CES 2025 review: Exhilarating, up-beat and overwhelming

CES has once again solidified its reputation as the world’s most influential technology event, setting the stage for inevitable innovation and industry-defining trends.

Turning Las Vegas into a playground for tech enthusiasts and AV professionals alike, this year's show attracted over 141,000 trade attendees, with more than 4,500 exhibitors showcasing cutting-edge advancements.

Stepping into the bustling aisles of CES 2025, the sheer scale and spectacle of innovation proved both exhilarating and overwhelming. This year, the CES remit covered everything from electric vehicles to quantum computing. The result was a melting pot of ideas, products, and partnerships.

Navigating the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) amid ongoing renovations was chaotic but undeniably exciting. This year’s CES was defined by several overarching trends: bigger, brighter, and smarter displays; AI-powered processing; immersive and spatial audio; and plenty of sustainability initiatives.

Unsurprisingly, Artificial Intelligence was the big buzzword, being touted as the enabler for all sorts of wonder and wizardry.

Reflecting on the event, Simon Forrest, Principal Technology Analyst at Futuresource, told Inside CI: “A significant focus was placed on sustainable solutions, with exhibitors presenting advancements in eco-friendly technologies and sustainable practices aimed at reducing environmental impact. Flint showcased paper-based batteries offering a potential alternative to traditional technologies. Smart home solutions now analyse energy consumption patterns, offering tailored recommendations to reduce waste and lower costs. AI was positioned as a solution here also, somewhat controversially, given the enormous costs of compute time and storage necessary to train these models, consuming copious amounts of energy!”

The Central Hall floor was dominated by gargantuan TV screens, many exceeding 100 inches, and AI took center stage across multiple categories, driving both picture quality enhancements and new user experiences.

Hisense emerged as a strong frontrunner in the battle for big screen supremacy, unveiling the 116-inch TriChroma 116UX Mini-LED TV, and 136MX MicroLED display, powered by the brand’s Hi-View AI Engine X chipset, which uses AI to optimise every frame. Underscoring their residential intent, theses sets come with all the trappings of a consumer telly, including VIDAA OS, Hisense’s own smart platform, and multiple HDR modes (Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, and Filmmaker Mode), as well as Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X audio.

With more than 24.88 million microscopic LEDs, each acting as its own light source, this MicroLED self-emissive display offers stunning 10,000 nit peak brightness.

TCL showcased a 163-inch MicroLED prototype, adding to the buzz around ultra-large displays, though no pricing details were released.

TCL also touted a new Super High Energy LED chip, said to increase brightness by more than 53 per cent, and Condensed Micro Lens technology able to better manage HDR, both will be available on its mid-range QM6K model.

LG Display made headlines with its unveiling of the Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel, the successor to MLA OLED. This fourth-generation OLED panel improves brightness by 33 per cent, reaching a peak of 4,000 nits, significantly boosting HDR performance. The new design separates red, green, and blue elements into independent layers, enhancing both brightness and color accuracy.

This new panel technology is being integrated into LG’s G5 OLED, which also boasts the latest Alpha 11 AI processor Gen2 and Brightness Booster Ultimate for AI-powered picture enhancements. While its benefits for picture enhancement seem obvious, the new processor also has an increasing role to play in audio. LG offered AI Sound Pro, able to conjure up 11.1.2 channels of sound, for less immersive content.
Gaming remains a strong component, with the G5 boasting a 4K 165Hz Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and certification for NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium graphics cards.

LG also scaled up its Mini LED lineup, led by the QNED9M, capable of a wireless 4K 144Hz connection, courtesy of its separate Zero Connect Box which is able to transmit video up to 4K resolution.

Panasonic joined the OLED quad-stack Tandem evolution with its new flagship, the Z95B OLED TV. Available in 55-, 65-, and 77-inch sizes, later this year, the Z95B offers AI-enhanced HCX Pro AI Processor MK II processing, ThermalFlow aerodynamic cooling for sustained brightness, and an upgraded 360-degree Dolby Atmos audio system.

Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi, with help from incoming Captain America actor Anthony Mackie, emphasized Panasonic's commitment to sustainability and AI. The keynote's energy was amplified by DJ Steve Aoki, setting an upbeat tone for the event.

Rather than focusing on traditional TV announcements, Samsung’s presence at CES 2025 highlighted AI advancements and a new approach to immersive audio. The company previewed Live Translate, a next AI-powered technology which enables real-time, AI-driven language translation for select live broadcasts.

“Instead of tangible products ready for market, many companies showcased possible future opportunities or new lifestyles that might be enabled through innovation, perhaps aiming to test consumer appetite for new trends before committing to building solutions to match,” says Futuresource’s Steve Forrest. “Certainly, the shift towards software-based innovation, as opposed to hardware-based product solutions, is allowing companies far more flexibility in implementation.”

Samsung’s most impressive display innovation came in the form of an 8K Ultra Short Throw projector, set to join Samsung’s Premiere lineup. Capable of producing ultra-clear images in a compact form factor, this projector is one to watch as home cinema technology continues to evolve.

Once again, CES delivered a compelling mix of cutting-edge display technology, AI-driven enhancements, and immersive audio advancements. The shift towards AI-powered picture processing, brighter OLED panels, and accessible 3D audio formats doubtless heralds a new era of innovation for AV, although it comes with challenges.