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‘Cognitive’ TV Sets Unveiled by Sony

You’ve heard of Smart TV, but its unlikely you’ve ever heard of ‘cognitive’ TV. If Sony Electronics has its way, though, you’re likely to hear about it often.

Sony XBR-X900B series review: Big-speaker 4K TV an A/V powerhouse - CNET

The consumer electronics giant announced yesterday that it plans to unveil Bravia XR, the world’s first ‘cognitive’ TV sets, at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new devices will feature revolutionary methods for processing information. Sony says they will closely mimic the ways humans see and hear.

How does a ‘cognitive’ TV set differ?

The Cognitive Processor XR will control the new screens. The new processor divides the screen into multiple zones and senses location of the picture’s ‘focal point’. The XR can analyze several elements at once. It then adjusts each element for the best user view of the picture, and analyzes sound position so what the viewer hears matches what’s on screen. It can upgrade any sound signal to 3D Surround Sound.

According to Sony’s president, Mike Fasulo, the Cognitive Processor XR mimics the way the brain processes information.

The Bravia XR line includes the Master Series Z9J 8K LED, Master Series A90J and A80J OLED, and X95J and K90J 4K LED.

The XR TV sets also feature HMDI 2.1 compatibility, hands-free voice remote, Netflix Calibrated Mode, IMAX Enhanced Mode, smart speaker compatibility, and PureStream near-lossless UHD resolution with speed of up to 80 MB/S. In addition, Sony offers easy access to Google TV with all TV models.

All Bravia XR TV sets can receive NextGen TV cable signals.

Call 1-800-216-0185

Sony has not announced pricing or availability of the Bravia XR line, but is expected to do so in the spring.

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Wall Luxury TV Set by Samsung Measures a Full 292 Inches!

Do your friends brag about the size of their TV sets? Are you jealous of a neighbor with a 65-inch screen on the wall in his living room?

Samsung announced the 292 inch large format modular display at ISE 2019 in Amsterdam
Samsung’s 292-inch Screen

Rejoice, then! Within a few months, you’ll have a chance to buy a TV set that outclasses all others in your neighborhood- IF you have the budget and the room for it. A few days ago, Samsung Electronics demonstrated a TV set, called The Wall Luxury, that measures a whopping 292 diagonal inches. That’s over 24 feet. For all of its monumental dimensions, though, it’s only 30 millimeters thick- slightly over an inch.

In addition to extreme size, Samsung’s new video display boasts a record-setting refresh rate of a blistering 120 Hz and a brightness level of 2000 nits. Most TV sets manage only 60 Hz and 250 to 500 nits. A few HDR-capable screens can be as bright as 1000 nits.

How much does it cost?

“So”, you might be asking, “how much do I have to pay for this amazing new TV set?” Well, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Samsung has not revealed its suggested retail price for The Wall Luxury. But its closest competitor, dubbed simply ‘The Wall’, a now-outclassed and utterly humiliated 146-inch model, sells for $100,000.

If this is still too much for you, Sony sells a 98-inch screen for a mere $70,000. Of course, you’d have to accept the embarrassment of knowing that you’ve settled for the third place finisher.

Is size all that counts?

As impressive as Samsung’s Wall is, it might not be right for you. In fact, if you’re going to pay a premium price for a TV set, we recommend thinking less about size or even resolution, and more about factors more directly and more dramatically affecting the quality of the picture and sound. These other factors are display format and HDR.

Once you have a screen measuring at least 55 inches diagonally, adding more size is unlikely to add much to your enjoyment of the picture. And while HD was a massive and obvious improvement over SD in picture quality, upgrading from HD to 4K, 5K, or 8K will do little for you unless you’re sitting within six feet of the screen.

If you’re willing to pay the price for quality, we recommend buying a good OLED set with HDR capability. For now, OLED is the best available display technology, with the darkest blacks and most intense color gamuts. HDR (high dynamic range) provides the widest available color range, and the most accuracy and subtlety in mid-range and shadows. Is your vision normal? Do you watch TV from more than three feet away from the screen? Then HDR is likely to do more for your enjoyment of the picture than 4K or higher resolution will.

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2018: What to Expect in TV Displays

In the last decade, we’ve seen dramatic improvements in TV screens. HD has given way to 4K, the first HDR screens are on the market, and OLED and QLED displays have become practical. We don’t expect innovation in screen technology to come to a halt, but it won’t be moving at the blistering pace we’ve seen lately. So what will we find in video displays in 2018?

Image result for 2018 TV displays images

Incrementalism is likely to be the dominant theme in video display tech this year. Most developments will merely build on radical technical leaps of the past, very few being completely new to the consumer market.

Still, some interesting prospects are on the near horizon. Here are a few of the most important changes in video equipment that we will see in 2018:

 HDMI 2.1

How often do you think about the cables connecting your TV set? They don’t get much respect. They can be critical, though, for the quality of your TV sound and picture.

The current HDMI 2.1 specs were published only in November 2017. This obviously leaves an excruciatingly tight time frame for manufacture of 2018-model TV sets or other devices that will comply with the new standard. Almost no HDMI 2.1-compliant sets, therefore, will be on the market until late in the year.

For now, you don’t need to worry about their absence. The HDMI 2.1 spec is almost outrageously future-proofed. Some of its capabilities, including 8K resolution and much higher frame rates, won’t be available in consumer TV for several years. A TV set you buy this year can handle the best available content for several years.

Emissive Quantum Dots

Quantum Dot LED (QLED) TV have gotten a lot of press in the last two years. QLED sets have shown great promise. They can’t yet match the overall picture quality of OLED, though, lagging in refresh rates and contrast.

2018 may be the year QLED catches up. Some experts are placing their bets on emissive quantum dots (EQD). EQD sets have been hyped as the “true QLED” that video buffs have awaited eagerly for years.

With EQD, miniscule quantum dots actually emit light instead of merely enhancing LCD backlight. They could also match or surpass OLED’s “infinite” contrast ratio, with far lower power consumption, and with a much wider and more intense color gamut.

4K & HDR Everywhere

You’ll see many 4k and HDR sets this year. Almost every manufacturer is producing models that can handle both specs.

Both formats were developed at least two years ago, but are difficult to build into TV screens. Also, very little programming has been available in either format, because they require new cameras and editing tools.

That will change in the new year. Almost all new display screenss will be compatible with both formats, and studios are beginning to produce a wide array of video content for them.

Local Dimming

Local dimming is independent brightening or dimming of different areas of the screen. The more expensive TV sets released in 2018 will feature it.

Micro LED

Samsung wants to challenge the technical leadership of OLED.  For this purpose, it’s expected to offer a Micro LED display.

In concept, the technology far older than you’d guess. Micro LED was invented seventeen years ago, and Sony demonstrated a working model in 2012. Techniques for its manufacture were extremely expensive, though, so it wasn’t suited for the consumer market.

Refined manufacturing techniques, enabling relatively cheap bulk production, may finally bring Micro LED to us in 2018.

Micro LED screens feature extremely small diodes, each emitting its own light, eliminating need for an LCD backlight. Each diode can be switched on or off separatelyly, enabling OLED-like contrast and rapid refresh rates.

Samsung is expected to demonstrate a 150-inch Micro LED model at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and to release smaller consumer versions later. The latter may be available for purchase by the end of the year.

Voice Control

Voice control is hardly new. Voice-activated video screens and remote controls have been on the market for years. Early versions were buggy, though, and they often compromised user privacy.

For 2018, voice control and interactive displays will be much more reliable. One of the most important developments on this front is manufacturer collaboration with Amazon and Google. Video displays will be synced with Alexa and Google Home systems.

 

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TOP TRENDS IN NEW TV SETS

Image result for oled screens images

With the annual Consumer Electronics Show about to end, we’ve gotten a glimpse of the near future in the market for video displays. In years past, LED and LCD displays with High Definition (HD) resolution were all the rage. They work well, but they’ve been around long enough that they almost seem passe’. Manufacturers are now producing flexible screens, OLED and QLED technology, and 4K or Ultra High Definition (UHD) resolution.

If you want your TV set to offer the best possible picture and sound, investigate displays with the following features:

4k and Ultra HD

As their names imply, 4K and Ultra HD (UHD) screens display four times the number of pixels in an HD screen. Only a few content providers offer their programming in 4K or UHD format, but more are adopting it every month.  Within two years, 4K will be standard.

High Dynamic Range (HDR)

One of the top trends in TV innovation is High Dynamic Range (HDR). Unlike 4K or UHD, which are brute-force approaches to picture sharpness, HDR does not entail simply stuffing more pixels into the display.

HDR is a new technology altogether. It offers much brighter highlights, deeper shadows, more detail and subtlety in the midrange, and a wider color gamut than conventional TV. Most observers say it improves the picture more than 4K does.

OLED and QLED

Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) and Quantum Light-Emitting Diode (QLED) displays are at the top in picture quality. They offer far better contrast and color saturation than LED, LCD, or plasma screens.

OLED screens have been far more expensive than competing types, but this is changing. Samsung and LG have learned mass-manufacturing techniques that are making their prices much more competitive.

Both LED and QLED look impressive. There may be subtle differences in picture quality, but they are so small, most of us wouldn’t notice them. Both are clearly superior to everything else.

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