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LAS VEGAS - What's catching the buzz at the giant Consumer Electronics Show?

Ford is working with Amazon's Echo smart speaker to give you voice control of house gadgets - and maybe product ordering - from the road.

Samsung and LG are hoping to monitor and control everything techy in your smart home from a friendly TV remote or a radical refrigerator with a built-in 21-inch screen.

And Virtual Reality developers Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony are raring to take you on the armchair adventure of your life, to a concert or an exotic port of call, all via a virtual reality headgear.

Still, with more than 100 exhibiting firms rallying for the cause, and a major assist likely from the Force that we hope is with you, the biggest impression is likely to be scored by "the 4K ultra HD experience."

This is the next generation of home video and audio products that has long driven CES to glory.

At the moment, the best way to experience 4K ultra high definition is at the movies: Specifically, at one of the rare Dolby Cinema theaters now blowing up the mega smash Star Wars: The Force Awakens with an ultra HD laser projector and super-surround Dolby Atmos sound system.

Think intense contrasts of light, shadow and blackness, especially those blue and pink light sabers and burnt sienna sunsets. Plus the "object-based" 360-degree sound effects blasting so close you'll want to duck for cover.

The overall impression is wonderfully immersive, but skips the glasses.

No Dolby theaters are yet in the Philly region. One nearby is NYC's AMC Empire 25 complex off Times Square.

But all that visual and audible goodness is likely headed for home entertaining later this year on a new generation ultra HD-Blu-ray disc version of The Force Awakens, playable on a new breed ultra HD-Blu-ray player being launched at CES by at least three makers for "under $500."

All the major movie studios are rallying to the cause, with the hopes of reviving flagging hard disc sales of new titles and catalog hits (Groundhog Day again, anyone?)

From January to October 2015, for the first time, consumer spends for rental streams and downloads of films outpaced hard copy purchases - $6.44 billion for the former, $6.29 billion for the latter - according to the Digital Entertainment Group.

The first UHD Blu-ray offerings, due early spring, have already been announced by 20th Century Fox (The Martian, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Sony (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Hancock) and Warner Brothers (Mad Max: Fury Road, San Andreas.).

Lots of film classics are being remastered for ultra-HD, as well, said Technicolor's Mark Turner. "Stuff that's been hiding, 'crushed' in a TV screen's shadows but present on the original, 35mm film print, can finally be revealed on home displays."

Ultra-HD players will also connect and play back both the new gen and older 2K "Full HD" Blu-ray discs through a conventional 1080p resolution HDTV.

But to relish the latest level of home cinematic magic, with four times the picture resolution of HD, you'll need a new TV set, too.

Already a contender, even in its unfinished state, 4K sets claimed a 26 percent share of the huge 37 million-unit U.S. TV market in 2015, Samsung executive Bill Lee said. Price slashing on first-generation 4K sets for Black Friday surely helped move'em out.

Those first gen sets rely mostly on streaming apps/services to deliver 4K content. And they lack a new, higher speed (HDMI 2.0a) connection jack needed for optimum ultra-HD Blu-ray playback.

"Early adopters are used to this kind of thing," said Marc Finer, senior technical director of the Digital Entertainment Group. "The first 4K sets were like the TV equivalent of gourmet plain pizza. Now we're adding the toppings that enhance the flavor."

2016 ultra High Def TVs don't just multiply the detail and frame rate. The newbies also crank up the "High Dynamic Range" - the potential brightness of hot spots, subtle gradations of contrast, as well as the spectrum of color options - by up to four times what we've been watching on high-definition TVs.

And unlike the streaming versions of 4K shows (from Netflix and Amazon) which are limited by Internet bandwidth constraints, ultra-HD Blu-ray discs can push content to players and TV screens at speeds up to 128 megabits per second.

Bandwidth-flexible cable and satellite TV service providers also think the time is right to jump in with their own uncompressed ultra-HD content offerings. It would be delivered via a new generation of set top boxes or on select TV models (from the likes of LG, Samsung and Sony) that have cable or satellite receiver circuitry built-in.

"In our focus group tests, the added brightness, shadow detail and color you see with high dynamic range really wows viewers in side-by-side comparisons of sets that have HDR or don't," noted Matt Strauss, Comcast Cable's executive VP and general manager for video services. "So now we've decided to introduce HDR and 60 frames-per-second playback in our next generation Xi5 set top box - coming midyear - even before we add 4K playback capability in the Xi6." And Comcast is "exploring ways" to showcase the technology come summer, with NBC-generated Rio Olympics content.

DirecTV, recently bought by AT&T, also has the means to dive deep into ultra HD, with 50 new high-capacity channels sitting in wait on a satellite the firm launched in late 2014.

"The ability to show sporting events in high dynamic range with the extra clarity of 4K and a 60- or even a 120-times-per-second frame rate would be a treat for our tech-savvy subscribers, and we hope to launch a UHD sports channel soon," said DirecTV senior vice president Phil Goswitz. "But getting our content partners to climb on board is the big stickler. They have yet to be convinced there's a return on investment," unlike Netflix, now shooting all 30 original series in 4K.

Later this year, shoppers will see some TVs at retail carrying a UHD Alliance certification sticker, "giving consumers the confidence," Martin said, "that the set has the performance and proper inputs to deliver the full UHD experience."

takiffj@phillynews.com

215-854-5960@JTakiff