TV has been the highlight of CES in recent years. The update of various indicators and the iteration of technology have made this industry, which does not look so “new”, have not been left by the forefront of technology.
The TV industry in 2020 is particularly worthy of attention. This year will also be a “TV year”. Driven by the needs and scenarios of 8K, games, Aiot, etc., each brand has come up with its own technology. From this we can see where the future TV industry will go.
Game display?
For many new TV products at CES this year, gaming is an inevitable topic.
The reason is also very simple. In 2020, there will be a new generation of host updates. PS5, Xbox Series X, and perhaps the rumored Switch Pro will be available this year, which will naturally drive a large number of upgrades.
In 2017, the HDMI standard was upgraded to 2.1, and the resolution was supported to 8K 60Hz and 4K 120Hz. In fact, the Xbox One X already supports the HDMI 2.1 interface. However, there are very few models supported by the TV, and almost only concentrated in high-end products with more than 10,000 yuan. New hosts this year will be equipped with new transmission standards, and this requires the cooperation of TV manufacturers. HDMI 2.1 can achieve more data throughput, thereby achieving better picture quality and higher frame rates.
HDMI 2.1 also allows another technology to be implemented on TVs, and that is the variable refresh rate (VRR).
Nvidia also introduced a display standard that supports a 360Hz refresh rate at CES, and the response time has been shortened accordingly to 2.8ms. Asus ’gamer country has already launched related products.
G-Sync was developed by NvidiaA proprietary adaptive synchronization technology can effectively eliminate tearing of the screen. Previously, this technology was mostly used in e-sports displays. Nowadays, large-sized TVs are also gradually supported. This year, LG has more than 10 models. New OLED TVs have added NVIDIA G-Sync support, which supports up to 4K @ 120Hz gaming experience.
In addition, LG also introduced 48-inch OLED displays with high refresh rates and low latency, which obscured the concept of gaming TVs and PC monitors.
Sony, which has its own game platform, also has sufficient say in the field of “Game to TV”. At this year’s CES, Sony did not reveal much about the PS5, but the new TV product was not vague and was announced at one time. Four new product lines were introduced, namely the flagship OLED TVs Z8H and A8H, and the LCD TVs X90H and X95H.
Picture from unwire
Foreign media Techradar mentioned that Sony’s new TV series “is tailor-made for the upcoming next-generation game consoles”. It can achieve HDR at 8K resolution and 120 FPS at 4K.
In short, with the update of the game console platform this year, game-oriented TVs will receive more and more attention, with high refresh rates and low input delays.Late is a characteristic of this type of product. Although console games in China are not mainstream, there will be a certain demand for 40-50 inch large-screen PC gaming monitors.
Year 8K?
The popularity of 8K in the TV industry may be no less than that of 5G in the mobile communication industry.
New TV products at CES may differ in form, positioning and main functions, but flagships all support 8K-level resolution without exception. 2020 is also considered the first year of 8K TVs.
The resolution of 8K is 7680 × 4320, which is 33 million pixels, which is four times that of 4K. With such a high resolution, the details will be clearer.
Picture from pcmarket
This year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, it was announced early that it would use the 8K format for broadcasting. This is also considered to be an important boost for the popularization of 8K. In addition, the demand for oversized TVs of 75 inches and above is slowly being stimulated. Increasing, naturally requires greater resolution to provide clarity.
At present, high-end TVs already have the ability to decode 8K, and the display panel has reached the corresponding resolution, but 8K resources are scarce. At present, there are only some specific events, events, etc., which may be carried out using this specification. Live broadcast, and more for the purpose of muscle show and publicity. For example, on the eve of CES, the Chinese Youth Curling Open has completed the first domestic 8K broadcast test on ice, which is considered to be the prelude to the 8K test of the Winter Olympics.
8K is actually somewhat similar to the promotion of 5G. The first resource or equipment is a chicken-and-egg problem, but as a manufacturer, investing energy into a visible trend is a safe choice. When 8K content is coming online, the TV should be ready.
Due to the huge amount of data in 8K, it is also regarded by technology companies as one of the important applications in the 5G era. Intel and Qualcomm announced in 2018 that they are preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Intel stated that it will work with Japanese operator NTT DOCOMO during the Olympics to provide 360-degree 8K video streaming. Qualcomm also announced that it can carry 8K in a 5G test environment @ 120FPS video streaming.
Also, as mentioned in the previous section, both Microsoft and Sony have stated that the new-generation consoles support 8K-level resolutions. By then, players will have the opportunity to experience 8K earlier than TV viewers.
In short, in theory, 2020 will be the first year of 8K. We can also enjoy the impact of 8K on some specific occasions, but it will take a long time for it to enter the homes of ordinary people. Reliable, or the popularity of 4K @ 60FPS.
Technology and Forms
The evolution of display technology also deserves attention.
Unlike small screens on mobile phones, large OLED screens are still “luxury.” LG, Sony, and Skyworth all released new OLED products at CES, but the price is still the flagship level above 10,000 yuan. IHS is warming up. In 2019, China’s OLED TV market will maintain a growth of 115.5%. In the high-end TV market, the proportion of OLED will continue to increase. In the mid-range market, LCD is still the mainstream.
Compared to LCD screens, the advantages of OLEDs are obvious. Especially when watching movies on TV, the upper and lower black edges will be blacker. Although LCD TVs also have technology such as partitioned light control, they are still not as good as the original.Self-luminous OLED. Another OLED replacement is Mini LED, which has some of the characteristics of OLED, but the cost will be reduced a lot. TCL released the Mini LED 8K LCD TV at CES, but it is only a demonstration of technology.
As for the shape, the flexible screen is a visible direction.
Curlable TV is also a hot spot for major manufacturers to compete for. Curlable TV is more futuristic, and the future integration with furniture can be more natural. Of course, the current technology is still in its infancy and the price is high. Mass production will take time.
In other respects, Samsung demonstrated the 8K flagship new product Q950TS at the CES site, and first launched the “Infinity Screen” technology, which is “borderless”, and officially claimed that the screen ratio reached 99%. Big black border to narrow border, and then borderless, this is a natural path for technological development,
Borderless, rollable, transparent … In the future, large-screen TVs will get closer to the concept of a screen.
Picture from Wired
About TV, another trend is that it is downplaying the position of “TV”. Domestic manufacturers have created concepts such as “smart screens”, which use large screens rather than traditional TVs to promote them. For example, in the Hongmeng ecosystem of Huawei’s imagination, TVs are just one screen of a distributed system.
Samsung showed a new form of TV product “5G-The Sero” at CES. Its screen can be promoted. In the vertical form, it can project the mobile phone to the screen to meet the needs of watching short videos and information streams. Can also be used as part of a smart home.
Last year, domestic brands also tried new social media, entertainment, fitness, and other new TV products. Even on home appliances such as refrigerators, TV-sized screens began to appear. Streaming media platforms, smart home hubs, gaming monitors … Maybe in the future, the concept of “TV” will be weakened, but users’ demand for large screens will never stop.