What They Say
As expected, Samsung announced its Neo QLED backlight technology that is its entry in the miniLED backlight LCD TV market for 2021. The company said that it uses ‘Quantum mini LED’ and ‘Quantum Matrix’ technologies. The new LEDs, according to the way they are described, are flip-chip miniLEDs without lenses (1/40th of the height of traditional LEDs) and the light from the LEDs is spread via a ‘micro layer’ that directs the light. This is said to eliminate blooming as well as boosting brightness compared to last year’s sets.
The sets are thinner than previous QLED sets. (e.g. the QN900A and QN800S 8K models are 15mm deep compared to 25mm for the Q800 in 2020. The Q80 and Q85 last year were 54mm deep, the QN80A and QN85A will be just 25mm this year). The ‘Infinity ‘frames are slimmer and the control boxes are smaller and can be slid into the back of the desktop stand.
The LEDs are driven by a new processor, the Quantum Matrix element. The processor is said to support 12 bit operation and there is a new ‘Black Detail Boost’ feature.
Other features include new resolution scaling that Samsung calls ‘Multi-Intelligence’ which boosts the number of neural networks used to scale images to 4K or 8K from one last year, to 16 this year. A new analyser decides the optimum network(s) to use depending on the content.
The top models will get the firm’s Ultra Wide viewing angle technology and anti-reflection treatments. Other premium models will have a slightly simplified version of the wide angle technology. FreeSync Premium support will be upgraded to FreeSync Premium Pro and the QN90A and above will get G-Sync, too.
A new PiP feature will allow game play and streaming video watching at the same time. Games can be displayed in ultrawide formats as well as at full screen. There is better motion processing, while keeping processing lag at a minimum. Audio has been improved with a new Pro version of the Object Tracking Sound introduced last year and there is an ‘Adaptive Sound’ feature.
Samsung has added some PC on TV features for home working exploiting Dex technology. There is also an optional USB camera for video conferencing with subject tracking and auto zoom functions. Google Duo is supported for multiple connections.
The remote control will be solar-powered and can be recharged by indoor light, outdoor light or USB.
In its presentation video the company really promoted its green credentials and its support for accessibility including colour inversion and features to help those with colour blindness. It also has new features for those that use signing and text overlay. By 2022, the voice guide will be expanded to ‘everyone’ and the firm is developing a sign language avatar for animating the TV instructions and set-up. Samsung is also developing auto closed-captioning using voice recognition. The plan is to support sign-language recoginition for set control.
There are new options for ‘The Frame’ TV and Samsung also promoted its Premiere RGB projector and Terrace outdoor TVs as well as the Sero and Serif designer sets. The LED TVs were also featured in the video.
What We Think
It’s a shame that we can’t get to see the new sets, except virtually through our monitors. I’d love to see how much the haloing has improved. Samsung has not, as far as we can see, revealed how many zones or LEDs are in the Neo QLED sets. As we saw when we dug into Apple’s miniLED monitor (Apple Explains the Pro XDR Monitor), it can take a lot of engineering to get the best out of this approach. Of course, one of the reasons that Samsung’s TV business is committed to the miniLED is that the VD group can add real value to the cells from Samsung Display. (Samsung Visual Display Division Forsakes QD-OLEDs in Favor of MiniLED TVs). If the display device itself is the key breakthrough, Samsung’s TV set competitors may also be able to get the panels and reduce the firm’s ability to differentiate its products. (BR)
