Nearly 99 percent of the front of Samsung’s new flagship TV is screen. That is the claim for the Q950TS QLED 8K set the company showed at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, a model it says is only 15 millimeters thin and has almost no bezel.
Samsung called the Q950TS the first TV in the industry to combine surround sound audio, true 8K resolution and an ultra-thin body. Joe Stinziano, head of consumer electronics at Samsung Electronics America, made the pitch for the format. “Screens over 75″ are the fastest growing segment in the market,” he said, “and that segment is where 8K resolution matters the most.”
Making 8K look like 8K
There is not much native 8K content yet, and Samsung built the set around that gap. Its Quantum Processor 8K uses machine learning to study individual pixels and rebuild lower-resolution video into an 8K picture. For real 8K material, every set in the 2020 line ships able to play AV1 video filmed in 8K. Samsung said it is working with YouTube on ways to stream it.
A feature called AI ScaleNet compresses video as it leaves the provider and restores it on arrival, which Samsung says roughly halves the bandwidth needed. The company is testing it with Amazon on Prime Video content from standard definition up to 4K.
Adaptive Picture reads how light is spread across each scene instead of just the room’s brightness, so the picture holds contrast in a bright room.
Sound
The Q950 has speakers on every side and subwoofers at the back. Object Tracking Sound+ moves audio to follow objects on screen, which gives 5.1 channel surround. Active Voice Amplifier listens for household noise such as a blender or vacuum cleaner and lifts the dialogue over it. Samsung cited a figure that 40 percent of U.S. consumers say those sounds distract them from TV. With a 2020 Q Series soundbar such as the Q800, a CES Best of Innovation honoree, the TV’s own speakers act as an extra channel under a feature called Q-Symphony.
Running the house from the TV
Voice control is wider this year. Samsung’s own Bixby assistant can change a room’s mood: ask for a calm atmosphere and the screen shows a relaxing backdrop. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are built into the 2020 QLED 8K line as well.
Tap View mirrors a phone by touching it to the TV. Digital Butler uses infrared to control devices in the home that are not on a connected network. Multi-View puts a phone’s screen next to the TV picture, with 14 layouts, including side by side and picture-in-picture.
Samsung also added Samsung Health on TV. Families can follow activity, track progress and share fitness goals, with free content from partners including Calm, Fitplan, Jillian Michaels, Echelon, obé fitness and barre3. Samsung’s pitch is that four out of five people do not get enough regular exercise.
The free Samsung TV Plus service carries nearly 100 channels, among them CBSN, Yahoo Finance, Bon Appétit and VEVO. A revised Universal Guide studies viewing habits to suggest what to watch.
Every model in the lineup meets the 8K Association’s Certified Test Specifications and the CTA 8K Ultra HD Display Definition.
