Chinese manufacturer Hisense is throwing its hat into the Ultra HD TV market among heavy names such as Sony and LG, adding its new Hisense XT880.

The Hisense XT880 is a 4K Ultra HD TV (UHDTV), notable for its slightly smaller size. Though the company is not as well-known as the big brands entering the UHDTV market, it may deal a blow to competitors when it comes to the price/features ratio.

The XT880 TV set features a number of high-end features, including a slightly more compact range of screen sizes. The device will be available with a 50-inch, 58-inch, or a 65-inch panel. While such screen sizes are impressive compared to current HTDV sets, they pale compared to other early UHDTV efforts.
Sony and LG, for instance, have showcased early UHDTV sets with a whopping 84-inch screen size, but those sets also come with a price to match. Sony's offering reportedly goes up to $25,000, while Hisense will offer its 4K TV set for under $6,000. Also, the smaller screen size means the TV would fit more easily even into smaller rooms, not only smaller budgets.

The new UHDTV standard marks a four-fold increase in resolution over the current 1080p HDTV standard. With the new resolution, individual pixels should be impossible to discern in a 4K picture, even from inches away and on a huge 84-inch panel.

The Hisense XT880 UHDTV will be fully 3-D-capable, and will feature Smart TV functionality build around the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and its built0in Wi-Fi capability. The TV set will also reportedly pack a removable camera capable of supporting facial recognition, gesture control, as well as Skype calling. Meanwhile, a microphone in the TV's controller makes it possible to use voice commands.
Although no firm release date is set so far, Hisense has confirmed that it will be showing off its new XT880 UHDTV at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013, which starts on January 8.

If the Hisense XT880 will be priced as competitively as expected, it may be the catalyst that brings UHDTV technology within reach of the masses.