Live from CES 2017: Samsung QLED Challenges OLED Claim to the Throne

It’s been a tough year for Samsung Electronics and Tim Baxter, Samsung Electronics America, president and COO, took to the stage at the company’s CES press event and quickly made reference to the year that was and promised that the company will move forward to create “jaw dropping technology.”

Samsung's new QLED monitors will begin shipping in February.

Samsung’s new QLED monitors will begin shipping in February.

The biggest news for sports content creators is the introduction of QLED, a technology that replaces the two-year old SUHD lineup. QLED offers better viewing angles, brighter HDR performance, and increased color production (99 percent of the DCI P3 color space), with claimed improvements to black levels as well. The new quantum dot technology makes use of electroluminescent nanoparticles so that the light can be pumped directly to the display rather than via an LED backlight. The result is native control over light emitted by individual pixels.

“With a new metal implemented core there is virtually no degredation of color or light over time, unlike OLED,” says Joe Stinziano, EVP of Samsung Electronics America’s retail and enterprise divisions. “It can achieve brightness level of up to 2,000 nits.”

Stinziano also showed a new “invisible connection” fiber cable that will run from the set to the One Connect Box where external devices can be connected. The result is a TV that has only one cable running to the back of it, limiting clutter and simplifying set up.

“With the QLED TV, we’ve solved problems that everyone —and every home—has experienced; cable clutter, thick wall mounts and a slew of devices sitting right under the TV,” says Dave Das, Senior Vice President of Consumer Electronics Marketing for Samsung Electronics America. “With our 2017 lineup, the focus remains where it should be—the content on the screen —not everything surrounding it.

There will be three models in the Q lineup: the Q7, Q8, and Q9 and Stinziano says the sets will begin shipping in February.

“This is truly the next innovation in TV,” said Stinziano.

The Internet of Things was also top of mind, as Baxter said it drives the company’s products and services as they now have IOT capabilities in every product category and every TV is now a Smart TV.

“We are clearly the leader in connected devices,” adds Baxter.

The company is also a leader in VR with five million Gear VR devices sold in 2016 and more than 10 million hours of VR video consumed. And the company’s Gear 360 has made it easier than ever for Samsung users to create 360-video content.

 

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