Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S22 phone line at this week’s 2022 Galaxy Unpacked event, where it also debuted a huge new tablet, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, which packs a 14.6-inch OLED screen and $1,100 starting price. The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ offer improvements in styling, durability and camera functionality over last year’s S21 line and have been characterized as iterative rather than game-changing. Continuing its partnership with Google, Samsung’s new phones are the first to offer YouTube remote watch parties (in Google Duo) and come with YouTube Premium trials. Continue reading Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Line Picks Up Where the Note Left Off

TVs continue to gain computer functionality as Sony borrows a page from the monitor playbook by adding camera functionality to models in the 2022 Bravia XR lineup introduced at CES 2022. The Z9K Mini-LED (8K) and A95K HDR OLED (4K) will ship with Bravia Cam, which adds video chat and gesture control. The camera will also help with brightness settings, dialogue emphasis and sound balance by tracking the viewer’s position with regard to the screen. Bravia Cam is an option on other 4K models, including the X95K Mini-LED series, A90K and A80K OLED models, and the X90K LED. Continue reading CES: Sony Touts 8K, QD-OLED TVs, Bravia Cam for Gestures

Samsung announced a dazzling lineup of TVs at CES 2022, including the ultimate MicroLED, which one writer called “110 inches of entertainment insanity,” with a $150,000 price tag to match. The Neo QLED line and Lifestyle TVs also impressed. But one model generating a lot of attention wasn’t introduced as part of the company’s 2022 lineup. Rather, the Samsung Electronics QD-OLED that quietly earned the company a CES 2022 Innovation Award launched speculation as to whether Samsung was about to enter a race with Sony to get the first consumer QD-OLED to market. Continue reading CES: Samsung Promises QD-OLED Details in ‘Several Weeks’

LG Display is rolling out its next generation in OLED technology, OLED.EX, which the company says will “enhance brightness up to 30 percent compared to conventional OLED displays.” The name is an acronym of “Evolution” and “eXperience,” and LG is tapping both to improve what is considered OLED’s weak link: lack of brightness compared to more expensive Mini LED displays. Since OLED displays “are self-emissive by nature” — without a separate backlight source — they achieve deep blacks and rich color expression. LG Display is tackling the brightness issue with a “deuterium and personalized algorithm-approach” to distinguish OLED.EX. Continue reading CES: LG Display Touts Next-Gen OLED and Curved Screens

The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro smartphones are here, complete with a profound hardware upgrade, capably showcased in the camera system, which benefits from a processing boost thanks to Google’s new Tensor mobile chip. Basically, Google has completely redesigned its flagship phone, adding bold colors and improving the camera to a degree that should make it competitive with other high-performance phones. While it’s been noted that some of what are being billed as the camera’s Android 12 features exclusive to Pixel 6 have previously been offered on other phones, Google’s configuration appears to be unique. Continue reading Flagship Pixel Phones Now Powered by Google Tensor Chip

Apple unveiled the long-awaited upgrade to its MacBook Pro, which comes in 14- and 16-inch display configurations with mini-LED screens (what the company calls Liquid Retina XDR). The new laptops are powered by Apple’s homegrown M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, which the company calls “the first pro chips designed for the Mac.” Improvements such as stronger battery life, ports galore and eradication of the dreaded Touch Bar have been largely well-received by Mac bloggers. Apple says the 32 GPU cores on the M1 Max provide power that rivals the Nvidia RTX 3080 high-end gaming class laptop chip. The 14-inch model starts at $1,999 and the 16-inch at $2,499. Continue reading Apple Turbo-Charges MacBook Pro with M1 Pro, Max Chips

Light Field Lab is developing a “naked-eye” holographic technology called SolidLight, which essentially creates high-resolution 3D objects in the real world using light (think the “Star Trek” holodeck or Princess Leia uttering “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi” — but better than the actual hologram tech we’ve seen in recent years). “We’re creating a world where content escapes the screen and merges with reality,” claims the Light Field website. SolidLight builds freestanding 3D objects using what the company describes as a “broad-spectrum, complex-amplitude, dense converging wavefront.” Continue reading Light Field Lab Touts ‘Highest Resolution Holographic Display’

Samsung has partnered with CJ ENM, a major Korean entertainment media production company to build a virtual production facility in South Korea. CJ ENM, which previously inked a deal with Epic Games to use its Unreal Game engine, will rely on Samsung’s next-generation MicroLED display, also known as “The Wall.” The facility will open later this year in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Because of the savings offered to film and television via virtual production, the Göteborg Film Festival predicted it will be the norm in filmmaking in five years. Continue reading Korean Virtual Production Stage Features Samsung’s The Wall

On October 8, Nintendo will debut a new $350 Switch, the first major hardware upgrade to the console originally introduced in 2017 for $299. Available in time for holiday season sales, the new Switch will feature a larger 7-inch OLED screen and 64GB of onboard storage, double the original, as well as improved audio and an adjustable stand and dock. What consumers will not find, however, is an upgrade to a 4K display, a highly anticipated feature that would match the console offerings from Microsoft and Sony. Continue reading Nintendo’s New Switch Features OLED Display, More Storage

TMS Consulting president Jim DeFilippis, who co-chaired the 6P Color program with Baylor University senior research scientist Gary Mandle as part of the SMPTE+ Series, moderated a discussion about the limits of the RGB color system. XStream member Gary Feather focused on display technology, noting that manufacturers have solved brightness and resolution issues for displays, but not color gamut. “It’s complex,” he said. “But color gamut has headroom to expand” to offer a better toolset for storytelling. “Let’s take that step to move beyond the [RGB] triangle,” he urged. Continue reading Experts on the Limits of RGB and Benefits of Multi-Primaries

The demand for upgraded televisions and streaming content has increased significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. Nielsen reports that streaming services currently account for a quarter of all TV viewing in North America and, according to CES producer the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), consumers upgrading their TVs led to a shipment record for 2020, a trend expected to continue this year. In addition, an Ampere study indicates that the average U.S. household subscribes to four streaming services. CES 2021 showcased a compelling array of TVs and related tech, including 8K, QNED, MicroLED, MiniLED, NanoCell TVs, ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV), Filmmaker Mode, transparent displays, enhanced game support and more. Continue reading CES: TV Technologies Takes Center Stage at Annual Confab

Sony announced during CES 2021 that its new line of Bravia XR television sets would provide consumers with the Bravia Core platform for streaming select movies from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company indicates that its Pure Stream tech enables “near lossless” ultra high-def Blu-ray Disc quality. The Bravia Core platform comes pre-loaded on new Bravia XR models including Sony’s 8K LED, OLED and 4K LED models. Access to film titles is based on a type of voucher system in which customers are given credits depending on which Bravia XR model is purchased. Continue reading CES: Sony Integrates Movie Streaming to Promote Bravia TVs

LG Display demonstrated “the world’s first” 48-inch, bendable, 4K gaming monitor during CES 2021. According to LG, the monitor’s thin OLED screen features a curvature radius that allows it to bend up to 1,000 mm without impacting the display’s functionality. The company’s Bendable CSO (Cinematic Sound OLED) display is designed to serve as a traditional flat screen for watching television and easily convert to a curved screen for a more immersive gaming experience. The display also includes tech that enables it to vibrate and create sound without speakers. Continue reading CES: LG Presents 48-Inch ‘Bendable’ OLED Gaming Monitor

ATSC 3.0, the IP-based broadcast television standard created to improve viewing across future fixed and mobile devices, had a presence at CES 2021 in the form of new technologies and TV sets. Sony, LG and BitRouter were among the companies debuting NextGen TV tech at this year’s show. Sony’s Bravia XR line of LED and OLED sets is ATSC 3.0 compatible, as are LG’s new 4K and 8K UHD TVs. BitRouter introduced a new Linux-based ATSC 3.0 receiver and the company’s ZapperBox ATSC 3.0 set-top box, which will be available for licensing by other brands. Continue reading CES: New Sony and LG TVs Support the ATSC 3.0 Standard

Samsung debuted MicroLED TVs during last week’s virtual CES 2021, all offering 4K resolution, in fixed sizes of 110-inches, 99-inches and 88-inches, with the 110-inch version priced at $156,000. That compares to the launch at last year’s CES of the 292-inch MicroLED TV, made up of individual modules and custom-installed. In comparison, Samsung’s 98-inch 8K TV, which uses LCD-based QLED display, is priced at $60,000. MicroLED, the first new screen technology in 10 years, is closer to OLED than LCD and is said to feature improved contrast and response time. Continue reading CES: Samsung’s New MicroLED TVs Offer Improved Contrast