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Sony unveils 'Crystal LED display' at CES

Prototype 55-inch display features 6 million LEDs to produce "super contrast and superwide color gamut," Sony CEO Howard Stringer promises.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil
2 min read
Sony's prototype 55-inch Crystal LED display. Sony

Sony has its eye on cranking up TV screen resolution.

The electronics and entertainment giant kicked off its CES press conference this evening by unveiling a prototype "Crystal LED display" that uses miniature light-emitting diodes in place of pixels. The technology, which uses 6 million LEDs mounted on the front of the display, is superior to LCD and plasma and promises "super contrast and superwide color gamut," Sony CEO Howard Stringer told those assembled.

While Sony has this 55-inch prototype on display at the conference, it is nowhere near production or consumers' hands. (CNET staffers at the show are going to give it a look and report back on what they think of it.)

Screen resolution, 3D in Sony's CES spotlight (photos)

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Continuing on the theme of "cutting-edge" resolution, Stringer unveiled a collection of 4K upscaling Blu-ray players featuring the emerging digital film standard produces a resolution four times that of HD for sharper contrast and have more immersive experience. The technology, already in use in movie theaters, will be making its way into living rooms in the form of a 4K projector.

The updated Google TV remote features a touch-pad and supports gestures via three-axis motion control and voice controls. A backlit QWERTY keyboard sits on the back.

Sony sought to dial up some excitement for its smartphone lineup with the addition of Xperia Ion handset, the company's first 4G LTE device. In addition to a massive 4.6-inch screen, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, and 16GB of internal memory, the Ion features PlayStation certification, allowing users to play specially ported PlayStation game titles.

Stringer also announced that the Sony PlayStation Vita, the company's portable gaming system, would debut in the U.S. on February 22. It will feature Netflix connectivity from day one.

Sony used its appearance to re-affirm its 3D ambitions, kicking off the press conference with a demo of how varying content such as sports, movies and concerts looked in 3D. Actor Will Smith joined Stringer on stage to pump up the technology and give a preview of the new 3D Sony Pictures "Men In Black" movie "MIB3."

In the personal electronics space, Sony welcomed back the Walkman. The Android-powered Walkman Z will come with a 4.3-inch touch screen with an 800x480 resolution. The device will come paired with a new music feature called Sony Music Unlimited, which the company promises will serve the needs of users who want more music across all their mobile devices, including PlayStation 3 and Android smartphones. The service is already available in 13 countries and touts more than 12 million songs in the its music catalog.

Watch this: Gadgets galore at Sony's press conference