TV Highlights 2020

For quite some time now, the annual CES in Las Vegas has been about much more than just home entertainment. The trade show has evolved into an absolute high-tech showcase, where the technologies of the future are presented. This sometimes leads to surprising or even bizarre developments: For example, Sony amazed visitors this year by unveiling its own concept car, the almost forgotten brand Blackberry appeared as a supplier for the assistance system of an electric motorcycle, and Segway presented a functioning prototype of an electric wheelchair that can reach speeds of up to 38 km/h ...

8K is (maybe) the future

No question, the mobility of the future is certainly a more exciting and important topic at the moment than new TV sets, but technology in this area is also developing rapidly. While traditional TV broadcasters—at least here in Germany—are still struggling with the introduction of FullHD, there is now a decent range of content in 4K/UHD resolution available via streaming services and Blu-ray. So it’s no surprise that the majority of TVs sold in Germany above a certain size already come with panels featuring ultra-high resolution. But of course, TV manufacturers are already thinking one step ahead—practically all premium devices unveiled in Las Vegas now offer 8K resolution with 7680 x 4320 pixels.

Since, apart from a few attempts on Youtube, there are no 8K video contents available yet, intelligent image processing plays a particularly important role with these giant TVs. After all, it's no easy feat to display content in 4K—or even FullHD—at the much higher 8K resolution in a visually appealing way. Many manufacturers, such as LG or Samsung, rely on advanced simulation technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI) and "deep learning" to deliver ever-better results over time.

Chasing records

CES has also traditionally been a popular stage for the industry’s never-ending quest for "bigger, faster, better," in other words, for the pursuit of numerical superlatives. Samsung’s modular concept "The Wall" still holds the undisputed record with a current maximum of 292 inches (742 cm). But even Samsung has realized that this is a purely theoretical value for private use—even if someone were willing to pay a six-figure price for such a giant display, the right living room would probably need to be built first: The required wall would have to be at least 6.5 meters wide and 3.65 meters high, with a recommended viewing distance of at least 10 meters ...

So Samsung’s developers have simply discovered a new record for themselves. With their QLED flagship Q950TS, the image covers a full 99 percent of the device's front surface. In other words, there’s virtually no bezel left—Samsung calls this an "Infinity Screen." At just 15 millimeters thick, the panel is also extremely slim and already offers a breathtaking view, even when turned off.

Portrait TV for social media

The always inventive developers at Samsung had another highlight prepared for CES that stole the show from most other manufacturers. "The Sero" is intended to be a TV for the "Instagram generation." On this and other platforms, more and more video content is being shared that was recorded with a vertically held smartphone. The cinematic widescreen format of conventional TVs isn’t ideal for playing back this kind of content. Samsung’s solution is as simple as it is ingenious: at the push of a button, the entire panel rotates into portrait mode, allowing the full screen area to be used for social media content as well. The large stand of "The Sero" houses a fully-fledged sound system.

QLED, OLED, Nano & Co.

Technically, Samsung continues to rely on its Quantum Dot technology called QLED in the premium segment, while Korean competitor LG counters with its "Nano Cells" introduced last year and continues to stick with OLED technology. The latter is also used in the second rollable TV from LG, with the new model designed for ceiling mounting.

Sony naturally wants to secure a share of the 8K market as well and presented several TVs with this resolution. The flagship here is the Sony ZH8, which will be available in 85 and 75 inches. The LED TV with 8K resolution offers Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) for good backlighting with HDR content. In addition, the Japanese manufacturer showcased new OLED TVs in 48, 55, and 65-inch sizes at CES 2020.

Panasonic: quality over quantity

This year, Panasonic is once again focusing much more on quality than on quantity, and is staying out of the largely pointless arms race of other manufacturers. Instead, they preferred to show the 4K OLED TV HZW2004, which is tuned for absolute picture quality and, alongside HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, HLG Photo, and Dolby Vision, is the first TV to support the new Dolby Vision IQ. This technology is designed to automatically adjust HDR content on TVs to the lighting conditions in the room.

But even when it comes to 4K—which is currently the de facto standard for high-end private use—there were new products from all manufacturers on display in Las Vegas. While most of these developments are about bigger screen sizes, improved picture quality, and updated features, both Sony (Bravia A9) and LG (OLED48X) have listened to their customers and are introducing high-quality OLED TVs in the 48-inch format, which makes them a sensible option for smaller rooms as well.