With the emergence of high definition and large-screen TVs that offer spectacular visuals, user attention has been turning to the importance of sound quality, the finishing touch to providing the most immersive home entertainment experience possible.

In developing its 2020 QLED 8K TVs, Samsung Electronics implemented artificial intelligence (AI) so that users are able to enjoy a truly powerful large-screen TV experience. The 2020 QLED 8K range features technology that configures content audio to follow the movement of objects on screen and will also change depending on obstructions or distractions it senses around the product. These features further maximize audible immersion sound when paired with the HQ-Q800T soundbar – winner of the CTA’s “Best of Innovation” Award. The QLED TV’s speakers sync with the soundbar, allowing it to serve as an additional audio channel and create a more dynamic soundscape.

In this two-part series, Samsung Newsroom is exploring this innovative technology to learn more about its intelligent functionality. 

Object Tracking Sound: Reading the Room for More Realistic Audio Experiences

Say you are enjoying an action movie with a dynamic car chase. As the car moves from left to right and top to bottom on-screen, with a 2020 QLED 8K TV, the tension of the scene seems even more real, regardless of where in the room you are watching from.

The secret to this dynamic and realistic sound experience is Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound (OTS) technology, realized through the optimized speaker placement of the QLED 8K range. Unlike conventional TVs, which feature two speakers, the QLED 8K has six speakers¹ positioned all around the screen for a more vivid audio experience. The QLED 8K even has two speakers on the left- and right-hand side of the back of the device for a surround sound experience that fills up any room.

A conventional TV that emits sound only from the bottom of the screen (left) and the 2020 QLED 8K TV with speakers on all sides (right). Thanks to this speaker placement, the QLED 8K TV delivers a dynamic surround sound experience

On TVs with a conventional design, which normally feature speakers only on the bottom of the device, an increase in screen size will lead to more audio blind spots between the points of sound emission. For example, if a helicopter is flying on the upper left-hand side of the screen, the sound would still be being emitted from the bottom of the screen, resulting in a dissonance between the content’s visuals and its audio.

Compared with two-channel sound that features speakers only on the left- and right-hand sides of a TV, multi-channel speakers, as found in movie theaters, deliver a more refined sense of realism. The optimum placement for speakers is on the backside of a screen, just as it is in movie theaters, meaning that when an object on-screen moves, a speaker right behind that object can produce sound to match the visual. In order to recreate this dynamic realism achieved by movie theater screens, Samsung’s OTS technology harnesses all six speakers on all sides of the QLED 8K TV in order to have a video’s audio follow the on-screen action in real time.

OTS also features 3D rendering technology, which automatically recognizes a content’s genre and optimizes the sound tracks accordingly. This means that any type of sound, including stereo and 5.1 channel, will be optimized as 3D multi-channel sound. Whereas with conventional TVs, users would need to sit front-on to the screen to best enjoy the sound of a helicopter in flight in a movie or TV show, with a QLED 8K TV, users can experience the sound of the helicopter moving and rising over the TV even while sitting at a side angle from the screen.

AVA: Intelligent Noise Detection to Enhance Voice Clarity

The living room is the heart of the home, and often, the soundtrack to a movie or TV show is not the only source of noise to be found in this busy family space. However, there is nothing more frustrating than having a crucial scene in a TV show be overpowered by ambient noise.

This is why Samsung’s Active Voice Amplifier (AVA) technology was developed for QLED 8K TVs. AVA technology recognizes exterior noise sources and increases the volume of the voices on-screen if the surrounding conditions become too loud. For example, if there is a vacuum running while the TV is playing, the TV will automatically amplify the audio track to ensure viewers can hear everything that is going on.

Not only does this technology help ensure users never miss a piece of dialogue, it does so intelligently by meticulously analyzing the space within which the TV has been placed. Through a sound sensor on the bottom middle of the TV, AVA technology will allow its quantum processor to adjust the sound output when it detects a continuous noise from the surrounding environment that is louder than the TV and lasts for more than 3 seconds.

The TV’s sound sensor takes in and monitors audio from the content onscreen as well as the ambient audio from its surrounding environment. AI technology then compares the volume levels of the two types of sound, and if external sounds are found to be louder than that of the TV’s content, it will selectively raise just the voice audio track from the content being watched to ensure users can clearly hear every word being said.

Thanks to AVA technology, users no longer need to scramble for the remote when ambient noise suddenly gets too loud to adjust the TV’s volume. Furthermore, as the only existing TV technology to extract and amplify just the voice audio track of a piece of content, users do not have to put up with a boisterous sound experience when looking to increase a TV’s volume due to a loud surrounding environment. Users can also easily toggle the automatic audio adjusting of AVA on or off in the TV’s settings menu.

The sound innovations that come together to make up the 2020 QLED 8K’s dynamic audio experience take the inconvenience of adjusting TV audio out of users’ hands. Users can enjoy intelligent, 3D surround sound thanks to Samsung’s OTS and AVA technologies. Check out the videos below to experience the realistic sound experience of the 2020 QLED 8K range for yourself.

A Closer Look at the 2020 QLED 8K’s OTS Technology

A Closer Look at the 2020 QLED 8K’s AVA technology

¹ As of the 2020 product line-ups, 8K QLED TV implements OTS+ that uses a total of six speakers and 4K QLED TV (Q90, Q80 series) implements OTS that places a total of four speakers on top and bottom.

As people around the world continue to spend more time than usual at home, reports suggest that they have not stopped prioritizing their fitness. In a recent study from Global Web Index 85% of global consumers reported undertaking some form of exercise in recent months, with 51% relating that home workouts are their preferred form of exercise.

A March 2020 survey found that 16% of adults in the U.S. were watching an increased number of online exercise videos, in another study 60% of young people in the U.K. said they had been finding exercise helpful in managing their mental health these days.

All across the globe it can be seen that spending more time at home has not robbed people of their passion for staying fit and healthy. Below, we discuss three leading fitness brands whose services Samsung Health has made available through the 2020 Samsung Smart TV platform¹ to ensure that consumers are empowered to stay healthy from home now, and into the future.²

Thanks to the fully immersive picture quality of Samsung’s 2020 QLED 8K TV range, Samsung Health users can now enjoy a whole new standard of at-home wellness content on vibrant, ultra-large screens.

Calm – Making the World Happier and Healthier

‘Calm’ is a leading global health and wellness brand whose app ranks number one in the mental fitness category. The Calm app contains an extensive library of mindfulness, meditation and sleep content that Samsung Smart TV consumers receive access to free of charge.

Calm provides a range of meditation programs, music tracks and sleep stories that offer a wide array of durations and difficulty levels. The app’s mindfulness programs, for instance, offer a 7-day option for beginners and a 21-day option for advanced users. What’s more, Calm’s services are delivered to you through the pleasingly familiar voices of Hollywood celebrities including Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Fry and singer Leona Lewis, who have all recorded their voices for the app. Calm Kids content available on Samsung Smart TVs also allows families to get immersed in mindfulness, featuring everything from meditations with Thomas & Friends to piano lullabies from Disney classics like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Mulan.

Fitplan – Empowering You to Become Your Best Self

Fitplan is a dynamic mobile app that partners with world-class trainers to allow them to share their proven workout methods and empower users. With Fitplan users can identify their ideal physique, and ensure that they are working towards attaining it while also embracing a healthier and fitter future.

Using their Samsung Smart TVs, consumers can get free access to six workout plans and 50 different classes featuring five professional trainers – Melissa Alcantara, Natalie Jill, Brittne Babe, Jana Webb and Cam Speck. Through the Fitplan app users can set weekly goals, keep track of their stats, upload progress photos and add friends to share progress and plan joint workouts. What’s more, the app’s ‘form check’ feature helps users ensure that they’re performing each exercise properly.

Jillian Michaels – Giving You the Keys to a Healthier Life

Jillian Michaels is a well-known American personal health and fitness expert, author and television personality. The Jillian Michaels Fitness App provides users with access to interactive daily workouts, and additionally offers a premium paid service that provides customized exercise programs in multiple modalities that cater to individuals of all fitness levels.

Currently, Samsung Smart TV users can access a 28-day, curated workout plan, with adjustable beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. For users who are short on time, the app provides brief 7-minute workouts so that consumers can inject a little movement into their days when and where they can.

If anything, staying fit and active has only become more important as people spend increased amounts of time at home. Now, with Samsung Smart TV partnering with leading fitness brands, users can rest assured in the knowledge that a wide array of workout and wellness materials are available at their fingertips.

¹ 2020 Samsung Smart TV – Premium UHD TU8000 above and Lifestyle TVs
² Service availability and content partners may vary by country.