CES 2015: I want my Ultra HD TV

LAS VEGAS — If what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, I hope this case of TV envy stays here, too.

The new 4K Ultra HD TVs unveiled here at the Consumer Electronics Show look eye-popping, so much better than the models that hit stores even just a few months ago.

New Ultra HD displays from LG, Sharp and Samsung that I've already seen boast new technological advances that deliver ever sharper video splashed with richer colors, all defined with improved contrast.

If HDTV was supposed to be like looking out a window to the world, these new Ultra HD displays are akin to actually Windexing the window clean and looking out while wearing a new set of contact lenses or glasses.

Ultra HD TVs, which inherently deliver four times the resolution of HDTVs, were already among the surprise hits of this past holiday shopping season. As retailers cut prices on the new displays to drive Black Friday traffic, consumers decided to spring for the next big thing.

Sales of Ultra HD sets for 2014 were forecast to hit about 800,000, but holiday uptick pushed that to about 1.3 million, the Consumer Electronics Association is expected to announce today.

Ultra HDs are, of course, pricier than HDTVs, and the average Ultra HD sales price has been about $2,200. "But price points are becoming very more affordable," said Sharp president Jim Sanduski.

Sharp is adding five new Ultra HD TVs from 43 inches to 80 inches, priced at about $750 to $6,000, out later this spring or early summer. But the one you will truly covet is the 80-inch "Better than Ultra HD" display, due this fall (no price).

Engineers tinkered with the pixels to increase Ultra HD's resolution by 167%. "We feel confident making the claim that we will have the highest resolution 4K television commercially available in 2015," Sanduski says.

LG showed off the covet-worthy 77-inch curved 4K OLED Ultra HD TV (no prices yet, expected the third quarter of 2015). The South Korean electronics maker is expected to be the only company making sleek, sexy OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays. "Others have tried and failed with OLED, but we are going to continue to stay the course and position it as the future of television and the best TV money can buy," said LG's Tim Alessi.

LG and Samsung are also magically incorporating nanoparticles to boost the performance of traditional LCD displays for better Ultra HD video.

Samsung's new SUHD TVs – the "S" should stand for "seductive" – range in size from 48 inches to 88 inches (no prices yet). Some footage from the film Life of Pi that Samsung had remastered for SUHD looked like an entirely new movie.

The technical magic means "consumers will be able to enjoy content with never-before-seen brightness, color and contrast," said HS Kim, president of Samsung's visual display business.

As usual, TV lovers will have to weigh our desire to own the latest and greatest with our checkbook and credit card balances.