By now, you’ve likely had your fill of CES 2010 coverage. There have been on-site blogs, press conference updates, video reports, and a surfeit of in-depth analysis. Now that the crowds are gone and sagebrush is once again blowing about the empty Las Vegas Convention Center, I’d like to offer a little more post-CES perspective.

Aside from all of the demos of 3D, NeTVs, widgets, super-thin LCDs, energy conservation, wireless HD, and OLEDs, there was another significant story to be covered. That was the big-time CES appearances of Chinese CE and TV manufacturers TCL, Haier, and Hisense.

This isn’t the first time that any of these companies have shown their wares at CES. Rather, what was truly significant was the sizes of each company’s booths (enormous!) as well as the depth and breadth on their product lines. Want a low-cost Blu-ray player? Yeah, we’ve got that. 240 Hz LED LCD TVs? Step this way. 3D? Strap those glasses on!

Hisense had numerous demonstrations of 3D LCD using both active shuttering and passive glasses. They also set up a power consumption demo, using their latest T29-series LED-backlit models. And there were super-thin (1.5" thick) LCDs to be seen all around the booth, in sizes as large as 55 inches.

TCL, who manufactures and sells TVs under the RCA name, also had an impressive display of wares out for inspection. Their X10 lineup, while not as large as Hisense, offers 1.37" thick 1080p LCDs with 120 Hz refresh, 10-bit panels, and LED backlights, while the TD-42F 42-inch LCD incorporates a built-in lenticular screen for 3D video playback. TCL also showed their THBD-6500 Blu-ray player, along with a CHBD (China Blue HD) model that is compatible with CDs and red laser DVDs.

It wasn’t hard to locate any of these booths — they occupied prime real estate surrounding the massive Samsung and Sharp exhibits, space that was formerly taken by three Japanese CE power players made conspicuous by their absence…Pioneer, Sanyo, and Hitachi. What happened to them?

A post-show inquiry to a Pioneer executive brought this reply: "Our home entertainment group decided not to exhibit at CES this year in order to reduce costs and make the most efficient use of their resources for the remainder of the year. As you noted, our mobile group did exhibit in the North hall…the home division is on track with restructuring efforts announced earlier in 2009, and they’re planning a normal rollout of key product categories in Spring, Summer and Fall 2010." No word yet on the other two MIAs.

If that weren’t enough evidence of a new world order for TVs, a quick side trip to the Wynn hotel would convince you. Here is where market disruptor Vizio set up an impressive display of TVs and related products in a ballroom that was almost as large as the TCL booth.

LCD TVs, active 3D demos, super-thin "Blade" TV designs, wireless HDMI, MH TV receivers — they were all here to be seen and ready to ship. Vizio will be the first to bring Philip’s 21:9 LCD TV to a mass market, and they’ll also be the first to roll out a 72-inch SIPS LCD TV from LG Display’s fab, a 240-Hz design with active shutter 3D capability. Their newest line of LED LCD TVs incorporate both 802.11n wireless NeTV interfaces and a full line of Vizio widgets.

As I toured the ballroom, it struck me that there were very few products shown in the LG, Samsung, Sony, and JVC booths that Vizio didn’t also have in their line (OLED TVs aside), and for lower prices to boot. After seeing the Blade TVs and WHDMI and WiFi demos, it’s evident that Vizio is doing more than keeping up with the Joneses. And the MH receiver prototypes — three in all — show that the company’s crow’s nest is being put to good use.

Need more proof that "the times they are a-changin?" The chief executive of Hisense, Zhou Houjian, delivered a keynote address at the show — a first for any Chinese CE manufacturer. And the company plans to follow Haier into the US CE marketplace, selling TVs and peripherals under its own name in mass-market retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, along with chain department stores.

The guard is indeed changing, and in double time…