Samsung Electronics will introduce its new products and solutions to its business partners around the world at Samsung Forum 2019.

During the two-month event, strategic products including the 2019 QLED TV lineup as well as customized products for regional markets will be showcased. Based on ‘New Bixby,’ Samsung’s intelligence platform, Connected Solution will also be exhibited where global business partners can interact with various Samsung products.

Starting with the European Forum, Samsung will invite media and partners from Europe, Southwest Asia and Latin America to Porto of Portugal from February 12^th to 22^nd. From March 7^th to 11^th, Samsung will host the Middle East and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) Forum in Antalya of Turkey. Lastly, the Southeast Asian Forum will be held in Sentosa of Singapore to meet key business partners from March 25^th to 26^th.

Marking the 10^th anniversary, this year’s Samsung Forum will be a venue to share the company’s business strategy and vision with key partners under the concept of ‘Samsung Plaza’ in which Plaza, the motif, is where people gather, meet, communicate and engage.

“We are delighted that Samsung will engage with global business partners at the 10^th Samsung Forum this year,” said YH Lee, CMO & Head of Global Marketing Center at Samsung Electronics. “Moving forward, we will remain committed to helping people do things that once seemed impossible with our focus on AI and IoT to provide new experiences for consumers going beyond just connecting devices.”

Expansion of Consumer Choice with the Full 2019 QLED TV Lineup

As a market leader in the TV industry for 13 years, Samsung announced its entire 2019 QLED TV lineup that will be available in more than 60 markets within this year. The company will continuously increase the market share in the 8K TV market to sustain its solid dominance in the premium TV market.

“We have witnessed our customers’ unfaltering confidence and affection towards Samsung QLED TVs within the past year,” said Jongsuk Chu, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “This year, our 8K and 4K QLED line-ups are widening the gap in the market for ultra-large TVs, and we are proud to be able to deliver our most innovative and immersive lineup to date.”

The key products unveiled in the 2019 QLED lineup were a suite of 8K and 4K TVs, including the 8K Q900R that ranges from 65-inch to 98-inch screen sizes, as well as the 4K Q90R, Q80R, Q70R and Q60R that range from 43-inch to 82-inch sizes. In total, the expanded 2019 QLED lineup features more than 20 models and includes more ultra-large TV models.

As part of Samsung’s commitment to proliferate its QLED technology, its 2019 QLED TVs feature ‘Ultra Viewing Angle’ technology to provide sharp pictures with deeper blacks and a wider viewing angle.* Following its adoption in 8K models, Samsung’s new QLED 4K models are also now equipped with its proprietary ‘Quantum Processor,’ enabling the QLED 4K products to deliver any source content in different resolutions with improved brightness, picture quality and sound optimized for each scene through AI upscaling.

In addition, all Samsung 2019 QLED TVs will feature HDR10+, a premium picture processing format, so that users can enjoy a detail-rich picture. The QLED 8K TVs will also support HDMI 2.1 (8K 60P) transmission, and users of the QLED 8K can also enjoy content in a high picture quality on streaming services through AI-based 8K upscaling.

The ‘New Bixby’ feature on the 2019 QLED TVs gives users the ability to easily access the content they want through voice commands on Samsung’s ‘Universal Guide,’ which helps users search for content they might like based on previous watching habits and preferences.

To provide more entertainment options and open platform functionality, Samsung Smart TVs will offer a new iTunes Movies and TV Shows app and support Apple AirPlay 2. Additionally, through 2019 Samsung Smart TVs that now work with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant, a user can enjoy various features such as turning on/off TV or controlling audio volume via simple voice command.

After immersing the participants with its overwhelming size and enhanced resolution at CES 2019, ‘The Wall’ will again impress participants at the events in Portugal and Singapore. Samsung’s leading lifestyle TVs, the new ‘The Frame’ and ‘The Serif’, with unique design values and improved resolution after the adoption of QLED display for the first time, will also be displayed.

New Products Enabling Next Level Experience of Connected Life

As presented at CES 2019 this January, Connected Solution will also be exhibited at Samsung Forum 2019. Based on ‘New Bixby’, global business partners can enjoy the connected life experience with various products including QLED 8K, 2019 Family Hub, POWERBot and Galaxy Home. Not only that, they can get hands-on experience on how they connect with third-party products.

During the European Forum, AR Solutions will be demonstrated to help the participants virtually experience Samsung products and their interworking with other devices in the retailing environment with an aim of expanding the adoption of the technology in local retail stores.

The winner of the CES Best of Innovation award for four consecutive years, the 2019 Family Hub ensures better control of complex features with voice commands by supporting ‘New Bixby’, enabling enriched family communication and enhanced connections with other devices.

Samsung’s various mobile products and latest smartphones will also be on display.

In addition, Samsung will also exhibit customized products tailored to regional needs. ‘Make for India’ products, including microwave ovens with more than 250 Indian recipe features and refrigerators that can be powered by solar energy will be rolled out during the Southwest Asian Forum.

*Product specification may vary by model.

To learn more about how the company’s latest groundbreaking TV mesmerizes viewers with virtually perfect picture quality and sound, Samsung Newsroom sat down with members of the team behind it, including product planners Beomkyun Rha and Jonghyuk Kim, and developers Hyunseung Lee and Sunghwan Jang.

(From left) Hyunseung Lee, Jonghyuk Kim, Beomkyun Rha and Sunghwan Jang, of Samsung’s Visual Display division.

Fostering a Viewing Experience Like Nothing Seen Before

QLED 8K boasts a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels—16 times more than a full HD (FHD) TV, and four times higher than 4K UHD display. As developer Hyunseung Lee explained, the TV’s added resolution allows detailed in images to be expressed more clearly, and creates a sense of reality and depth that keeps you immersed in your content.

“With conventional SD (standard definition) or HD (high definition) displays, when people look closely at depicted images, they can recognize them as a cluster of pixels,” said Lee. “However, with QLED 8K, the level of resolution is so high that pixels become invisible to the human eye, and viewers become incapable of distinguishing depicted objects from the real thing.”

As fellow developer Sunghwan Jang noted, however, it’s not just QLED 8K’s sky-high resolution that enables it to provide such textured, realistic images. The TV’s exceptional peak brightness—up to 4,000 nits—allows it to illuminate small details with impeccable precision.

“Bright content is expressed differently in 8K resolution,” said Jang. “Because 8K features four times more pixels than 4K, images and videos that are brighter and include more detail can be presented more accurately in 8K.”

Taking Immersion to Another Level with AI

Samsung is the first manufacturer to implement artficial intelligence (AI) technology into a QLED TV.  Adding machine learning to the TV’s repertoire of immersion-enhancing features has made it easy for users to enjoy a wide range of content in crystal clear 8K.

Samsung’s exclusive machine-learning technology automatically upscales lower-resolution videos into 8K picture quality, regardless of the video’s native resolution or method of transmission. The technology is powered by the Quantum Processor 8K, which, according to product planner BeomKyun Rha, was enhanced to better process details and lighting.

As Lee explained, the difference that the upscaling technology makes is often as clear as black and white. “When you look at 4K content next to upscaled 8K video, black areas of the screen are where you can see a major difference, even under bright conditions.”

The difference is also especially noticeable when viewing scenes with lots of detail and contrast. When viewing a nature documentary, for example, QLED 8K ensures sharp, natural colors that depict both the beaming yellow sun and the emerald waves beneath it with vivid accuracy.

Dealing with Challenges

When developing QLED 8K, Samsung’s R&D team was encouraged by the 8K market’s rapid development, but found it difficult to agree upon how to improve on QLED TV’s specifications, given the TV’s status as the cornerstone of the company’s display offerings.

“The most difficult thing to do was to coordinate the opinions of all the related divisions,” explained Jang (pictured above). “For example, the goal was to achieve 4,000-nit brightness. Conventional 4K TVs feature an optimum brightness of 1,500 to 2,000-nits, so raising that figure to 4,000 presented a challenge.”

Because the market had never seen TVs that satisfied the 4,000-nit specification, the team set out to raise the bar by achieving that value. “We wanted to produce the world’s best TV,” said product planner Jonghyuk Kim. “A TV that would allow content to be depicted as faithfully to creators’ intention as possible.

Delivering on that brightness goal presented a number of difficulties, and the team sought the opinions of a various divisions to help address them. “Once the discussions were done, [we] tirelessly researched every detail, such as how to adjust the amount of light to find an optimal balance of performance and durability,” Kim (pictured above) continued. “We worked very hard to figure out just the right amount. If it was too little, the light would be insufficient, but if it was too much, it would impact the product’s durability.”

Looking Ahead

Of course, Samsung’s R&D team overcame the challenges it faced during QLED 8K’s development, eventually delivering a TV with the power to redefine standards for visual immersion. The team isn’t resting on its laurels, however, as there’s still more work to be done.

Currently, Samsung’s 8K AI Upscaling technology is capable of enhancing content with better picture quality and sound, but the goal is to enable the AI to analyze users’ viewing conditions and environments in order to provide a more optimized, personalized experience. This will eventually allow the technology to offer any viewer an optimal and immersive viewing experience.

“We want our consumers to be able to immerse themselves in their favorite content, and view photos and videos from their everyday lives at a level of detail that allows them to feel like they’re present in the moment or scene,” said Rha. “We consider it our duty at Samsung to create new, innovative products like QLED 8K, that can help consumers realize such experiences.”

During its press conference at the IFA 2018, Samsung Electronics is to announce its foray into 8K with the unveil of the Q900R QLED 8K complete with 8K AI Upscaling. Available in four ultra-large screen sizes (65”, 75”, 82” and 85”), Samsung QLED 8K TV 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. The new Samsung QLED 8K will be available in stores from end of September^*.

Samsung’s QLED 8K with 8K AI Upscaling is a part of the company’s long-term vision of leading 8K to the forefront as the most accurate and life-like screen resolution on the market.

“At Samsung, we’ve worked tirelessly over the years to move the industry forward when it comes to premium picture quality, and the introduction of our QLED 8K with 8K AI Upscaling is an integral component as we look to the future of displays,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re thrilled to introduce the Q900R to consumers and are confident that they will experience nothing short of brilliance in color, clarity and sound on our new 8K-capable models.”

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. This feature allows TV to produce four times more pixels than a 4K UHD TV and 16 times more pixels than a full HD TV. Q HDR 8K powered by HDR (High Dynamic Range) 10+ technology which optimizes the TV’s brightness levels and produces pristine colors and images is also incorporated to deliver pictures as intended by creators.

Samsung’s proprietary 8K AI Upscaling technology based on artificial intelligence also comes equipped with picture and sound quality to a level compatible with 8K regardless of the original source quality or format. Whether a user is watching content through a streaming service, set-top box, HDMI, USB or even mobile mirroring, the Quantum Processor 8K recognizes and upscales the content to appear in 8K quality. In addition, the Q900R features Direct Full Array Elite for enhanced contrast and precise backlighting control, and also 100% Color Volume, enabling users to witness billions of shades of color for the purest color accuracy to-date.

Focusing on user efficiency, the Q900R features a slate of new functions that enable consumers to use their TVs differently while maintaining the highest quality in picture and sound. For example, the TV recognizes and analyzes a number of connected entertainment devices like audio devices connected via optical cable with One Remote, then auto switches the TV’s image source and audio output for an optimized viewing experience. Lifestyle features, such as Ambient Mode, have been enhanced to seamlessly blend the TV in the surrounding space by showcasing beautiful images, weather, news and more on the screen. The One Invisible Connection, which comes standard at 5 meters, incorporates the optical cable and power in one seamless cord, giving users more freedom to decide where and how they place the TV. Smart enhancements, such as SmartThings, further add to the Q900R’s ability to provide users with greater access to information and make their lives easier, and the Universal Guide provides personalized recommendations to easily find live and OTT content on TV.

Samsung will showcase its latest television and audio announcements in its booth at IFA, located at the City Cube Berlin on Level 2.

^* Specific date and model may vary by region/country.

Available in a choice of 65, 75, 82 and 85-inch models, the new TV combines the market’s highest resolution with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that optimizes content for 8K presentation—producing truly lifelike images and sound, and enabling users to enjoy much more immersive viewing experiences.

Samsung has been the world’s number one TV manufacturer for 12 years running thanks to a commitment to setting new standards for picture quality and immersion. With the unveiling of QLED 8K, the company has once again raised the bar for both.

Why 8K Matters

Large-screen TVs (measuring 65 inches or wider) are becoming more and more common, with over 11 million sold just last year and, according to leading market research firm IHS Markit^*, approximately 16 million expected to be sold this year. The market for ultra-large screen TVs (measuring 75 inches or wider) is also predicted to almost double by the year 2020.

The larger TVs get, the more important their resolution becomes, as details portrayed on a bigger screen require more pixels—the thousands (or millions) of incredibly small dots that make up the images you see on your TV screen—to clearly define them. This means that ideally, in order to provide a level of detail that really blows viewers away, a large-screen TV’s resolution, or total number of pixels, should be above the previous high mark of 4K (3,840 x 2,160).

An 8K TV features a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, which means roughly 8,000 pixels are packed into each horizontal line of the screen. At this level of pixel density, the individual pixels composing an image become imperceptible to the human eye—even when viewed up close. Samsung’s QLED 8K features over 30 million pixels in total, which adds depth and detail to content displayed on the TV’s expansive screen, and makes objects appear that much more realistic.

If history is any indication, consumers won’t have to wait long for immersive 8K content to become the new normal. It took just less than five years for UHD (Ultra-High Definition) TVs to overtake FHD (Full HD) models in global sales, and IHS Markit predicts that sales of 8K TVs will quadruple over the next few years.

How Resolution Affects Realism

Put simply, the higher a TV’s resolution, the sharper its picture quality, and the more realistic its images will seem. Samsung’s QLED 8K features a resolution that’s 16 times greater than FHD and four times greater than a 4K UHD TV. This allows the TV to produce lifelike visuals that accurately depict details in a scene or image which would likely go unnoticed on a lower-resolution TV.

As the resolution of an image increases, it also creates a sense of depth that tricks our eyes into believing that the objects within appear more immersive. When viewing high-resolution content on a wide screen, the wider our field of view, the more immersive the content we’re watching becomes, and the more “present” we feel within it.

In other words, QLED 8K’s high-res visuals and wide screen offer viewers a new level of immersion—one that allows them to feel like they’re in the heart of the action when viewing a favorite movie, or enjoying a front row seat when watching the big game.

How Samsung’s Innovating with 8K

Samsung’s QLED TVs have a history of fostering brilliant visuals that predates the line’s jump to ultra-high-resolution 8K.

For a start, each QLED TV is certified to deliver 100 percent color volume, which means accurate colors at any brightness level. This helps the TVs express subtle details in both bright and dark scenes, and produce vibrant HDR (high dynamic range) images that bring content to life.

Because contrast ratio, like resolution, can greatly affect a TV’s ability to produce images that pop off the screen, QLED 8K also features Samsung’s brightness-optimizing Q HDR 8K technology. This innovative technology maximizes contrast ratio to make images appear clearer and more three dimensional, analyzing an image’s object(s) and background in order to accentuate fine details. The TV’s Direct Full Array Elite technology enhances contrast even further, in addition to offering precise backlighting controls.

QLED 8K’s combination of perfect color volume, optimized contrast and support for the Samsung-spearheaded HDR10+ open standard allows it to foster truly cinematic viewing experiences. The TV’s 4,000-nit peak brightness matches the content mastering standard for major film and TV studios’ Blu-ray releases, while its HDR10+ technology leverages dynamic metadata to optimize contrast and colors from scene to scene to ensure that content is displayed in the manner that filmmakers intended.

And it’s not just films and shows that benefit from crystal clear 8K. The TV’s built-in Ambient Mode allows users to enhance their home’s décor with beautiful images when the TV is turned off. Photos and artworks look flawless when displayed at 8K resolution, and the TV’s boundless design creates the sense that the image on display is melting into the wall behind it.

What’s More: 8K AI Upscaling Technology Expands 8K TV Market

To enable users to enjoy as much 8K content as possible, the TV also features Samsung’s proprietary Quantum Processor 8K. This innovative addition recognizes content—whether it’s transmitted via a streaming service, set-top box, HDMI, USB, or even mobile mirroring— and automatically upscales its sound and images into near-8K quality using machine-learning 8K AI Upscaling technology. This enables consumers to view just about any movie or show on any channel in crisp 8K, regardless of the video’s native resolution or method of transmission.

The upscaling technology is compatible with all types of content, including standard definition, HD, FHD and UHD, but its optimization is most dramatic when the original source is a 4K UHD image. The built-in AI upscaling feature analyzes the relationship between low- and high-resolution video, and uses this insight to apply millions of upscaling algorithms that accentuate details, add sharpness to edges, and eliminate compression noise for streamed videos.

The feature expertly restores content’s texture and detail to allow you to view your show or movie as it was meant to be seen. The resulting images are so vivid and detailed that you’ll feel like you could reach out and touch the objects and characters within them.

QLED 8K’s AI Upscaling technology also includes a sound optimization function, which automatically analyzes content’s sound from scene to scene to foster the most immersive experience possible. When watching a football game, for instance, when a player makes a big play, the sound may amplify the audience’s cheers to recreate the excitement of being there in person. After the play, the TV may emphasize the commentators’ voices as they break down what just happened. There’s no need to raise the volume to hear what’s being said; QLED 8K will do it for you.

Going forward, TVs will be evaluated based on their ability to enhance viewers’ immersion to the point that they feel like they’re experiencing a scene, game or moment firsthand. The launch of Samsung 8K AI Upscaling technology brings us closer than ever to achieving this goal of blurring the line between reality and reproduction.

*IHS Markit TV Sets Market Tracker – Forecast Q1 2018, Information is not an endorsement of Samsung. Any reliance on these results is at the third party’s own risk. Visit technology.ihs.com for more details.