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CES is almost here, but it's important to keep in mind that the biggest consolidated electronics show of the year is often a mixed indicator of the year's actual tech trends. Case in point: consider CES 2010, where "big" products included smartbooks and Cell TVs, but the major wave of Android phones and the iPad were nowhere to be found.

With that in mind, let's look at CES 2012's Best Of awards winners and see where they are now that the year's about to come to a close. Were they Editors' Choice winners? … Read more

Unlike 4K, there are no OLED TVs available today -- but they were the star of the Consumer Electronics Show last January, when both Samsung and LG revealed the first big-screen (55-inch) models to use organic light-emitting diodes.

Despite repeated appearances at trade shows, the OLED TVs never materialized in the marketplace in 2012 due to manufacturing difficulties. But they'll figure it out soon, and when they do, OLED will inevitably replace plasma and LCD as the flat-panel TV technology of choice. Stunning picture quality combined with ultrathin form factors -- LG's prototype OLED was just 0.157 … Read more

The television industry has been in flux during the last few years. Marquee Japanese names such as Panasonic, Sharp, and Sony are struggling, new technologies like voice and gesture control and 3D aren't compelling enough to warrant upgrades, and demand is expected to stay flat for 2013. Amid this atmosphere of regrouping and consolidation, there are likely to be very few surprises at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

What we're going to see at the show are several technologies that debuted at previous shows, such as OLED and 4K. We doubt any new display … Read more

If you decide to wear this new Macy's fleece in public, fellas, don't be surprised when everyone stares at your left bicep. It's to be expected when you're displaying video on your sleeve (which is not to say your biceps don't warrant widespread public attention in their own right.)

Macy's teamed with designer Sean John (also known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, and so on) and Recom Group, maker of the Video Name Tag, to create the media-enabled sweater. … Read more

TVs are a big purchase, and price is a significant factor for most of us. Naturally your budget and needs will determine how much you can/want to spend.

But if you're a little flexible on your budget, or if you're totally confused as to what to buy, this guide will help you narrow down the options. … Read more

You might not have the privilege of being able to pay something like $10,000 for a shiny new OLED TV this year after all.

According to DisplaySearch, a display industry analysis firm, problems with manufacturing will keep both LG and Samsung from releasing their 55-inch OLED TVs in 2012.

"Samsung and LG recently scrapped their plans to mass-produce 55-inch OLED televisions this year as the companies are having serious difficulties in improving manufacturing yield," said an unnamed DisplaySearch official in The Korea Times earlier today.

"Samsung and LG planned to start selling OLED TVs at major … Read more

There still seems to be some confusion about the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Both are 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution. Both have 2,073,600 pixels. From one perspective, 1080i is actually greater than Blu-ray. And, you can't even get a full 1080p/60 source other than a PC, camcorder, or some still cameras that shoot video.

True, 1080i and 1080p aren't the same thing, but they are the same resolution. Let the argument commence... … Read more

Already reeling from legal battles with Apple, Samsung is the target of yet another patent lawsuit.

LG Display said today that it has filed a patent infringement suit against the handset maker, alleging that Samsung violated seven of its OLED (organic light-emitting diode) patents.

The lawsuit specifically claims that Samsung infringed on the design of LG's OLED panels, driver circuitry and device design, reported the Wall Street Journal. LG is looking for an unspecified amount in damages and a permanent injunction of five infringing products, including the Galaxy S3 phone, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet, and the Galaxy … Read more

Apple's iPhone 5 beat Samsung's Galaxy S3 in a display tech "shoot-out" at screen testing firm DisplayMate Technologies.

The iPhone 5's Retina screen is the best smartphone display that DisplayMate has tested to date, according to results the firm posted today.

iPhone 5: "It is a significant improvement over the display in the iPhone 4," said DisplayMate's Raymond Soneira, who cited much lower screen reflections, much higher image contrast and screen readability in high ambient lighting -- the latter, the highest he's ever tested.

DisplayMate -- which gave the display an "A" -- also cited improved color gamut and factory calibration that "delivers very accurate colors and very good picture quality." The Retina iPad is the only thing that beats it in accuracy, according to Soneira.

Galaxy S3: While DisplayMate said the OLED display is "very good" and gave it a "B+," it fell short of the iPhone 5.

The problem, comparatively, as Soneira sees it, is that the Galaxy S III's OLED technology is still on steep development curve. OLED is "a new technology that has not yet been refined to the same degree as LCDs, particularly the IPS LCDs on the iPhones, so it doesn't objectively test or perform as well as the iPhone 5," according to Soneira.

The brightness on the Galaxy S3's display is about half of the iPhone 5 "due to power constraints resulting from the lower OLED power efficiency," among other issues, that makes for poorer image contrast and screen readability in high ambient lighting compared to the iPhone 5, said Soneira.

Other issues he cited are a "lopsided" color gamut and calibration. "For some reason Samsung has not bothered to calibrate the Color Gamut on any of its OLED displays, so they are wildly inaccurate and produce inaccurate and over saturated colors." … Read more