We started by talking with Loewe about the deal with Hisense. Unlike the Metz takeover by Skyworth, Loewe remains an independent company but does have a close cooperation with Hisense in electronic design and sales of Loewe products outside Europe. However, it also has a long-standing close relationship with LG Display. As a result of that deal, as last year, all TVs at 55″ and above are based on OLED (and we heard that the company would be keen to see smaller OLED displays, if LG Display does what it said at the Munich OLED display event last year, and decided to make smaller panels – a lot of Loewe customers like OLED but want smaller sets than 55″). We were reminded that early on in the development of FPD TV, Loewe worked with Sharp as Sharp wanted to get access to Loewe’s analogue tuner technology and experience.
Loewe is still mainly focused on Western Europe but is looking at whether there are wider opportunities in other regions.
Loewe started its explanation of its booth this year by explaining its audio improvements. The company has worked with a German company, Mimi, which has been trying to understand the different way that people hear audio. It is said to have conducted over a 1,000,000 tests of hearing and as a result has developed a deep understanding of how we hear. The firm has developed technology to modify audio to make it clearer. The general algorithm works for most people, but the company also has a test process (you can try it at mimi.io – it takes around 6 minutes), so that audio can be modified to suit the user.
Loewe demonstrated some audio with and without the Mimi process and there was certainly a significant difference and Loewe told us that the algorithm is a lot more than simply boosting some frequencies. Mimi also announced a deal at IFA with Beyer for wireless headphones.
Other changes at Loewe are mainly incremental with new colours of TVs and has worked with Vogels of the Netherlands that has a wall mount that can be controlled by the Loewe Smart TV OS. The company has also added Alexa support to its TVs this year (Loewe TVs Now Support Alexa Voice Control)
Loewe has new colours for its sets this year. Image:Meko
