In the last few years, television panels have become brighter, clearer and more colourful. The idea has been to replicate on your TV as accurately as possible what filmmakers have been seeing on their post-production screens. Something else also happened. There has been a growing bunch of varying settings that need to be tweaked manually to achieve a high level of accuracy.

Television sets need to become friendlier to use and that’s what Samsung is aiming to achieve with the launch of its AI-powered models in the Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K and OLED TV line-up. The AI aspect holds the promise of improving details in both visual and sound departments.

“Last year, we brought OLED to the Indian market. It helped us get an idea of how consumers would react to Samsung OLED and what role the OLED would play for us. There is a set of consumers who want OLED TVs and then there is a set of consumers who want Neo QLED TVs. Then there are those who are evaluating the two technologies. No matter what you choose, the new set of features will make TV more personalised, connected and secure,” Mohandeep Singh, senior vice-president, visual display business, Samsung India, told t2 before the unveiling of the new offerings at the company’s flagship store, Samsung Opera House, in Bangalore.

Samsung's new anti-glare OLED TV.

Personalisation meets security

There are a number of new features that help the latest Neo QLED 8K TVs clean up its act, like AI Picture Technology to offer more details with outstanding clarity and naturalness, including facial expressions and other subtle nuances, AI Upscaling Pro transforms content to closely match the 8K display, AI Motion Enhancer Pro comes into play during sports-related programmes and AI Sound Technology to deliver precise audio with Active Voice Amplifier Pro, which detects background noises and adjusts volume automatically.

Perhaps one of the more important of the new AI features is AI Energy Mode, which can save electricity in a big way without compromising picture quality.

Samsung’s new offerings are made possible by what’s at the heart of these devices. Its flagship TV — Neo QLED 8K (available in two models and in sizes of 65, 75 and 85 inches) — is equipped with the advanced NQ8 AI Gen3 processor that’s helping drive AI TV technology. The processor features a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that delivers twice the speed of its predecessor, along with an eight-fold increase in neural networks from 64 to 512, offering crisp details, regardless of the input source.

The 2024 Neo QLED 4K (available in two models and in sizes of 55, 65, 75, 85 and 98 inches) lineup is powered by the NQ4 AI Gen2 processor.

The all-new Music Frame. It allows users to display personal pictures or artwork while enjoying wireless audio with smart features.

If OLED (available in two models and in sizes 55, 65, 77 and 83) is your obsession, the company has the world’s first glare-free OLED; it can handle unnecessary reflection while preserving deep blacks and clear images under any lighting condition. It comes with features like the Real Depth Enhancer and OLED HDR Pro.

At the same time, TV is not just a TV in 2024. Smart TV is morphing into AI-driven units that can easily put across personalised experiences with its apps and platforms. Further, the latest TVs being a part of a bigger IoT system needs to be secure.

“Our televisions have built-in Knox security. And what is interesting is that the entire encryption of the data is done on the device. The encryption key stays on the device. It is not pushed onto a server, so encryption and decryption happens on the device itself. It makes for a secure system, which is important because these televisions can connect to an IoT hub and various other smart devices,” said Singh.

From a business perspective, Samsung is the only player in India giving options ranging from OLED to Neo QLED. “We are looking at significant benefits in terms of business and it will consolidate business further with AI-powered TVs,” emphasised Singh.

Instead of getting into business figures, it would be suffice to say that the growth will be significant enough to help the South Korean company retain its market leadership position.

Mohandeep Singh, senior vice-president, visual display business, Samsung India.

Integrated experience

A few days ago, Samsung announced the launch of its Bespoke AI platform that will help the company’s home appliance offerings become more intelligent. At the same time, the new TVs are also AI driven but all the AI functions will perform seamlessly across the board.

“Samsung is bringing the transformative power of artificial intelligence across product categories to improve consumers’ lifestyles. That’s why we have integrated AI to home entertainment to offer exceptional viewing experiences for our consumers,” said JB Park, president and CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia.

Singh takes the point forward: “If you are standing in front of a Bespoke device and it has a display then you can see what’s happening with the other devices. For example, you can see the whole home monitoring system. That (security) video can play on the Bespoke device as well as the TV. If your washing machine has run its cycle, the ping can come on your TV or on your Bespoke device. It’s an integrated experience.”

To make interoperability possible, Samsung supports the connectivity standard Matter and Zigbee, which is a specification for how devices talk to each other.

You could be wondering about how important the premium segment is. Of course, many of the premium features will ultimately come to the company’s other devices. But, at the same time, consumers are looking for more and more premium offerings and experiences.

And pricing? The OLED range begins at Rs 164,990, Neo QLED 4K range starts at Rs 139,990 and Neo QLED 8K range begins at Rs 319,990.

Samsung has enjoyed good sales figures in January, February and March while April is showing strong performance. With the IPL series on, more and more people will opt for bigger and better TVs. The company clearly has its work cut out.

JB Park, president and CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia.

Samsung has also announced the all-new Music Frame. This device allows users to display personal pictures or artwork while enjoying wireless audio with smart features. It can be used as a standalone device or paired with a TV and soundbar.

AI features powering Neo QLED 8K

• AI Picture Technology brings out the finest details with clarity and naturalness, including facial expressions.

• AI Upscaling Pro transforms content to closely match the 8K display.

• AI Motion Enhancer Pro utilises a sophisticated motion detection algorithm to enhance clarity during motion-intense content, such as sports. During a match, it helps in tracking the ball without any distortion.

• Real Depth Enhancer Pro adds depth to the picture and pulls viewers into the scene.
• AI Sound Technology helps deliver precise audio with Active Voice Amplifier Pro, which detects background noises and adjusts volume automatically.

• AI Auto Game Mode recognises both the game and the genre and automatically tailors the picture quality and sound quality settings.

• AI Customisation Mode adjusts the picture for each scene based on user preference based on content type.

• AI Energy Mode saves power without compromising picture quality.