Samsung’s 2021 TVs have a dramatically better picture, thanks to Mini LEDs

Samsung today announces its top tier 2021 8K and 4K HDR televisions. And like TCL and LG before it, the company is moving toward a more accurate backlighting system that uses Mini LED technology to improve contrast and higher picture quality than its previous full-array local dimming systems, and televisions. Samsung’s premium QLED LCDs were already impressive.

The latest Mini LED advancements are called “Neo QLED” and will be found in several different tiers in the 2021 lineup. There are two 8K models: the QN900A (successor to last year’s top-tier QLED 8K with barely any bezels) and the QN800A. From there, three series of 4K TVs will get Mini LEDs: QN95A, QN90A, and QN85A.

(Note: All photos in this story were captured at a private briefing in New York City hosted by Samsung. Strict social distancing and disinfection precautions were taken, and everyone on site wore masks.)

Samsung says that the LEDs in these TVs are up to 40 times smaller than those in traditional full-array backlit TVs, where you get a few dozen “zones” that light up and dim according to what happens on the screen. . Packing more LEDs in a smaller space results in more accurate backlighting that should greatly reduce blooming, which is the halo effect that can sometimes be seen around bright objects on a dark background on LCD TVs when light it filters into a different attenuation zone.

While LG threw out some numbers for its upcoming Mini LED LCD TVs, “up to nearly 30,000 tiny LEDs” and “up to 2,500 dimming zones,” Samsung isn’t being as advanced on the exact number of LEDs and dimming zones it has. accomplished. As in previous years, these televisions retain the expanded color gamut of quantum dots; that’s what Q stands for in QLED, after all.

Samsung’s 2021 QLED TVs also aim to simplify the lives of gamers who recently purchased an Xbox Series X / S or PlayStation 5. There is a new “game bar” with quick access to settings such as refresh rate, aspect ratio , etc. All of the HDMI 2.1 features you would expect (4K @ 120Hz, variable refresh rate, auto low latency mode, and eARC) are supported, though it will forgo some features at the bottom of the line. And Samsung is bringing the ultra-wide 21: 9 and 32: 9 ratios of its gaming monitors to your TV screen so you can get a more complete view of everything that is happening.

In terms of sound quality, there is a new “SpaceFit Sound” feature that uses a microphone built into these televisions to analyze the acoustics of a room and automatically apply the best audio settings. (Yes, that mic can be used for Google Assistant or Alexa as well, and can be disabled if you don’t want it.)

Samsung is also putting a greater emphasis on its Samsung Health software on the big screen. These latest televisions can be paired with a video camera for a new “Smart Trainer” feature that tracks you through an interactive exercise class. Here’s what Samsung says about it:

The Smart Trainer displays an AI trainer on the left screen and a picture of yourself on the right screen, allowing you to check your posture, count your reps, and receive real-time feedback on how you are doing, as if you were in an in-person training class. The AI ​​trainer even remembers how you like to exercise, from the type of training to the intensity. Finally, you’ll receive feedback on calories burned and other metrics, so you can keep track of your fitness journey. And with a new auto-sync feature that links select Samsung smart TVs, Galaxy phones, and Galaxy watches, you can choose an exercise on your phone and stream it to your TV, while your watch automatically tracks your progress, without touching a button.

Clearly, Samsung is trying to play against Apple Fitness Plus, Peloton, and other services.

Prices for all the new TVs will be announced closer to when they start shipping in a few months, but they should be quite comparable to the 2019 series TVs in the Samsung store right now.

A frame even more like a frame

The only one of Samsung’s “lifestyle” TVs getting an update for CES is The Frame. Samsung has reduced the thickness; it is now 24.9mm thick, which the company says “reflects the depth of a traditional picture frame.” The 43-inch model can now be rotated in a portrait orientation, and Samsung says customers who subscribe to its Art Store (The Frame can be configured to display artwork when idle) will now get better AI-driven recommendations.

Samsung also says that “there are more bezel options than ever, from slim, neutral and minimalist to large, ornate and bold.” The Frame’s bezels can be interchanged so that in some cases, according to the company, “You can literally frame The Frame.” As for the TV itself, you get the same QLED 4K HDR image as before.

More MicroLED sizes

Last month, Samsung announced that it will make a huge 110-inch TV that uses next-generation MicroLED technology that was previously available on the company’s modular display (and only for the wealthy) known as The Wall. . Now, the company says the 99-inch and 88-inch models will join the 110-inch ones, bringing MicroLEDs into a “traditional TV form factor” for the first time.

Rather than requiring professional installation, you’ll simply take them out of the box and mount them just like any other TV. Aside from MicroLED’s OLED-like benefits (self-emitting LEDs for each pixel and no need for a backlight), Samsung says its Multi View feature allows you to view four content sources simultaneously in any of these arrays.

The thing is, all of these TVs will remain ridiculously expensive for a long time to come. So Neo QLED TVs are what the vast majority of consumers will be looking at in 2021.

Photograph by Chris Welch / The Verge