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LIVING ROOM LIFESTYLE TVs PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT IFA Home & Entertaiment Electronics SAMSUNG Q900R QLED 8K Samsung Electronics is backing the 8K market in a big way with the launch of its new Q900R QLED 8K. Available in four ultra-large screen sizes (65-inch, 75-inch, 82-inch and 85-inch), the set will feature several 8K-ready enhancements, including Real 8K Resolution, Q HDR 8K and Quantum Processor 8K, all created to bring 8K-quality images to life. To achieve 8K-quality images, the Samsung Q900R features Real 8K Resolution capable of 4,000 nit peak brightness – a standard met by most film studios. Q HDR 8K is powered by HDR 10+ technology to optimise the TV’s brightness levels and produces pristine colours and images. KEY SELLING POINTS 1 8K AI upscaling for content compatibility 2 Four large screen sizes from 65- to 85-inch 3 Ambient Mode helps set seamlessly blend into surrounding space The new Samsung QLED 8K will also incorporate 8K AI Upscaling. Whether a user is watching content through a streaming service, set-top box, HDMI, USB or even mobile mirroring, the Quantum Processor 8K recognises and upscales the content to appear in 8K. S9A METZ BLUE OLED TV The S9A from METZ Blue will impress users with its unique home cinema feeling. The OLED 4K display with HDR support and 10-bit colour depth enables black levels that were previously impossible to achieve. It offers brilliant colours, sharp contrasts and depth of detail. DTS and Dolby sound provide the audio backdrop. Equipped with Android 8.0, the S9A brings a wide range of content to your living room, which with the integrated voice command search function, you can find even quicker than before. » HALL 6.2 / Stand 201 » CITYCUBE Stands 101 / 102 HAIER ENTERS 8K BATTLEZONE In line with its premium strategy and its innovation capacity, Haier has launched a next generation 8K TV that boasts four times more pixels than UHD and 16 times more than FHD. The Haier 8K TV resolution has roughly 33 million pixels and is specially designed to show TV pictures that are sharper, crisper and more realistic than ever before. KEY SELLING POINTS 1 More details, more lights and deeper contrast for a true depth of field and hyperrealism 2 A 3D effect created by a smooth gradation 3 Optimised image quality for a superior viewing experience Haier’s move into 8K follows previous announcements concerning Haier Quantum Dot (QD) TV, which uses HDR Decoding Technology to deliver colour richness and panchromatic display of exceptional quality. » HALL 3.1 / Stand 102 THE ULTIMATE TV EXPERIENCE JUST GOT BETTER Here at IFA, LG have on display the worlds first 8K OLED Television, with an 88” screen that features over 33 million self-emitting pixels to produce an unmatched contrast ratio, and true blacks that define OLED. Since OLED has eliminated the need for any kind of backlighting, it allows for state of the art TV's that redefine both the picture quality and product design. LG claim “This is the pinnacle of technological achievement and the next step in display technology. 4K OLED has played a major role in reshaping the TV industry, and LG believe that 8K OLED televisions will do the same.” » HALL 18 / Stand 101 KEY SELLING POINTS 1 High-quality OLED display for perfect brilliant colours 2 UHD resolution with HDR support and 10-bit colour depth 3 Android 8.0 with access to a wide range of content including voice command KEY SELLING POINTS 1 State of the art technology 2 Over 33 million pixels on a large 88 inch screen 3 Unmatched contrast ratio and true blacks 46
LIVING ROOM LIFESTYLE ADVERTORIAL @ shutterstock @ shutterstock When audio technology affects TV image quality DTG Testing underlines the importance of “getting the tech match” right between sound bars and slim-line TVs The modern trend for standalone speakers – alongside the TV display – is causing some screens to “downgrade” their pictures to an inferior quality image, according to DTG Testing. The organisation was founded in 2000 and is the UK digital television industry’s interoperability testing house. The group provides product testing services for manufacturers, demonstrating conformance to the UK Freeview HD, Freeview Play, Freeview New Zealand, Freesat, HbbTV, at800 and Ghana Digital Thumb logos. The Test Centre’s receiver “Zoo” houses the UK’s largest collection of representative samples of Freeview and Freesat receivers. The collection has been used to support the UK digital switchover by gathering data about the capability of receivers deployed in the UK and is currently used by developers of interactive applications, testers for pretransmission testing and HDMI interopearbility. For pay TV operators, the problem is that when a TV doesn’t work, they are the first point of call for the irate customer, even though the issue can be caused by any one of a number of peripherals. At one end of the sound bar market, there are high-end manufacturers, then there are some mainstream TV brands who are using their sound bars as a means to upsell the customer, having inadvertently reduced their built-in speaker quality as the displays became everthinner. Ian Medland, Associate Director, DTG Testing, says: “If a sound bar from one manufacturer doesn’t work with a panel from another, who do you blame? It’s a lot more difficult to have that conversation than it is with, say, a Sky sound bar because you’re paying them money every month and it’s them you want to shout at.” But just because it’s a sound bar that’s connected doesn’t mean the problems are always going to be around audio. The DTG Zoo reports issues around copy protection, particularly those around Ultra UD, which has much more restrictive rules as to what can and can’t be displayed, leading to a failure mode that restricts the video to regular HD. Worse, the displays can offer a black or flickering screen as the device tries to renegotiate copy protection. Every additional device in the chain can interfere with other parts of the system. Medland adds: “If you go for low-cost devices they’ll be restricted to lower versions of HDMI, so you’ll suddenly find out that although your panel is Ultra High-Def compatible, your sound bar isn’t, so if you route it through your sound bar and through to the TV, you might suddenly find that the sound-bar is preventing the full capability of the TV panel being exposed to the set-top box, so that it thinks it only needs to send an HD signal.” In addition to the multiplicity of devices, manufacturers are also dealing with a complex web of audio formats with no clear market favourite yet to emerge. Medland says it’s still too early to say who will gain the lead, with broadcasters remaining somewhat conservative, however, the pace is being set by Netflix and Apple TV who are looking at fully immersive formats such as Dolby Atmos. He says: “TV manufacturers say that the people driving the device specifications are no longer the broadcasters, and certainly not the freeto-air channels. Instead, the driving force is what’s necessary to get Amazon and Netflix on board.” Despite the success of Freeview Play and YouView in bringing catch-up TV services to millions of terrestrial homes, Medland believes UK platforms are behind their European counterparts when it comes to audio. With the number of sound bars – and accompanying technical issues – multiplying, manufacturers have been bringing their product to the DTG’s CONSUMERS FIND THAT DESPITE THEIR PANEL BEING UHD COMPATIBLE, THEIR SOUND BAR ISN’T London-based facility, so they can test them against the majority of UHD and Full HD panels currently in the market. Ranjeet Kaur, Head of Delivery, DTG Testing, says: “This is heaven for the manufacturers because they’ve got all the devices in the one place and they can test all these compatibility and interoperability issues of the Soundbars and the HDMI sources” www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 3 rd September 2018 47
