The Consumer Electronics show is the industry's avenue to show off coming trends for the year ahead. In televisions, all the talk was centered on 4K -- or Ultra HD -- televisions.

4K offers a much higher resolution in televisions, but at a cost. For example, Sony's 84-inch Ultra HD TV can be had for the low, low cost of $25,000. It's not uncommon for new technologies to be prohibitively expensive, but in the video below, senior technology analyst Eric Bleeker wonders whether 4K is the next 3-D TV.

Namely, is 4K trying to up-sell consumers on a technology there's little end demand for? Eric says the far more powerful advancement to entice consumers to upgrade TVs is improving the user interface. From that perspective, the thing to watch for is Apple (AAPL 1.27%) and how a television or enhanced set-top box from the company attacks the industry, and how competitors like Google (GOOGL 0.55%) respond. To see Eric's full thoughts, watch the video below.