KEY POINTS:
Big is still best in the minds of flat-screen TV makers.
The screens were at the centre of the high-definition world all the vendors at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas were touting. High-definition games, movies and TV are no use unless you have a high-definition screen to display them.
Global demand for plasma and LCD screens is estimated to grow 52 per cent this year as prices fall. Panasonic, Sony and LG all displayed wider ranges of LCD and plasma screens at full high-definition and with new technologies that make the images more lifelike.
The TV makers tried to outdo one another by showing off the largest flat-screen TVs available. Sharp won out with its 108in (274cm) LCD screen.
Windows of opportunity
The unveiling of the Apple iPhone at Apple's own MacWorld show in San Francisco on Tuesday arguably stole Las Vegas' thunder, but Microsoft made a big impact with its new operating system Vista, voted best new product by tech news website CNet.
Vista goes on sale at the end of the month, starting at $259 for an upgrade from Windows XP to Vista Home Basic, through to $979 for a new version of Vista Ultimate.
Its new user interface and improved security are its biggest improvements over Windows XP, but additions such as Windows Home Server, which allows consumers to store all their digital content on a media hub they can access from anywhere via the internet, are designed to make a shift to Vista more attractive.
Elsewhere, Microsoft sought to make its Xbox 360 gaming console the focus of the living room, with an internet TV service that allows users to stream pay TV stations to their Xbox 360s, instead of using a set-top box from a pay TV operator.
Internet protocol TV (IPTV) requires a high-speed internet connection. With an abundance of cable and fibre connections to homes in the US, speed isn't an issue. But with most New Zealanders connecting at slower speeds over copper lines, IPTV is likely to get off to a slower start here until broadband improves.
A high-definition truce
The voice of reason cut through the crowded halls when Korean electronics maker LG introduced a disc player that supports the two main rival standards for high-definition content - Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
While the dual-format player carries a hefty pricetag at US$1200 ($1737) and has technical limitations, it's a progressive move for consumers who are holding off buying high-definition players and discs until a format-war winner emerges. If LG gets its way, that battle will be irrelevant.
There's even mounting support for the idea from the usually reticent entertainment industry. Warner Bros proposed a new disc format called Total HD, incorporating both high-definition formats which allow several times the capacity of a DVD to be held on one disc and movies to be displayed with better picture quality.
Locked in
Hollywood's growing presence at the show - producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney president Robert Iger were among the presenters - indicates the importance the entertainment industry puts on the technology used to distribute its content, but digital rights management (DRM) issues could derail the integration the tech sector wants.
Apple, with its popular iPod and iTunes software, uses a proprietary copyright protection system to stop music downloaded from iTunes.com being shifted on to non-Apple devices. With the launch of Apple TV, a digital hub for media content in the lounge, and the iPhone, critics suggest Apple's closed DRM system will discourage consumers who don't want to exist solely in the Apple world.
Microsoft is following the same route with its Zune music player, which will carry your music collection, but won't play music bought from Apple.
* Peter Griffin attended the show as a guest of Microsoft
