Vizio Demonstrates 70-Inch 4K Set, But Will Hedge Its 4K Bets

One such technology challenge: With 4K’s higher pixel density, manufacturers need to increase the amount of light that the sets can deliver, Schindler said. There also can be “side effects” from the lighting not being able to fill all the pixels, he said. “We are making sure it is feasible in terms of price point,” said Schindler, saying all the 4K sets unveiled so far hover around $20,000. “I don’t think there is a breakthrough yet in terms of being able to mass-produce the displays affordably, so we are still waiting for that. This technology has challenges and you have to make sure that when manufacturers produce 10 displays, you get 10 good ones."

Schindler also was critical of manufacturers relying on up-converting 1080p content to 4K, rather than displaying it natively. Still, native 4K content is likely to remain scarce, and the Blu-ray Disc Association has only recently begun the task of studying whether to extend the Blu-ray spec for native 4K video. (See the separate report in this issue.) “There are a lot of 4K TVs coming out that don’t support 4K x 2K content,” as Vizio’s would, Schindler said. “They only scale up from 1080p and we think that’s not really a 4K TV because they have to be able handle the data for Ultra HD” natively, he said.

Vizio also demonstrated a 55-inch glasses-free 4K LCD TV with lenticular 3D -- LG Display is showing a similar panel -- and is deepening its line of Internet-capable LCD TVs, stretching it down to a 24-inch E-series model ($199) from 32-inch a year ago, Schindler said. Vizio is continuing to develop its Vizio Internet Apps (V.I.A.) program and expects more than half its 40-model lineup this year to be Internet-capable, he said. That’s up from 20 percent a year ago, and Vizio’s goal is to spread Internet connectivity across its entire line by late 2014, Schindler said. Internet capability is standard in 55-inch and up sets this year, including a new 80-inch M-series model ($4,499), Schindler said.

While Vizio is fielding a Costar Google TV 2.0 set-top box, there are no immediate plans to add the platform to TVs, Schindler said. At last year’s CES, Vizio supported a revamped version of Google TV embedded in “V.I.A. Plus” 47-, 55-, and 65-inch 3D TV sets and a Blu-ray player (CED Jan 12 p3). The set-top is getting a new software update this month that adds a “mini” prime time interactive program guide and for the first time the M-Go and Amazon Instant streaming services. Demand for the Costar set-top has been strong since it launched in November through Vizio.com and later Amazon, and distribution will widen to brick-and-mortar dealers later this year, Vizio said.

"Today’s Internet-capable TV market is driven by ease of use and mainstream applications,” Schindler said. “If you are able to improve upon that with Google TV where you have more of a seamless solution, which we are getting closer to, then you are going to see us make a play there,” he said

While Vizio shipped a 58-inch 21:9-widescreen LCD TV last year and has plans for larger sizes, no new models are being introduced at CES, Schindler said. Vizio also showed a 50-inch 21:9 set at CES 2012, but didn’t bring it to retail, Schindler said. While the 58-inch set “has done well” for Vizio, “you need content to support it and it takes more than just movies to be more of a mainstream market,” he said. “You also have to have the right infrastructure to support 21:9 efficiently."

Vizio also is continuing to sort out its new distribution agreement with Best Buy, Schindler said. Under that deal, Vizio has landed shelf space for its E-series 60- and 50-inch LCD TVs in-store and offerings of another 15 models at BestBuy.com. On how Vizio will cope with the possibility that its sales through Best Buy will cannibalize the business Vizio does through other big accounts like Costco and Walmart, Schindler said: “I don’t think we have a good answer to that yet and we're still working on it.”