Sony Stuns CES with "Life Space UX" Ultra Short Throw 4K Projector

In a surprise announcement, Sony has stunned the CES 2014 crowd by unveiling an ultra short throw native 4K projector that's capable of displaying a 147-inch projection on a wall from as near as 7-inch away. Never one to shy away from futuristic concepts, the Japanese manufacturer has given the device a cool moniker of "Life Space UX".

The 4K projector was announced by Sony's CEO Kazuo Hirai when he took to the stage to deliver his CES keynote address earlier today. In line with the company's vision to create more wow, Hirai explained that the Life Space UX's super high-resolution 4K images are only limited by the size of your video wall. The device's super-short throw distance opens up a wall (pardon the pun) of possibilities, allowing for more flexible installation and larger open space, since the projected picture won't be blocked by viewers.

The Sony Life Space UX sounds eerily similar to LG's Hecto laser projector which first broke cover at last year's CES, but of course the Sony's trump card is its native 4K resolution of 4096×2160 delivered via three 0.74″ SXRD chips and laser diode light source. Light output is specced at 2,000 lumens, while a 1.6x powered zoom lens makes the size of the projected image easily adjustable – Sony claims that you can still achieve a 66-inch diagonal projection even when the unit is positioned flush to the wall, which is remarkable.

Like the VPL-VW500ES 4K projector which impressed us when we reviewed it, Sony's ultra short throw 4K laser projector features 4K X-Reality PRO video processing engine, TRILUMINOS Display colour technology, and HDMI 2.0 compliance with support for 4K input at 50p/60p (8-bit 4:2:0).

The Life Space UX is scheduled to be launched in the USA in the summer of 2014, though there's no word on a European or UK release. Regarding the price, if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it, but provisionally it's between $30,000 and $40,000 (around £18,000 to £25,000).

Source: HDTVtest (UK's No.1 HD Review Site)

Sony Life Space UX - CES 2014

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Westinghouse takes a different spin on the 4K screen revolution

Westinghouse takes a different spin on the 4K screen revolution - Westinghouse brought big, impressive 4K displays to CES 2014, but even better were its massive interactive whiteboards. Buying advice from the leading technology site.

Want a 4K TV? Try interactive whiteboards

Westinghouse may not be the biggest name in the TV biz right now, but the company did bring some eye-catching products to this year's CES.

See Also: TV trends at CES: 4K, curves and smart TVs

It's playing the 4K game like just about every other TV maker, but unlike its competitors, Westinghouse is also thinking beyond the living room.

Need an example? Try the company's 85-inch 4K "interactive whiteboard" designed for business and classroom use, one that costs a 4K TV-esque price of $13,999 (£8,542, AU$15,515).

It also comes in 55-, 65- and 70-inch varieties with 1080p displays, but the Ultra HD 85-inch version was the star of the show.

Westinghouse envisions the giant touchscreens being used in business settings, for presentations and meetings, as well as in classrooms. Interestingly, they can come with an optional "PC module" that mounts on the back and runs Windows 8; alternately users can plug in their own Windows 7 or Windows 8 computers.

You can use your fingers to draw and tap on the interactive whiteboards, but they also come with a fat "touch pen" stylus.

Class in session

The whiteboards come with special software, called WScribe, that provides handwriting recognition, drawing tools, special interface features, and more that should be perfect for education and business settings.

This interface software also provides various templates, like a football diagram that can be used to map out and discuss plays.


Not for your living room

With the provided touch pen stylus, we wrote "TechRadar" on the screen over a video playing in the background. The whiteboard failed to recognize our admittedly imperfect cursive, though when we switched to normal writing it had no trouble translating it to typeface.

Westinghouse Marketing Communications Manager Brett Hunt said it will learn users' handwriting over time, so your chicken scratch should be legible after some quality sessions with the boards.


The interactive whiteboards can come with an optional computer module on the back

Aside from failing to pick up our script, these whiteboards looked gorgeous and felt great and responsive to use, whether with fingers or with the stylus (Westinghouse likes to brag about its (6-point Touch system with Intuitive Rapid Response").

The 55-, 65- and 70-inch whiteboards go for $2,999 (£1,830, AU$3,324), $4,999 (£3,050, AU$5,541) and $5,999 (£3,660, AU$6,650), respectively, and all come in 1080p. They're available now. The 85-inch 4K version, on the other hand, will cost $13,999 when it launches in the first quarter of 2014.

'Like The Jetsons and The Flintstones combined'

Westinghouse also had numerous TVs on display, including full HD and Ultra HD sets ranging in size from 39- to 85-inches. But its two other televisions, a Smart TV and an adorable retro-style unit, were more interesting by far.

Unfortunately, both are just prototypes for now. Westinghouse doesn't currently offer any Smart TVs because the company believes most consumers already have game consoles, set-top boxes, and other devices capable of running apps like Netflix, Hunt told TechRadar.


Westinghouse's 4K TVs look impressive

And the company has no plans to develop a Smart TV for market on its own, though "we might partner with somebody else to develop [a Smart TV] with us," Hunt said. "We don't have a set date for that yet."

More interesting was the 22-inch 1080p "retro" TV also present in the company's suite. The set looks like what people in the 60s thought the future would be like - it's anachronistic, both old and futuristic at the same time.


But not as impressive as this little fella

"If you had an extra room that's a retro room that would be kind of cool," Hunt said of the set. "It's like The Jetsons and The Flintstones combined."

The picture looked great - despite all the 4K hoopla, full HD is far from outdated - and the design was utterly charming. All it needs is some fake bunny ears, and it could easily sit on the shelves in Urban Outfitters next to coffee table books about marijuana, novelty camera lenses, and slinkies.

Unfortunately that may never occur, as Hunt said the company brought the retro TV to CES simply to gauge people's response to it. The ironic thing is that it was easily the most striking thing Westinghouse has produced in some time - so here's hoping they follow through.

This article originally published at TechRadar here.

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• CES 2014: Sony's superb new 4K UHD TVs prove there’s more to image quality than just resolution

CES 2014: Sony’s superb new 4K UHD TVs prove there’s more to image quality than just resolution

Over the years I've been wowed by plenty of high-end TV sets at CES. Two years ago, when the first jumbo 4K (UHD) sets were unveiled they were eye-popping. Now that UHD sets are commonplace in vendors' booths, I was expecting to be fairly ho-hum about this year's models. Last night though, Sony showed that there is more to UHD than resolution. Its new Bravia sets for 2014 combine 4K with a raft of well-thought-out technologies for stunning images.

Finally TV makers figure out it isn't just about resolution

Just as camera makers figured out that there is more to a good camera than megapixels - once they crammed in so many that it became senseless to add more - so TV makers have started to hone in on other aspects of what makes a good picture. Sidetracked by the allure of 3D for a couple years, effort is now going back into creating more lifelike displays. In Sony's case there are several new technologies that work together to make its new sets visibly better than last year's models: updated Triluminos displays, X-tended Dynamic Range processing, and X-Reality Pro image processing.


Viewing this 2014 set next to its 2013 predecessor, I was blown away by how much better it was than an image that a year ago I thought was amazing. Technology moves quickly!

Sony's Triluminos displays make all the other goodies possible. By allowing a larger range of colors (wider color gamut) to be displayed, Sony engineers can then go to town in their image processing code to produce lifelike images. While Triluminos is not new, Sony has somehow improved it for this year, allowing even more saturated colors — without them looking cartoon-like. New for 2014 is X-tended Dynamic Range processing. Expect to see something like this from all TV makers, as they realize that lifelike contrast ratios are just as important as 3D for creating awesome images. In fact, many folks seeing sets like these in the store for the first time will think they are seeing some type of 3D without glasses technology.

Sony's X-Reality Pro image processor puts these new display technologies to good use by analyzing each scene and attempting to enhance the contrast and color as appropriate, while upscaling content to 4K (UHD 2160p) if needed. For the source material Sony selected in its booth, it worked really well. I'd want to see it on a wider variety of content before making a final judgement on whether this processing is something you'd always want to leave turned on, or would find yourself turning off some of the automatic enhancements for old movies, for example.

Sony's new TVs may actually stream better, too

Netflix's Reed Hastings made a surprise appearance on the Sony stage, not just to announce that Netflix is moving to 4K streaming and content production in a big way, but to praise the new Sony Bravia sets as being the "fastest to start up when viewing 4K content" that Netflix engineers had ever seen. He and Sony attributed this to new video decoders in the sets. Sony is planning to extract this part of their secret sauce, along with some other smart TV features, and package it into a media player module for owners of some existing Sony UHD TVs - so they can take advantage of the new content without upgrading their entire set.

All in all, Sony is fighting hard to regain its spot as king of the TV. Having attended both the Sony and Samsung press conferences announcing their new models, Sony was much more focused on video quality, while Samsung featured bells and whistles like integrated sports and second screen content, and of course its new bendable screen. However, until sets reach stores later this year, it'll be hard to know which approach will resonate best with consumers. If you're itching to get started you can pre-order some of the Sony sets from its site, but the high-end models are still in drool mode only.

(Sony's Bravia W600B HDTV)

A range of models for every budget

The top of the new Sony line is the XBR-950B, a monster with 65-inch and 85-inch versions featuring every piece of technology Sony has in its slim frame - including a unique Pro version of X-Tended Range. No pricing has been set for either it or its slightly less gorgeous siblings, the XBR-900B and XBR-850B, but expect them to be pricey. If you want to take advantage of the new smarts and are willing to settle for a more traditional HD set, the new W600B, W800B, and W850B models are available for pre-order starting at $500 for the entry level 40-inch version.

News Source: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/174222-ces-2014-sonys-superb-new-4k-uhd-tvs-prove-theres-more-to-image-quality-than-just-resolution