Top tech trends at CES 2012

The annual CES show in Las Vegas is arguably the greatest gadget show on earth. Traditionally many of the biggest names in tech use it to launch their key products for the coming year.

CES 2012 may not have had one dominant theme in the way that 3D TVs stole the show in 2011, and tablets the year before, but there was still tonnes of interesting tech strewn across the ample exhibition space. Here's what we think were the key trends of the show.

OLED stole the show

Most definitely one of the stand-out technologies at the show this year was OLED TVs. This display technology is self-illuminating, so unlike LCD or LED TVs, OLED sets don't use a backlight. This means they can produce astoundingly deep black levels, which in turn helps them to deliver hugely impressive contrast performance. Colours are scorchingly bright too, and on the whole their pictures have a lot more visual impact.

Previous OLED TVs that have reached the market have only been available in very small screen sizes. However, this year both LG and Samsung showed off 55-inch models. Undoubtedly LG's 55EM960V was the most drool-inducing of the two. Its screen is incredibly slim, measuring a mere 4mm deep, while the bezel framing is just 1mm wide. It was so admired that it walked off with CNET's coveted Best of Show award.

The incredible slimness of the 55EM960V, which will be out in the UK in the second half of the year, took some of the sheen off Samsung's 55-inch Super OLED model, as it's slightly thicker at 8mm. Nevertheless, the fact that two companies were showing off OLED models suggests that the technology may soon be ready for the mainstream.

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