Although QD-OLED is not expected to be publicly shown, CNET did spot that a QD-OLED set had been given an innovation award!
I do expect them, still, to show the technology privately, and some of the Display Daily team are in Las Vegas to take part in that. Overall, the show is said to have around 2,200 exhibitors (down by something like half) and the Korea Herald said that 502 Korean companies will be there. The show had been shortened by a day, but it’s hard to imagine that that change will The keynotes had yet to start when I wrote this article, but already much of the display news had been released in press releases, so I thought I’d summarise what has been announced so far.
Samsung is the biggest exhibitor at the show and announced:
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New microLED TVs with UltraHD resolution (8K is still too tricky and expensive) in 89″ and 101″ to add to the 110″ size that had already been launched. Colour is said to be 100% of DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB and grey scale control is reported to support 20 bit operation.
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The firm has a new ‘shape adaptive’ algorithm for the miniLED backlights in its 8K QLED sets to further improve the image quality by optimising the backlight patterns. The sets will also adjust colour temperature and luminance based on time of day (including sunrise and sunset) and on the data from ambient light sensing. Audio has also been improved with more accurate positioning of Dolby Atmos audio from up-firing speakers.
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There are improvements to the Frame (32″ to 85″), Serif (43″ to 65″) and Sero (rotating) ‘lifestyle’ TVs which feature lower reflection on the display (Frame) and body (Serif).
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The TV sets have a new set of ‘Smarts’ that include a ‘Gaming Hub’ through streaming games and partnerships with Nvidia, Stadia and Utomik. There are improvements to the support of portrait operation for the Sero, which now includes a ‘rotate’ button on the remote.
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Although there have been a lot of rumours about Samsung’s TV division buying a lot of OLEDs from LG Display for TV use, there was no mention of OLED. Korean sources say that Samsung wants to position OLED below Neo QLED miniLEDs, but still wants to make a profit, so wants LG to reduce its panel prices, even though the sources say that LG Display is already offering a lower price than it does to LG Electronics.
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There are new monitors including a new 240Hz version of the Odyssey Neo G8 32″ UltraHD monitor for gaming. It has 2,000 cdm2 peak output and is claimed to have 1,000,000 static contrast and 1000R curve. Features include LED-based colour lighting. There is a new 32″ UltraHD ‘Smart Monitor’ M8 (M808) that is thinner at 11.4mm and has 99% coverage of SRGB and 400 cd/m2 of output. There is a ‘SlimFit’ camera for videoconferencing. There will be more information, especially on the Game Hub function ‘closer to launch’.
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The S8 series (S80PB) 27″ and 32″ UltraHD models are for creators and have 98% coverage of DCI-P3 and certification to DisplayHDR 600. The new AR surface is certified by UL as ‘Glare Free’. Features include USB Type-C with 90W of charging and ethernet connectivity.
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Samsung added the S21 FE 5G smartphone with a 6.4″ 2340 x 1080 120Hz AMOLED. Touch is sampled at 240Hz. There is a nice infographic summarising the handset here.
LG Electronics also focused on TV .
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In OLED TV, the big news items were a new 42″ size (C2 range) that should be popular in Europe and Japan as well as for second sets in the US. The G2 range will go from 55″ up to a new larger 97″ set (with just UltraHD). There are new A2, B2, C2, G2 and Z2 which are updates to the A/B/C/G/Z1 ranges of this year. The Z2 is 8K and the others are UltraHD. The range will include sets (G2) with heatsink technology as well as the ‘Evo’ technology and some (C2) with just ‘Evo’ for brightness of >1,000 cd/m2 and 900 cd/m2, respectively. There are new Alpha 9 G5 processors that promise better tonemapping and the latest version of webOS (2.2). There was no mention of the new OLED EX technology that LG Display announced just before CES, but as the panels have narrower bezels and so do some of the sets, it can be assumed that the higher brightness comes from that technology, but that LG Electronics doesn’t want to highlight the term. (LG Display has done a good job in widening the range of OLED TVs from originally just 55″, 65″ and 77″ to now include 42″, 48″, 83″ and 97″).
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There are five new TVs (2 x 8K, 3 x UHD) based on miniLED (that LG calls Quantum Nanocell miniLED [QNED]) LCD technology. The QNED99 2022 TVs are the flagships (65″/75″/86″ 8K) with 2K5 zones and 120Hz on the largest unit. The QNED95 2022 range of 65″ and 75″ 8K 60Hz sets also have miniLED. The QNED90 2022 range have UltraHD resolution (65″/75″/86″) and miniLED and the top three ranges all have ‘Precision Dimming Pro+’. Moving down, the miniLED has a less sophisticated algorithm and further down the range are LCD edge-lit sets.
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An unusual product is the 27″ Art10 Stanbyme TV (Model 27Art10 and widely reported as the Standbyme – with a ‘d’) that can be powered by its built-in battery and can run in vertical or horizontal mode on its stand, which has concealed wheels.
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As we reported last month, LG was promoting its 32″ UltraHD and 16:18 aspect ratio ‘DualUp’ monitor. (LG’s Award-Winning Premium Monitors Designed With Modern Home-Office Workers in Mind) and I commented in The Shape of (Monitor) Things to Come (Part 1)
Of course, Sony had not held its press conference as I wrote this, but no doubt there will some interesting updates. The firm is reported to be a customer for Samsung Display’s QD-OLED. Given the decision of Samsung Electronics not to promote the technology, Sony might be in a position to appear to be ‘ahead of the game’. Sony has no vertical supply chain for panels, so can be flexible with its choice of technology.
TCL was holding its press event as I was writing this. The firm has been a pioneer (since 2018) in miniLED and pushed the technology on to 144Hz at CES, as well as continuing its OD slim technology. The 2022 miniLED TVs will have over 1,000 dimming zones and ‘great brightness’ (but no numbers) , but with more details ‘later in the quarter’. TCL will have more Google TVs in 2022. There were new tablets including the NXTPaper10s ($249) with a ‘paper-like’ colour display (in China and Europe shortly) and recently the firm introduced a 5G-enabled tablet. TCL has three tablets aimed at children ($89-$149) and also introduced its first notebook PC ($349). The NXTWear glasses have lighter weight than the previous version and have exchangeable front lenses.
Skyworth was an Innovation award Honoree for the W82 ‘transformable’ TV that we reported on back in November. Behind the Scenes Developing the World’s First Mass-produced Transformable OLED TV
Hisense was said to be planning a new ‘8k’ laser projection TV at the show, designed for 120″ images as ewwell as 100″ UltraHD units.
Mercedes Benz pulled out of the physical show but launched the EQXX electric concept car which has an impressive 47.5″ touch dashboard display – said to have 8K of horizontal resolution and is powered by a 3D game engine. There is an auto zoom mode to give the appropriate level of information. It will be tested in the middle of 2022, apparently. Check out the firm’s video here.
Click for higher resolution
Anyway, we’ll have lots more for you over the next couple of weeks. (BR)
