CES was very different this year. The show floors at Vegas hotels have been changed for a full virtual event and Zoom in behind presentations. This can make demoing the technology that powers the new OLED or 8K TVs a bit more difficult. But from what we made let’s see the exit from CES this year, there are many to be excited about.
Sony started CES 2021 by announcing new OLED, 4K and 8K TVs Bravia XR display family, all with its new XR cognitive processor. The important thing to know about this powerful new chip is how it enhances the sound and video, in an attempt to create a more engaging overall experience. The main way the chip does this is to reduce the natural focal point of an image to zero and improve the quality of that object or person to make it look more realistic. The chip should also improve upscaling from formats such as 4K to 8K by reducing noise and blur. This should appeal to anyone having fun buying an 8K set this year, as there is still very little 8K content to talk about.
In addition to its sleek new chip, some of this year’s Sony TVs will have ambient light sensors to adjust the screen brightness to better match the light in a given viewing environment. This certainly seems like a neat feature, but we’re eager to try it out personally and with a number of different entertainment settings, including Hue lighting. Beyond that, this year’s Sony TVs will be powered by Google TV, an interesting upgrade from Android TV. And all of its Bravia XR displays will support HDMI 2.1 for 4K 120 fps, variable refresh rate, low auto-latency mode and e-ARC – a pretty big leap from its poor inclusion in last year’s TVs.
The Bravia XR line of TVs will include the X95J and X90J 4K LED TVs, the Z9J 8K Master Series LEDs and the A90J and A80J Master Series OLEDs, as well as a slightly different 100-inch version of the X90J called the X92. Prices will be announced later on the line.
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Samsung announced new microLED TVs in 99-inch, 88-inch and 110-inch display sizes – all of which will borrow technology from Samsung’s existing modular super-screen wall, a product that has been quite neat, but not especially suitable for consumers who just want to take a TV out of the box normally, rather than being installed by a professional. These new TVs will check that box.
In addition, Samsung introduces more customization options for its The Frame display, the company’s most popular TV for its ability to camouflage itself in a room’s decor, looking more like a framed work of art than an imposing black mirror in the middle. Meanwhile, Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs use smaller and smaller LED lights to provide better, more controlled brightness while reducing flowering. Finally, Samsung is launching a new remote control for all QLED 4K and 8K TVs in 2021 – and charging with solar energy. Samsung says that this remote control can be charged on both the interior and exterior light, as well as via a USB-C port. It’s interesting! But we’d love to see this remote in action before it’s too hype. In the meantime, we are cautiously optimistic.
Let’s talk about TCL for a moment, because this company really amazed me this year with the promise of massive screens at an affordable price and the introduction of 8K on its popular 6 series screen (we are big fans of you here at Gizmodo). At least three screens will be shipped in 85-inch variants this year, including a 4K QLED with Roku, an 8K QLED TV and a 4 series that will sell for $ 1,600. This is theft! While the other two will certainly be quite expensive, TCL will likely drop many TV manufacturers in space for similar 85-inch displays. Also an 8K 6 series? I look forward to seeing that improvement in action, but TCL has a lot of competition on this front. And to be clear: Just because you can buying an 8K TV doesn’t necessarily mean you should.
Panasonic takes a decidedly more modest approach – at least in terms of size – than its OLED model for 2021. The JZ2000 will be available in both 55-inch and 65-inch sizes, which is certainly a sufficient TV for most people, in my opinion. Panasonic says this OLED will be brighter and provide better sound per unit, and the TV will receive support for features such as eARC, low latency automatic mode (ALLM) and variable refresh rate (VRR). That might make it a pretty attractive choice for players, but we’ll have to see how it works first. My home screen will also receive a refresh – although this may be less important for those who already cut the cable and use a streaming device.
And last but not least, IG, which eventually makes the miniLED. The OLED king will introduce both 4K and 8K miniLED displays this year, as well as the new C1 OLEDs starting from 48-inch screens and G1 OLEDs in displays of 55 inches and more. Like Panasonic, LG is redesigning its native WebOS operating system. I’m a little on the fence about that. Nothing about the previous LG operating system was necessarily bad, and it looks a lot, well, almost like anything else. But we look forward to a hands-on demonstration with this new version of the operating system later this year.
We are live on our couches covering CES 2021! Click here to read our full coverage.