Samsung’s 2021 TVs look much better, thanks to the Mini LED

Samsung is today announcing its top tier of 2021 HDR 8K and 4K TVs. And like TCL and LG before it, the company is moving to a more accurate backlight system that uses Mini LED technology for better contrast and higher image quality than its previous full-array local dimming systems – and TVs Samsung’s premium QLED LCD was already impressive.

The latest advances in the Mini LED are being marked as “Neo QLED” and will be found at several different levels in the 2021 line. There are two 8K models: the QN900A (a successor to last year’s high-level 8K QLED, almost without bezels) and the QN800A. From there, three series of 4K TVs will have Mini LEDs: the QN95A, QN90A and QN85A.

(Note: all the photos in this story were captured at a private meeting in New York City organized by Samsung. Strict precautions for social detachment and hygiene were in place, and masks were worn by everyone at the site.)

Samsung says that the LEDs on these TVs are up to 40 times smaller than on devices with traditional full-array backlighting, where you get a few dozen “zones” that light up and darken according to what is happening on the screen. Packing more LEDs in a smaller space results in a more accurate backlight that should greatly reduce flowering, which is the halo effect that you can sometimes see around bright objects on a dark background on LCD TVs when the light passes to a different dimming zone.

Although LG has released some figures for its upcoming Mini LED LCD TVs – “up to nearly 30,000 small LEDs” and “up to 2,500 dim zones” – Samsung is not being so direct about the exact number of LEDs and dim zones that has achieved. Similar to previous years, these TVs retain the expanded color range of quantum dots; after all, this is what Q means in QLED.

Samsung’s QLED 2021 TVs also aim to make life easier for gamers who recently purchased an Xbox Series X / S or PlayStation 5. There’s a new “game bar” with quick access to settings like refresh rate, aspect ratio aspect and so on. All the HDMI 2.1 features you’ve come to expect – 4K at 120 Hz, variable refresh rate, low-latency auto mode and eARC – are supported, although you give up some features at the bottom of the list. And Samsung is bringing the ultra wide aspect ratios of 21: 9 and 32: 9 from its game monitors to the TV screen so you can have a more comprehensive view of everything that is happening.

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

Smart Trainer displays an AI trainer on the left screen and an image of yourself on the right screen, allowing you to check your posture, count your repetitions and receive real-time feedback on how you are doing – as if you were in class face-to-face gymnastics. The AI ​​trainer still remembers how you like to exercise, from the type of exercise to the intensity. Finally, you will receive feedback on calories burned and other metrics, so you can follow your fitness journey. And with a new auto-sync feature that connects Samsung Smart TVs, Galaxy phones and Galaxy watches, you can choose a workout on your phone and stream it to your TV, while your watch automatically tracks your progress – without touching a button.

It is easy to see that Samsung is trying to play against Apple Fitness Plus, Peloton and other services.

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

An The Frame even more like a frame

Samsung’s only “lifestyle” TV being upgraded to CES is The Frame. Samsung reduced the thickness; it is now 24.9 mm thick, which the company says “mirrors the depth of a traditional frame”. The 43-inch model can now be rotated to portrait orientation, and Samsung says customers who subscribe to its Art Store – the frame can be configured to display art when idle – will now get better recommendations with AI technology.

Samsung also claims that “there are more frame options than ever before, from thin, neutral and minimalist to large, ornate and bold”. Frame bezels can be exchanged in such a way that, in some cases, according to the company, “you can literally shape the frame”. As for the TV itself, you get the same QLED 4K HDR image as before.

More sizes of MicroLED

Last month, Samsung announced that it will make a huge 110-inch TV that uses state-of-the-art MicroLED technology, which was already available on the company’s modular screen (and only for the wealthy), known as The Wall. Now, the company says that the 99-inch and 88-inch models will join the 110-inch model, bringing MicroLED to a “traditional TV format” for the first time.

Instead of requiring professional installation, you simply take them out of the box and assemble them like any other TV. In addition to the OLED-type benefits of MicroLED – self-emitting LEDs for each pixel and without the need for backlight – Samsung claims that its Multi View feature allows you to watch four content sources simultaneously on any of these devices.

The fact is that all of these TVs will still be absurdly expensive for a long time. Therefore, Neo QLED TVs are what the vast majority of consumers will be looking at in 2021.

Photograph by Chris Welch / The Verge