Many of the biggest TV makers at the recently ended Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas pointed to Internet connectivity above any other new feature on the sets that will be available this year, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.

Panasonic and Samsung officials tout their respective sets' ability to import videos and images from the Internet.

Sharp televisions, meanwhile, will let viewers visit NBC's Web sites for all programming offered there. The company said it also would use Internet connectivity to allow its technicians to perform repairs remotely.

"A lot of problems that people encounter don't require any hardware fixes. They just require someone to play with the settings or possibly work on the software," said Sharp representative Robin Feldman said.

Right now, though, there's one big drawback: all of the new TVs work with only selected Internet partners, the Morning News said. None of them make it easy for users to transfer video from their computers to their televisions.

But such open technology on the horizon -- probably within a year or two, electronics executives said.