[Q&A] How AI is Transforming the Home Entertainment Experience

Earlier this year, Samsung unveiled its full 2024 audio video line-up with a series of Unbox and Discover experiences across SEAO. This year’s lineup delivers premium audio and visual experiences supported by AI innovation, including the newest Neo QLED 8K featuring Samsung’s latest and most innovative TV processor yet in the NQ8 AI Gen3.

More recently, Samsung hosted members of the press from across the region at the 2024 Southeast Asia Tech Seminar in Bangkok, Thailand, delivering detailed information and exclusive hands-on experiences through in-depth dialogue sessions and demonstrations, outlining the latest devices as well as their on-device and Cloud AI features.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Yohan Zondak, Head of Visual Display for Samsung Southeast Asia & Oceania, on the latest TV industry trends and how Samsung’s 2024 display line-up is inspiring new ways of living in SEAO.

Q: How are the latest technology trends such as AI elevating everyday experiences like home entertainment?

A: For Samsung, AI isn’t new. We have been investing in AI for more than a decade. Through these investments, Samsung is uniquely positioned to lead the way in everyday AI, from the applications in our devices, to our AI-enabling chips powering our 2024 lineup of audio and video devices launched recently.

We are at a time where AI is delivering tangible benefits to the end user while also driving smarter and better experiences that will redefine how we live, work, and play. In fact, consumers in SEAO today are more discerning than ever before when it comes to making purchase decisions for TVs at home – with almost 7 in 10 SEAO users expecting their new TV to not just enable them to enjoy extensive high-quality content (72%), but also support all of the latest technology and features (71%), as well as provide the most cinematic and immersive experiences (69%) possible.

According to the Samsung 2023 TV Awareness Survey^[1]

Every user is unique, and each uses technology in different ways, whether at home or outside. Samsung has built intelligent features into our visual display products from the hardware-up, providing a wide range of devices with improved quality, accessibility, and security.

From advanced technology in our MICRO LED displays to our Neo QLED 8K enabled by the new NQ8 AI Gen3 Processor, with AI, everyone can enjoy their favorite content in a more accessible and intuitive way. By doing so, Samsung hopes to set new benchmarks for new home entertainment experiences empowered by AI.

In addition, Samsung TVs are the go-to option for all who are ready to upscale their entertainment, delivering endless viewing content with Samsung TV Plus^[2] so users can enjoy access to free television channels and an ever-growing video-on-demand library.

Q: Unlocking the power of AI right from your Samsung Smart TV; what practical benefits should users expect from this new technology?

A: Our new AI TVs are designed with one goal in mind, and that is to enhance the everyday viewing experience for our users. Take for example the NQ8 AI Gen3 processor; this is our fastest and most innovative processor ever yet, with an on-device AI engine (NPU) two times faster than our previous Gen2 model with eight times more neural networks^[3].  Simply put, this capability means our TVs like the Neo QLED 8K can now improve user viewing experience with the display of sharper and clearer images, as well as through features such as AI Motion Enhancer Pro^[4].

In addition, despite the advent of high-quality streaming, what does that mean for users who want to revisit old favorites that might come in lower resolution formats? Features like 8K AI Upscaling helps to upscale low-resolution content, further optimising the user experience for large screen sizes. This means that you can still enjoy SD and HD content, upscaled to 8K quality, for maximum enjoyment.

Q: How are Samsung TVs elevating gaming experiences in 2024?

A: Ask any gamer out there, how much they like spending time adjusting settings for optimum performance. For TVs, it can be cumbersome to have to manually switch between different TV modes into the right one optimised for gaming. This is why we have features like AI Auto Game mode on our latest OLED TVs, which can automatically set the appropriate picture and sound settings depending on the game, using AI to intelligently identify the game genre.

For example, if you like playing football games, the TV automatically switches to Sports mode to help the grass color appear more natural. If you play first person shooter games a lot, AI Auto Game mode changes the TV mode to FPS mode, offering better visibility in-game with darker scenes. At the end of the day, users can spend more time gaming, and less on figuring out how to get things to work.

Q: How does a human-centered philosophy shape users’ experience of AI?

A: At Samsung, we believe that AI should go beyond the device to make a tangible and more personalised impact across all areas of your life.  

One example is that our TVs automatically detect subtitles and convert them into spoken audio allowing more of us to enjoy the TV-watching experience. Samsung’s Audio Subtitles help make the TV experience more inclusive for those with low vision and vision impairment, who might rely on audio and dialogue to follow along but may meet challenges with foreign films and programs with subtitles that can be difficult to read.

In addition, we’ve also been hard at work with a wide variety of partners, including energy and materials suppliers – to ensure that sustainability principles are applied beyond just the design of the products that we bring to market. To that effect, SmartThings AI Energy Mode^[5] enables users towards sustainable daily living, by automatically reducing power consumption and having less impact on the environment without negatively impacting the viewing experience. You can continue enjoying the TV experience as intended, while unlocking both energy and cost-savings at the same time.

Of course, at the core of our SmartThings and TV experience is security and privacy. Users can rest assured that their devices and data are protected with Samsung Knox, a trusted security solution integrated into our TVs. Additionally, Samsung Knox has most recently achieved the Common Criteria certification for the 10^th year in a row, acknowledged by 31 countries worldwide for assessing the security integrity of IT products.  Knox Vault, a dedicated security chip which uses advanced encryption technology to monitor and secure data transfer between all connected devices – are one of the many innovative solutions we provide for better peace of mind.

^[1] The Samsung 2023 TV Awareness Survey was conducted from 31 August 2023 to 24 September 2023. It surveyed 1,920 respondents through a consumer panel, aged 25 to 64, who intend to buy a TV in the next six months, from the following 8 markets: Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

^[2] Samsung TV Plus is currently available in Australia and New Zealand.

^[3] The amount of neural networks has also increased eightfold from 64 to 512, allowing everything on screen to be displayed in crisp detail.

^[4] Viewing experience may vary according to types of content and format. AI Motion Enhancer Pro does not apply to PC connection and Game Mode.

^[5] AI Energy Mode can reduce energy consumption by 23% based on Neo QLED 8K 65QN800C.