JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 28 August, 2020 – From vast streaming services to cinematic video games, there’s never been more incredible content waiting at our fingertips – and there’s never been more reason to experience that content on a big-screen TV.

Considering that you can reasonably expect most TVs to last anywhere from 5 to 10 years, when you shop for your next TV, you’ll want to be sure that you’ll be happy with your purchase for the long haul. As time goes by, many consumers report that they regret not buying a bigger screen TV. Today’s consumers want a bigger, more immersive picture. Which may explain why, according to recent consumer segmentation research conducted by Samsung, consumers rank screen size as a major reason to upgrade to a new TV, and why this year, experts predict that sales of 75-inch and larger TVs will increase by 17 percent, and sales of 8K TVs will increase by 110 percent¹.

The benefits of buying a big-screen TV are as clear as the spacious displays’ immersive images. Let’s take a closer look at some of those benefits now.

1. Next-Level Realism

It may sound simple, but it’s true: the bigger your TV’s screen, the easier it is to appreciate its picture quality.

The key lies in the balance between size and resolution – the total number of pixels a TV’s screen contains. The bigger the TV, the more important its resolution becomes. An ultra-high-resolution TV like Samsung’s QLED 8K packs a whopping 33 million pixels into its screen. Such high resolution makes pixels imperceptible on a big-screen TV – amplifying your immersion by offering you a bigger, more realistic picture. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why consumers consistently rate screen size as one of the most important factors affecting their TV purchasing decisions, just as it’s easy to see how a big, high-resolution screen takes everything from watching films to gaming to the next level.

2. Watching Movies

Enjoy a theatre experience from the comfort of your living room.

A big-screen, high-resolution TV is ideal for enjoying films at the level of detail they were meant to be viewed. This includes both 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray movies, as well as content from an ever-growing list of streaming services. Special effects look more spectacular, and cinematic moments become that much more so.

3. Gaming

Today’s video game consoles are exceptionally powerful, and capable of supporting incredibly rich and detailed gameplay. When paired with a big-screen TV, the on-screen action becomes even more immersive. Samsung’s QLED TVs offer next-level gaming with Auto Game Mode, a built-in function that automatically analyses connected gaming devices and optimises TV settings to make gameplay as detailed, smooth, and realistic as possible.

4. Watching Sports

When watching sports, a big-screen TV transforms your couch into the best seat in the house. The ability to see more of the action in greater detail makes you feel like you’re there, cheering on your favourite team.

5. Enjoying Edutainment

One of the biggest trends in TVs today has been the rise of edutainment. With so many students studying from home in recent months, TVs have emerged as valuable tools for sparking young ones’ curiosity. A big-screen TV offers a larger window for exploring a wide range of exciting subjects. Samsung’s QLED TVs – part of the company’s wide-ranging Smart TV portfolio – offer entertainment for all ages. They make everything from web browsing to recording shows simple and convenient.

Things to Consider

If you’re thinking of upgrading to a big-screen TV, here are a few points to consider before making your purchase.

» Get a Sense of Its Size

If you’re unsure how a big-screen TV would look in your home, here’s a handy idea: try using painter’s tape to create an outline of the TV size you’re thinking of buying on your wall for reference. You can also refer to the GIF above to see just how easily a 75- or 85-inch TV can fit into your living room.

» Remember That Immersion Is Key

When buying a big-screen TV, make sure that the display you choose will offer you the most immersive experience possible.

Samsung’s QLED 8K TVs combine a high resolution with cutting-edge innovations like the 8K Quantum Processor to offer users the ultimate in terms of both image quality and in-home entertainment. They’re available to explore at www.samsung.com/tvs/, where you can also find information on the company’s complete range of Smart TV offerings, including QLED 4K.

Click here to learn more about how Samsung’s latest TVs offer users a viewing experience unlike any other.

1 Market research firm OMDIA has predicted that shipments of 75-inch and larger TVs will reach 4.92 million units in 2020 – a 17% increase over last year (4.21 million). Sales of 8K TVs are predicted to increase from 119,000 units in 2019 to 250,000 units in 2020.

Not only has Samsung worked hard to develop bigger and better screens, but the company has also been focused on enhancing its TVs’ design to provide the best possible viewing experiences. “Samsung’s QLED 8K 2020 TVs allow users to focus solely on watching and listening for total immersion,” explained Nivash Ramsern, Head: Visual Display at Samsung South Africa. “With these innovative screens, we reduced bezel sizes to make use of 99% of the display space and break down the boundaries of TV displays for optimized viewing.”

Take a look at the images below to learn more about the QLED 8K 2020 range and Samsung’s big-screen TV design journey.

¹ Market research firm OMDIA has predicted that shipments of 75-inch and larger TVs will reach 4.92 million units in 2020 – a 17% increase over last year (4.21 million). Sales of 8K TVs are predicted to increase from 119,000 units in 2019 to 250,000 units in 2020.

After a lengthy process, Samsung’s designers and developers were able to produce the unprecedented Infinity Screen, which makes use of 99% of the display space and comes in at a super-slim thickness of 15mm. Samsung Newsroom interviewed the product designers and mechanics engineers behind Samsung’s QLED 8K 2020 TVs to learn more about how this revolutionary design came to be.

(From left to right) Jang-ho Kim, Hyun-joong Chae, Jae-wook Yoo and Hokwon Peter Song of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business. Kim and Yoo are part of the product design group, while Chae and Song are part of the mechanics R&D group

Minimised Bezels, Maximised Immersion

Since its introduction to the market in 2018, Samsung’s QLED 8K TVs have constantly been applauded by the industry for their ground-breaking technologies which offer viewers the best available display resolutions powered by AI technology, HDR10+ and 100% colour volume. For those who worked on producing the 2020 QLED 8K TVs, this legacy was always front of mind. To deliver an even more immersive viewing experience with this series of TVs, the screen’s bezel and its black matrix – that black boundary at the edge of the display – had to be minimised.

“Users should be able to focus solely on watching and listening when enjoying the content on their TV,” stressed Jang-ho Kim. “To achieve this, we implemented a design that reduces the bezel count and black matrix into a near-imperceptible level. After numerous tests that involved reducing the black matrix each time by 0.1mm, we discovered the optimal values for this display, these being 0.8mm for the bezel and 0.9mm for the black matrix.”

Compared with the previous QLED 8K model (left), the Infinity Screen (right) has an immediately obvious lower bezel count

After many twists and turns, the ideal design was settled upon. But there were still challenges ahead when realising this design into a product for the market. Given the number of parts that make up a screen’s black matrix, the team needed to come up with a streamlined way to include them all into the limited space allotted by the 0.9mm total area. “Considering that the average thickness of a human fingernail is between 0.6 and 0.7mm, the space we had to negotiate to fit all of the necessary components into was barely thicker than a fingernail,” said Hyun-joong Chae. “We had to raise the degree of precision implemented at the product assembly stage, which we achieved by producing specialised instruments and equipment, as well as cells that had adequately thin boundaries.”

The team provided a differentiated bezel for this unique display by changing the materials used in production. Previously, the main material for such products had been aluminium, but for this product, stainless steel was spread in the thinnest layer possible using a special method to increase its durability. “By reducing the bezel count and black matrix, the resulting screen we created occupies 99% of the front side of the product,” noted Jae-wook Yoo. “The TV’s Ambient Mode feature, which displays a user’s photographs and videos when the TV is switched off, also contributes to breaking down the boundary between the TV’s display and the space it is placed in.”

A Flat Back Design for Seamless Adhesion

As well as innovating on the front side of the device, the team also eliminated unnecessary elements from its backside. Unlike the back of a conventional display which is thin at both ends but becomes thicker towards the device’s centre, the 2020 QLED 8K TV implements a flat back design that has a consistent thickness of 15mm. “When a product is wall-mounted, a differentiated backside design can cast a big shadow if there is a lot of space between the wall and the TV,” explained Yoo. “The flat back design allowed us to reduce this space and any resulting shadows considerably.”

The 2020 QLED 8K TV’s flat back design complements other interior elements well when wall-mounted

Of course, this slimmer backside design resulted in a reduction of space wherein to fit all the TV’s parts and components. Accordingly, these components, including the output port, the processor, the circuit board, the speaker and the cover, had to be reduced in size to fit naturally into this reduced space. “The cover was 2.7mm in width previously, but using a special method, we managed to reduce its thickness down to 0.8mm for the 2020 QLED 8K TV,” noted Hokwon Peter Song. “,To do so, we spent a lot of time working with external factories and other experts in various fields to develop this specialised method.”

A Stand That is Strong in its Simplicity

Conventional TV stands often implement designs that stand out. However, the stand for the 2020 QLED 8K TV is small and simplistic to place more emphasis on the screen. Moreover, understanding that every user has consoles of different styles on which to place their TVs, the team decided that a simplistic design would best suit everyone’s TV environment.

“The display stand we designed tilts the TV’s screen backwards around 3.5 degrees,” explained Kim. “We calculated this specific angle to ensure that users would be able to enjoy a fully immersive, comfortable TV experience and the angle also boast the TV’s slim design at 15mm.”

The stand, which tilts the screen back by 3.5 degrees, provides the optimum angle for user immersion

Samsung’s 2020 QLED 8K TVs have been receiving favourable reviews from across the media and industry landscape not just for their advanced screen quality and sound technologies, but also for the concerted efforts the team have put in to overcome the limits of conventional design.

“In the future, TV screens are set to grow in size and provide even more immersive experiences,” said Nivash Ramsern, Head: Visual Display at Samsung South Africa. “Samsung’s job is to make sure the product design fully backs up and complements the features and performances of these future products. We will continue to work hard to create products that provide the highest quality TV-watching experiences to users.”

(From left to right) Youngwook Sohn, Guiwon Seo, Martin Junseob Kim, Beomjoon Seo and Seonseok Kim of the Picture Quality Solution Lab of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 14 June 2020 –. The 2020 QLED 8K TVs provides users with incredible resolution thanks to 100% colour volume, which can recreate around 1 billion different colours on-screen for a natural screen experience, anti-reflection 2.0 technology, which eliminates the effect of bright light conditions on the screen quality and AI upscaling technology that enhances lower-resolution content into 8K picture quality.

Samsung’s 2020 QLED 8K TVs also feature HDR (High Dynamic Range)10+, an enhanced version of HDR10 that leverages dynamic metadata to maximise the contrast between each scene’s black level and peak brightness on a display. HDR10+ performs a key role in delivering users amazing display experiences by optimising brightness and contrast for each scene. Along with innovating users’ viewing experience, Samsung’s HDR10+ has also been setting new standards across the home entertainment industry at large.

Samsung Newsroom interviewed the developers at the Picture Quality Solution Lab of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business to learn more about the game-changing HDR10+ technology and how it brings out hidden details on QLED 8K.

Enhancing Display Immersion with Vivid Details

In 2017, Samsung introduced its HDR10+ technology to bring more vivid TV watching experiences to viewers. The reason why HDR10+ has become a key element in ultra-high-resolution video is because of its rich contrast range and wide colour gamut. “Previously, we followed the SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) standard that is characterised by a low brightness level of 100 nits and a narrow colour gamut,” noted Seonseok Kim. “But when HDR10 was introduced, with its high brightness levels and wide colour gamut of over 1,000 nits, we were able to offer brightness and colour range to users that previously unimagined.”

Each content producer offers content with different encoding methods, brightness and colour settings. The resulting picture quality that viewers see can be different depending on the analysis methods done by HDR technologies. HDR10+ is unique as it breaks down the video into ‘scenes’ while processing the file. “The previous technology, HDR10, applied a singular contrast range curve to an entire video, but HDR10+ analyses the average brightness, maximum brightness and accumulated data distribution by scene to apply different contrast range curves where appropriate,” highlighted Beomjoon Kim.

For example, when portraying a scene including an airplane flying across a heavily sunlit sky, contrast range is, of course, important but so is the gradation of the scene – gradation being the stages of change as a shot moves between light and dark. When graduation is poorly executed, the signal around the object in a scene can end up bound, meaning that details are blurred or excluded. “A good gradation of such a scene would present viewers with accurate representations of the sky and clouds as well as the airplane,” noted Guiwon Seo. “All characteristics in a video need to be analysed to successfully achieve this. Our technology will automatically adjust the HDR curve when there is a high amount of gradation signal distribution to ensure these signals are not mixing with other specific gradation features.”

The image on the right, good gradation has been applied to bring out all of the scene’s details, even on the background clouds

Developing Algorithms for All Kinds of Display

Viewers can experience different picture qualities when watching the same video, depending on how bright their displays are. When posed the question of ‘what is the most difficult task in developing HDR technologies’, Martin Junseob Kim responded saying that it was ensuring that different TV products, with different brightness settings, could provide the same display experiences.

It is no small task to maximise the display effects of a video with the same analysed video characteristics on TVs with various brightness settings. Nevertheless, the Picture Quality Solution Lab’s developers were able to overcome this challenge by developing a proprietary adaptable HDR processing algorithm, a process that took numerous discussions and much trial-and-error.

Development Fuelled by Collaboration

Viewers need more than just a good quality TV to fully enjoy a piece of content with high quality detailing. To provide the most immersive TV watching experience possible, Samsung understands that collaboration with the home entertainment market at large, including content creators and streaming services, is necessary. This is why Samsung has been focusing on establishing the industry-wide standard specification for HDR10+.

“Samsung established HDR10+ Technologies, LLC, along with 20th Century Fox and the Panasonic Corporation, and as of January 2020, 94 companies had joined,” explained Youngwook Sohn. “We at HDR10+ Technologies, LLC, provide free specification details on the technology and the relevant tests, along with the verification logo and user guide. This allows us to bring more realistic and richly coloured video images to more users. We are set to improve our HDR10+ specification based on feedback from each of our member companies.”

To produce high-quality TV displays, Samsung’s Picture Quality Solution Lab developers are constantly working hard to bring realistic video experiences to users; they are already on their way to realising technologies that improve on existing ones. The goal is to bring about previously unimagined viewing experiences by creating outstanding HDR quality for next-generation displays.

Samsung Newsroom interviewed the team from the Picture Quality Solution Lab of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business to learn more about this revolutionary technology.

(From left) Hyungjun Lim, Hyunseung Lee, Cheon Lee and Seungho Park of the Picture Quality Solution Lab of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business

Levelling Up Deep Learning for Optimised Upscaling

When a low-resolution video plays on a high-resolution display, the resulting image quality can be below a viewer’s expectations. AI (artificial intelligence) upscaling is a technology that converts low-resolution videos into ones of more vivid and natural resolutions by analysing the video data and adapting it intelligently.

In 2018, Samsung Electronics implemented its machine learning-based AI 8K upscaling technology for the first time. This technology harnesses machine learning wherein a human-designed algorithm intelligently analyses the various video qualities, including line, light and colour, and improves each of these for an improved display resolution. Such deep learning capabilities permit a TV to analyse and process video features whilst simultaneously learning thanks to an artificial neural network that acts in the same way as the human brain.

The members of Samsung’s Picture Quality Solution Lab focused on developing deep learning algorithms that enable displays to always showcase optimum video qualities without human intervention. “Deep learning enables more precise and efficient image quality improvements than can be achieved by humans alone,” noted Hyungjun Lim, who developed the AI upscaling technology’s texture generation method.

This operational advantage is what led the team to develop an AI upscaling technology that combines machine learning with deep learning – Samsung’s AI Quantum Processor 8K. “Previous machine learning technology brought about enhanced sharpness to display picture quality, but now our technology can also offer more delicate texturing,” noted Hyunseung Lee, who developed enhanced edge sharpness for the AI Quantum Processor 8K. “Images with complicated textures, like mountain or grass landscapes, can now be up-scaled into 8K quality more naturally.”

Solving the Conundrum of Deep Learning

Although deep learning has limitless potential, there are still obstacles to be overcome. The Picture Quality Solution Lab team had to go through countless trial-and-error scenarios to make their technology market-ready. “It was difficult for us, at first, to clearly follow and comprehend the algorithm being developed by the artificial neural network of the processor,” highlighted Cheon Lee, the developer of the AI Quantum Processor 8K’s network structure and learning method. “The artificial neural network’s high hardware chip power consumption was an issue we had to solve, too.”

After a lengthy development process, Samsung was eventually able to solve the problems that had arisen thanks to its range of differentiated technologies. “We achieved the highly efficient display quality performance of our processor by making it a hybrid technology that combines complexity along with different aspects of deep learning and machine learning,” explained Lee.

Dreaming Bigger, Better and More Realistic with AI      

It wasn’t that long ago that the day-to-day application of AI-powered technologies was but a distant dream to us. Nowadays, technology has improved rapidly to the end of improving the lives of people across many different areas of everyday life.

“We are now able to categorise videos of differing quality levels in a more detailed way while also bringing these AI categorisation technologies to the commercial market,” noted Seungho Park, who worked the AI Quantum Processor 8K’s noise elimination and improving the detail contrast range. “Such technologies permit next-generation displays, such as The Wall, to be able to showcase all kinds of videos at the most realistic qualities possible today.”

Samsung Electronics’ 2020 QLED 8K TV line-up continuously receives praise for its devices’ innovative display quality, sound, design and many other areas. In particular, the range showcases an impressive evolution with regards to its video upscaling technology, at the core of which is Samsung’s AI Quantum Processor 8K

This AI-powered innovation is not just limited to upscaling technologies. There exist a variety of ways to harness AI to improve the screen qualities of displays, including video quality categorisation, noise elimination, data-compression-caused distortion restoration and spatial or time-based resolution restoration, to name just a few. “Our goal is to continue Samsung’s legacy of providing leading TV viewing experiences by combining the advantages of our next-generation displays with AI technologies that can restore videos to realistic-level qualities, regardless of their original qualities and resolutions,” Nivash Ramsern, Head: Visual Display at Samsung South Africa. The future of QLED 8K is looking bright.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 13 June 2020 – Samsung’s 2020 TV line-up has already made its mark on the industry, receiving recognition from leading industry media through accolades for leading device and feature innovation.

At this year’s CES, Samsung unveiled their very latest QLED 8K and 4K line-up, new TVs that combine cutting-edge picture and sound innovations with premium designs to offer users unparalleled new viewing experiences. Several leading consumer technology publications in the U.S. and the U.K have subsequently awarded Samsung’s latest QLED 8K and 4K line-ups with some of their top distinctions, highlighting the TVs’ stand-out picture quality, sound enhancements and design innovations.

Read on for some of the award-winning TVs and their best-in-class features.

Award-Winning Advancements

Samsung’s QLED 8K Q950TS/Q900T received high praise from Forbes for its picture quality and design, with the outlet highlighting how the TV’s upscaling technology produced a sense of depth, texture and detail – for example of tiny figures walking down a distant street – to singular effect. The Q950TS was also awarded the ‘Best in Class’ distinction by U.K. outlet AV Forums. AV Forums applauded the Q950TS’ new ‘Infinity’ design, which features minimised borders at the edge of the display and is only 15mm deep, and praised the device as “an impressively specified 8K TV that boasts a host of high-end features.”

The QLED 8K Q800T received both a five-star review and the Editor’s Choice Award from U.S. outlets HD Guru and Tech Aeris respectively. HD Guru praised the Q800T, along with the rest of Samsung’s 8K TV line-up, for their best-in-class image and sound processing systems, noting that the greater pixel density provided by the Q800T’s 8K delivers accurate colour reproduction, 100% colour volume and overall HDR performance, even for images with fine shadow detail. Tech Aeris cited the device’s design aesthetic as its winning feature, praising that, with the bezels at a thinner footprint than ever before, “it really does make this QLED TV look as if it’s floating in front of you.”

The QLED 4K Q90T has become one of U.S. outlet AVS Forums’ ‘Top Choice 2020’ by merit of its 4K display’s versatility and performance, citing its refined technologies, such as the TV’s sharpening algorithms and their ability to effectively bring out texture and detail, as offering the best 4K QLED performance yet.

A Bright Future

“Our 2020 QLED 8K and 4K TV line-ups bring together Samsung’s industry-leading picture quality, cutting-edge design and dynamic sound experiences,” noted Nivash Ramsern, Head: Visual Display at Samsung South Africa. “These awards and distinctions underpin our relentless commitment to delivering advanced breakthroughs for consumers that are as useful as they are innovative.”

For more information on Samsung’s award-winning 2020 QLED 8K and 4K TV line-ups along with the company’s other leading TV & audio innovations, visit news.samsung.com/global/category/products/tv-audio.