Separately, it showcased a new system that could someday eliminate the need for clunky cable set-top boxes - and all the wires and extra remote controls that come with them.

With the super-fast Web service, a consumer could download in about four minutes a high definition movie that would take six hours or more at today's Internet speeds, according to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.

Roberts said Comcast, the nation's biggest cable provider, will begin deploying the new broadband Internet technology, which it calls, ''Wideband,'' in some markets later this year. If it works as planned, it could eventually be available in millions of homes across the country.

Comcast has been working on the next generation Internet technology for several years. Other cable companies are working on similar Internet improvements.

In a presentation at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Roberts joined the CEO of Panasonic in also showing off two televisions that come with all the technology found in a cable set-top box built in behind the screens.

''That means customers no longer need a set-top box,'' Panasonic President Toshihiro Sakamoto said. ''It's built right into the TV."

In his keynote speech at CES, a first for someone from the cable industry, Roberts also announced that Comcast will increase its high-definition offerings from about 300 movies to about 1,000 by the end of this year.

Comcast and other cable companies are relying on new innovations to address increasing threats from telephone and satellite companies, said Michael Cai, an analyst at tech research firm Parks Associates in Dallas.

Verizon's fiber optic Internet service, called FiOS, already offers connection speeds five times faster than cable in select markets. Satellite company DirecTV claims to be the leader in high definition and is steadily adding to its high-def offerings.