LAS VEGAS - Toshiba used an International CES-eve press conference to take the wraps off its first Cell TVs for the United States, which the company will market in two series planned for the third or fourth quarters.


All models will use a two-piece system including a set-top box that wirelessly connects to a 1080p LCD screen. The set-top box houses the system's advanced Cell processor that is said to be 10 times more powerful than most PCs and 143 times faster than most LCD TVs.

The set-top box houses the Cell circuitry along will a full range of home server functionality, including a 1TB hard disk drive to record and view multiple channels of content, and an Internet video system to access streaming-video services from partners including Vudu, Roxio CinemaNow, Netflix and for music Pandora. It will also include a built-in DVD player.

The sets also include the next level of Toshiba's Super Resolution technology to up-convert content to full 1080p/480Hz smooth-motion resolution and new Net Super Resolution circuitry that further cleans up compression artifacts from Internet-delivered content.

The sets, which are based on an all new chassis design, use full-array LED backlighting and Toshiba's Kira 2 local dimming technology. This taps the power of the Cell chip to address brightness levels of the LEDs across 512 zones, separately adjusting both blacks and whites, said Scott Ramirez, Toshiba TV group marketing VP. This results in a screen brightness of 1,000 cd/m2.

Lighting sensors in the sets monitor ambient room lighting levels as well as color temperature of the surround lights to adjust the lighting levels of the sets for optimal viewing at reduced power consumption levels, the company said.

For 3D, the Cell TVs will convert any standard 2D content, including video games, home videos and other TV fare, to 3D in real time, using its TriVector technology. The system creates the 3D effect by filling in missing pixels, delivering full 1080p, 240Hz images to each eye.

Ramirez said the system will support multiple formats of active shutter glasses on the market to view the 3D content.

To use the set as a whole-home server, the Cell TVs will include 802.11n wireless support to send programming to other rooms and DLNA compliance to control that content as well as to access content from other connected devices.

Ramirez said Toshiba plans to expand both LED and the Cell TV system in the near future, possibly leading to the elimination of CCFL backlit LCD TVs by 2012 and the eventual introduction of full 4,000 by 2,000 high-resolution HDTV LCD TV sets.