CES Las Vegas 2020: Best TVs on show, LG, Hisense, Sony
The world’s biggest brands are locked in a battle over what your next television will look like. From folding screens to secret speakers, here’s a sneak peek into the future.
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They know it will be big, bright and sharp but the world’s biggest brands are locked in a bitter battle over what your next television will look like.
Companies including Sony, LG, Hisense, TCL and Samsung all laid out a case for their own TV tech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with the camps split between 8K and 4K screens, TVs that use lasers, extra lights, and displays you can view on their side.
Some next-generation TVs even have borders that act as speakers, while others promise to roll up into a small rectangular box when you stop watching them.
But, with so much choice, consumers are likely to be forced to do plenty of homework before choosing a screen that suits their home best.
LG kicked off the latest battle of the boxes at CES, coming good on its promise to deliver a television that can roll up and roll back down again.
The LG Signature RX is a full-size TV, at 65 inches, and the company promises it will roll on up at least 50,000 times. There is a kicker, though: it’s expected to set you back $US60,000 when it launches in the second half of the year.
The South Korean company is also betting consumers will invest in 8K screens this year, and will release 88 and 77-inch screens in the highest resolution around.
Samsung is also committed to 8K in 2020 as its first Infinity Design television with a tiny 2.3mm border will feature the next-gen screen resolution.
Of course, the company is also attracting attention for its 43-inch Sero TV that spins around to let viewers watch smartphone content in portrait mode — a concept it first floated last year — and an even larger version of its Wall television, which measures 292 inches and is designed for commercial rather than home use.
But both companies will feature stiff competition from fierce Chinese rivals, who aren’t afraid to deliver trash talk about their competition.
TCL North American sales manager Eric Van Kannel said OLED televisions, like those from LG and Sony, had “still not delivered perfection … after nearly 10 years in the market,” and instead talked up the company’s Micro LED technology that embedded small lights and components in a TV’s glass panel.
Rival Hisense disagreed too, proclaiming laser TV represented the future of entertainment technology due to its lower power consumption, bright colours, and its new ability to roll down like LG’s model. The TVs use a short-throw projector.
“It is able to fold while keeping the display performance,” Hisense chief scientist Xianrong Liu said.
“We firmly believe laser TV will take the lead, achieving the ideal form faster than any other TV technology.”
Sony is banking on high-quality sound, as well as pictures, to win over future TV buyers this year, however.
Its new flagship television, the ZH8, will not only feature an 8K, 85-inch display, but the frame around the screen “invisibly vibrates” to create audio that appears to come directly from the screen.
There’s no word on just how much the secret speakers will set you back.
Originally published as CES Las Vegas 2020: Best TVs on show, LG, Hisense, Sony