The HW-Q950T delivers the audio quality of 9.1.4-channel, the maximum number of channels for currently available home-theater systems in a single soundbar. The model packs in extra-powerful sound with two wireless rear up-firing speakers and also adds left and right wide channel speakers to the previous 7.1.4-channel system, allowing the audio output to express the motion on the screen in a more realistic way with greater immersion.

Both the HW-Q950T and HW-Q900T support Dolby Atmos^® – which transports listeners with immersive, moving audio that flows all around you, along with DTS:X from DTS for multi-dimensional audio technology. They also include eARC support to produce full, rich and high-quality surround sound like Dolby TrueHD.

Consumers can further enhance the immersive experience by connecting the soundbars to Samsung’s 2020 QLED TVs. Q-symphony activates and plays surround sound from both the TV and soundbar, creating incredible audio synergy with compatible TVs.

Improvements have also been made to the product design, on the top of the advancements in overall functionality. Compared to 2019 soundbar models, Samsung reduced the height of both of models to 69.5mm from 83mm to fit perfectly with the TV. The soundbars are also wrapped in Kvadrat textile, adding premium elegance while maximizing sound penetration.

“In collaboration with Audio Lab in the US, we have been able to develop multi-dimensional surround sound that can be more accessible at home, which was previously only possible with a separate home-theater system,” said Seong Cho, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Product Marketing of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “In addition to improving sound quality, we also focused on fine-tuning the soundbar’s design aesthetic by using eco-friendly textiles, made by Danish premium brand Kvadrat.”

The two new models also feature SmartThings App and Alexa voice service, allowing users to command their favorite music streaming services, like Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio.¹

Music lovers can also now enjoy their favorite music with a simple tap. The Tap Sound feature allows the music from your smartphone to be sent directly to the soundbar.

All Samsung soundbars are tuned at the Samsung Audio Lab in Valencia, California.

For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

¹ Services may vary by country.

Members of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Division (from left): Hyun Mook Choi and Jessica BeomEun Kim, from the TV Product Planning Group, Sungchang Jang, from the Software R&D Group, and Youngho Jung, from the Panel R&D Group.

Since introducing Auto Game Mode to its TVs back in 2018, Samsung has made delivering next-level gaming experiences a key priority for TV development. Today, the fruits of the company’s considerable efforts include three consecutive ‘Best of Innovation’ nods in the gaming category of CES’s annual Innovation Awards.

Samsung’s latest QLED TVs build on that award-winning heritage by offering users their most immersive and enjoyable TV gaming experiences yet. To learn more about how QLED TVs are changing the game in this regard, Samsung Newsroom sat down with the product planners and developers who helped bring the displays to life.

More Immersion, Less Distractions

When it comes to fostering immersive gaming, one of the most important factors, the team explained, is what’s known as input lag – or the amount of time between the moment a command is entered on a controller and the moment it’s registered on the screen. The shorter the input lag is, the more immersive the gameplay becomes.

“Input lag is determined by how quickly image signal can be processed and displayed on the screen,” said product planner Jessica BeomEun Kim. Samsung’s team was able to minimize QLED TV’s input lag, Kim continued, “by enhancing the way the TV processes image signal, which consequently reduces video processing time.”

On QLED TVs, racing games – known for being graphics heavy, and for boasting lightning-fast gameplay – run smoothly, without screen freezes or delays. As developer Youngho Jung explained, FreeSync Premium, a technology that eliminates screen tearing and stuttering enabled this ability to seamlessly manage graphics-heavy games. Also, Game Motion Plus, which minimizes motion blur and halo effects helps smoother gameplay. “We prevented the screen from becoming distorted by syncing the performance of the graphics card with the output of the display,” said Jung.

Spotting enemies and objects in the dark is easy with QLED TV’s built-in Dynamic Black Equalizer. This innovative technology utilizes the TV’s AI Quantum Processor to enhance image quality in real time by analyzing a game’s dark scenes and detecting objects within them. It then optimizes black levels to help you see things that weren’t so clear before.

Gaming-Specific Features

QLED TVs also include a number of built-in gaming-specific features that make it easier for gamers to immerse themselves in the action.

Take for instance Multi View, a screen-splitting function that allows users to simultaneously game on one side of their screen and mirror videos from their phone on the other. The ability to game and watch a favorite streamer on a single screen eliminates the inconvenience of having to switch back and forth from focusing on your TV to focusing on your phone. The function can even detect when your phone has switched to landscape mode, and reflects this adjustment in real time.

Auto Game Mode is another clever built-in function that enables QLED TVs to automatically analyze connected devices and optimize settings accordingly. All you have to do is simply connect your console to your TV, and a “game mode is turned on” message will automatically pop up on your screen. The idea behind including this notification, Kim explained, was to emphasize that the TVs “transform into a gaming device the moment they’re connected to a console.”

Sound is another critical element that can make or break your gaming experience. Not only can realistic audio make games more fun, it can also mean the difference between victory and defeat. To allow users to enjoy the most realistic sound experience possible, Samsung packed its newest QLED TVs with a total of six speakers – two more than previous models. Built-in Object Tracking Sound (OTS) technology enhances gamers’ immersion by allowing them to sense where sounds are coming from and how far away they are.

QLED TV + Gaming: A Winning Combination

Once a simple display, the TV has evolved into the center of home entertainment, and a hub for users to engage in a wide range of fun and interactive experiences. As Software engineer Sungchang Jang, explained, the team went to great lengths to ensure that Samsung’s 2020 QLED TVs would offer gamers the most entertaining experiences imaginable.

“It was crucial that our 2020 QLED TVs would be able to work perfectly with any gaming devices that consumers might use,” said Jang. “This required us to develop entirely new technology. We had to test each and every gaming device we could find individually in order to ensure that they worked well with the TV. There was a lot of trial and error, but in the end, thanks to our team’s tremendous efforts, we managed to pull it off.”

To get a better sense of the kinds of features gamers want in a TV, the product planning team used MOSAIC, Samsung’s company-wide intelligence platform, to source suggestions from some 15,000 Samsung employees.

Looking ahead, the team members believe that TVs will continue to serve as the center of home entertainment, and will be recognized as bona fide gaming devices. “Going forward,” added the product planner Hyun Mook Choi, “we’ll continue to enhance our TVs’ gaming features, to offer gamers the most complete and satisfying gaming experience possible.”

^*Images on screens are simulated.

Both safety certification institutions, UL and VDE, tested the 65Q900T 8K model and 65Q90T 4K models – both of which emit the brightest light among Samsung’s 2020 QLED TV lineup – for their blue light, ultraviolet rays and infrared rays.

“While Samsung QLED TVs emit high luminance and brightness, our TVs are designed to protect the eyesight without losing the truly immersive viewing experience,” said Yong Hoon Choi, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are pleased to be recognized by UL and VDE for these efforts and will continue to make the safety of our customers a top priority as we develop our products.”

For more information on Samsung’s QLED 8K and 4K TV lineup, please visit www.samsung.com.

Just as Samsung TVs have ranked number one globally for 14 consecutive years,¹ the company’s soundbars also hold the number one position in the global soundbar market. Samsung has held the number one spot in the global soundbar industry ever since international research firm Futuresource Consulting started officially recording in 2014. According to Futuresource, Samsung ranks number one in sales revenue, maintains 21.8 percent of the global market share, and accounted for 16.5 percent of the industry sales volume in 2019.

All Samsung soundbars and audio technology are tuned at the Samsung Audio Lab in Valencia, California, just outside of Los Angeles. Thanks to continuous efforts from the Samsung Audio Lab, the ‘Q series’, a part of its 2019 premium soundbar lineup, boasts high quality sound for which it garnered positive reviews from key tech media in the U.S. and Europe.

“It is rewarding to see that our competitiveness in the audio market over the last several years has culminated in this result,” said Seong Cho, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Product Marketing of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will ensure Samsung remains an industry leader in both the global TV and soundbar market for years to come.”

Samsung’s position as the soundbar market leader will be further strengthened through synergies with Samsung TVs. The 2020 QLED models, which include new and proprietary AI technologies to improve audio as well as picture quality, provide new standards of home audio and entertainment. Using the TV speakers in conjunction with a soundbar to establish the optimal sound, the Q-Symphony feature will produce richer surround sound and provide Samsung’s most immersive audio experience to-date to consumers. This technology received the CES 2020 Best of Innovation award, and is standardized across the entire range of Samsung’s soundbars (above Q60T) and some QLED models (above Q80T).

For more information, please visit https://www.samsung.com.

¹ Source – Omdia, Jan-2020. Ranking in terms of shipments. Results are not an endorsement of Samsung. Any reliance on these results is at the third-party’s own risk.