CEATEC 05: with Eye on 00 Olympics, Japan s CE Industry Looks to Get Back on Top, Part

There is plenty of hot new tech from the 531 companies that at CEATEC near Tokyo this week, including an army of 4K and 8K displays from Panasonic, Sharp, Mitsubishi, BOE and others. Here's a look at the highlights from this year's CEATEC Show (Click images to enlarge).

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Panasonic All About 2020, Unveils First-Ever 4K BluRay Player

Pansonic is highlighting its 4K ecosystem with the 2020 Olympics in mind.

No company is touting the promise of Tokyo 2020 more than Panasonic. It's not surprising considering Panasonic has been top Olympics sponsor since 1988 and it has estimated it could generate as much at $1.5 billion from Olympics-related technology and infrastructure contracts. At its booth, Panasonic has married its 2020 Games branding and 4K technology offerings through Beautiful JAPAN 2020, a 4K production following young athletes aspiring 2020 Olympians that will visit all 47 prefectures in Japan by 2020.

Panasonic's 4K Blu-ray player

While there is no shortage of 4K sets on hand, the real headline is Panasonic's announcement of the world's first 4K UHD Blu-ray player. Although Samsung announced its own 4K UHD Blu-ray player last month, Panasonic will beat them to the punch by shipping the DIGA Premium Model DMR-UBZ1 (featuring HDR) on Nov. 15 this year in Japan for 400,000 yen ($3,330). However, a Panasonic representative at the booths says the company will roll out just 500 of them per month beginning in November.

The HDR demo at Panasonic's booth

The unit, which also features 3TB of storage to record 4K content, won the Minster of Economy Trade and Industry Award at CEATEC.

In addition to several 4K sets on display streaming 4K content from Actvila 4K, YouTube, NETFLIX and Hikari TV, Panasonic is demoing an prototype HDR 4K monitor.

Other 4K tools on display include the HC_WX970M 4K video camera, 4K SD cards, and a 4K HDMI cable.

Sharp Begins 8K TV Revolution For a Steep Price

Sharp's pricey but impressive 8K display

While the Robohon cute robot / mobile phone is getting most of the traffic at Sharp's booth, the near-term newsworthiness surrounds the first 8K TV sets ever to hit the open market. On hand at Sharp's booth, the 85-inch LV-85001 sets will be first 8K displays available for purchase anywhere in the world when they officially hit the market in Japan at the end of this month. the 7,680 x 4,320 pixel LCD panel uses Sharp's IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) technology, which allows for hi-res output at a low-power (and has been licensed by Samsung and others for use in hi-res tablets).

Sharp's 8K-upscaling tech on 4K sets

Though the LVE-85001 is technically a consumer display, at 16 million Yen (about $130,000 USD) the sets will initially be targeted almost exclusively at the professional broadcast and video-production market - and any consumer with $130 grand to spare on a new TV. In addition, the set's TV tuner in not capable of actually receiving 8K broadcasts; rather content must be fed into the displays via quad HDMI cables. A Sharp representative at the booth says the company is confident that both cost and tech hurdles will be a thing of the past by the time NHK launches its 8K Super-Hi Vision broadcasting service in 2018.

Sharp is also demonstrating a an 80-inch Sharp Aquos 4K Next LC-80XU30 TV that features 8K upscaling and Mega Contrast (dynamic range extension technology) should 4K not be enough for you. Sharp unveiled the technology earlier this year.

Mitsubishi Electric's Laser RGB Backlight Tech Takes WDC to New Level

Alongside HDR, Wide Color Gamut has become hot topic of late and Mitsubishi Electric is highlighting a display at CEATEC that adds a new perspective to the conversation: lasers.

Mitsubishi's 4K 50-inch laser RGB backlight LCD display

Developed in partnership with NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories (STRL), Mitsubishi has debuted a 4K 50-inch laser RGB backlight LCD display, which the company claims offers the world's widest color gamut. The display features a semiconductor laser backlight capable of producing intensely pure red, green and blue that covers 98% of the color gamut range in the BT.2020 UHD standard. The set delivers on Mitsubishi's claims, displaying breathtaking color and images that this reporter could hardly pull himself away from.

BOE's Big, Bold 8K Displays

BOE's massive trio of 8K displays

The award for biggest 8K display at CEATEC goes to BOE Technology Group, which is touting whopping 98-inch and 110-inch 8K displays at its booth. No pricing or availability info is being offered at the booth, but the massive displays pack a powerful viewing punch.

BOE's 10K display

Should you be able to fit them through your doorway once they hit the open market, the BOE sets are likely to come complete with a steep price tag (considering Sharp's $130K price point for its 85-incher), as well as a pricey electric bill (the sets draw 1,200W and 2,000W respectively) and potential broken backs (weight of 440 and 474 pounds, respectively).

And if 8K isn't enough for you, BOE also has a 10K display at the show.

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