to-mid 1990s
with " large " sizes ranging anywhere from 27 to 32 inches
where people could almost sit with some distance to watch
the X Files, The Simpsons or Married with Children.
The major problem with these big-screen TV products from
yesteryear however was twofold: One, the screen sizes weren't
that big considering there were decades of R&D (research and
development) behind the products; and secondly, CRT (cathode-ray
tube) TVs from that era were big, bulky, and heavy.
New Millennium Ushers in a
New Era of Big-Screen TV Fun
Back when the 1990s were ending, CRT technologies were
hitting their sunset and a new generation of TVs were hitting
the market that employed LCD and plasma display technologies.
Simultaneously, the NTSC analog broadcast format was
also hitting its sunset in favor of the ATSC broadcast format.
ATSC ushered in the dawn of the HD (high definition) 720p
and 1080i resolutions, which meant homeowners were able
to access HD content on those fancy new flat-panel TVs with
the LCD and plasma technologies. Those flat-panel displays
also facilitated the birth of big-screen TV products with increasingly
common sizes such as 42-, 50- and 55-inch screens.
Since the early 2000s, big-screen TVs have only become
bigger and surprisingly more home friendly, while delivering
higher resolutions, which currently top out at 8K (7680 x
4320 pixels).
Today, the TV market is driven by buzz words such as OLED
(organic light emitting diode), as well as other advanced technologies
that include miniLED and microLED displays. Sizes
have also exploded over the past decade with common offerings
now ranging from 60 to 75 inches. Moreover, many manufacturers
also offer true, super-size TV screens larger than 100
inches in case 75- or 88-inch screens aren't big enough.
Diving further into the topic of modern TVs, consumers
can now choose from a wealth of manufacturers and a
wealth of technologies at a range of price points. It's also
important to point out that over the past few years a new
type of big-screen TV solution - it's not new, but it's been
refined for use in modern home environments - this solution
is ultra-short throw (UST) projection systems that are
marketed as laser TVs and other similar names.
So today there are 4K and 8K products - the majority of
which also have smart platforms that can access streaming
services and more - available in a choice of screen sizes, and
a choice of technologies that include OLED, miniLED, microLED,
and even UST (ultra short throw) laser TV products.
Looking at some of the current models that populate the
market, here are 17 solutions from some of the top names in
home video.
AWOL Vision Triple Laser LTV-2500 Projector
The $2,999 LTV-2500 features AWOL Vision's RGB
triple laser light engine that helps the UST projector
produce up to 2,600 lumens of brightness and the
ability to reproduce HDR10+ content. Additionally,
the LTV-2500 is also able to reproduce Dolby Vision
HDR, and it is capable of producing more than a billion
colors, or 107% of the Rec. 2020 color gamut.
AWOLVISION.COM
BenQ V5000i UST RGB Laser TV System
The $3,499 V5000i provides homeowners with an ultrashort
throw (UST) projector and screen package that
includes an ambient light rejecting (ALR) 100-inch screen.
The projector incorporates a built-in speaker system and
connectivity options such as HDMI with eARC. The 4K,
HDR10+ capable projector offers a smart TV operating
system that includes a variety of streaming services access.
BENQ.COM
cepro.com
March 2024 CE Pro | 51
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CE Pro March 2024

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