STG News
Samsung Electronics Australia has today announced the launch of its 2019 home entertainment range, including a series of new QLED 4K TVs and, Australia’s first 8K TV line-up. The 2019 QLED range features more screen size options, stunning picture quality enhancements, stunning colours from wider viewing angles, exciting new design elements and intuitive smart TV upgrades.
Jeremy Senior, Head of Consumer Electronics at Samsung Australia said: “Our 2019 home entertainment range has been designed for Australians who want the best combination of picture and sound quality, smart TV capabilities and design.
“Samsung Electronics has been the world’s number one TV manufacturer for 13 consecutive years. During this time, our TVs have continued to raise the bar in an effort to deliver the best in home entertainment.
“Big screen TVs have become the norm in many Australian homes and with bigger screens comes the need for clearer, more detailed pictures. We need to continue to deliver a premium picture quality to match the size of these televisions. We’re excited to be the first to bring 8K technology into Australian homes through our QLED 8K range delivering detail, depth and immersion like never before.”
The 2019 QLED range is anchored by Quantum Dot technology which can maintain colour integrity even at high levels of brightness without looking washed out.
The range also incorporates HDR10+ and Ultra Bright technology to manage the TV’s contrast and colour. Brightness levels are optimised to help ensure content is displayed beautifully and consistently in almost any lighting conditions. Glare is actively reduced by Samsung’s enhanced Anti-Glare technology, featured on the Q80 and above QLED TVs, helping Australians enjoy an immersive viewing experience at any time of day – even in sun-filled rooms.
As part of Samsung’s commitment to continually improve its QLED technology, Q80 and above QLED TVs now feature Wide Viewing Angle technology. This innovation introduces a new panel layer to reflect light further outwards from the ‘sweet spot’ directly in front of the TV, reducing colour shift and blooming effects to viewers at extreme angles at the sides of the screen. In addition, Direct Full Array Elite is now available in more QLED TVs than ever before, being introduced on the 2019 Q75 and above models[3]. Direct Full Array Elite allows for precise backlighting control when paired with advanced picture mastering algorithms such as those produced by Samsung’s Quantum Processor, providing viewers with deep, rich black levels for colours that truly come alive.
The 2019 TV range is the most intelligent Samsung has ever produced. Leveraging Samsung’s global market leadership in semiconductor technology, Samsung has produced the Quantum Processor with AI technology to offer a series of new features designed to optimise the viewing experience for Australians. This includes the addition of Intelligent Mode to adjust content, screen brightness, sound and volume levels to the scene being played, as well as the ambient light levels in the room.
Samsung’s AI Upscaling uses a database of millions of low and high-resolution video clips analysed by machine learning to create unique formulae to detect and restore edges, and recreate unique textures to help reduce visible picture noise from low resolution content sources. Adaptive Brightness Control uses an inbuilt ambient brightness sensor to detect light levels in the room and adjust the brightness of the content on-screen for a great viewing experience at any time of day. Adaptive Sound analyses frequencies scene-by-scene to optimise the balance between music, dialogue and action – as well as using the in-built equaliser to regulate volume – which is particularly handy for loud advertisement breaks in free to air content.
This new innovation is in addition to Samsung’s established and critically-acclaimed Smart TV platform, which automatically recognises compatible sources like a range of gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and 4K Blu-ray players, enabling users to seamlessly control them using the elegant ‘One Remote Control’.
Taking this intelligence further, 2019 RU8000 and above TVs work with Bixby, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple Airplay 2 (coming second half of 2019) so you can control your connected home your way.
The new Bixby feature gives users the ability to easily access the content they want from popular applications such as YouTube and Netflix via voice command, including using the Google search engine to perform conversational Q&A functionality helping users search for content they might like based on their previous viewing habits and preferences.
As announced at CES 2019, Samsung will take the user experience to the next level by offering Apple TV support on 2019 Samsung Smart TV models. Support on 2018 Samsung Smart TVs will be made available via firmware update in the second half of 2019. Once available, with the new Apple TV app on Samsung Smart TVs, Samsung customers will be able access their existing iTunes library and browse the iTunes Store to buy or rent from a selection of hundreds of thousands of movies and TV episodes — including a very large selection of 4K HDR movies.
“We believe in offering Australians choice by providing a range of solutions so they can pick the one best suited to their lifestyle,” said Senior. “Whether that’s choosing between 8K and 4K, selecting their favourite voice assistant, or exploring what content to settle into after a long day.”
As TVs grow larger, so does their presence in the room. This year Samsung continues to offer more functionality for when the TV is on and when it is not being used.
Ambient Mode returns to the entire QLED range, offering a greater variety of image and information options, giving Australians more ways of ensuring their TVs blend into their environment. A vast new array of themes are now also available, allowing users to decorate their indoor environment and atmosphere based on their preferences.
Australians can now customise Ambient Mode to their home by taking a photo on their smartphone of their furniture, and can watch the colours come alive on their TV. An automatic light control sensor mounted on the TV provides optimal brightness for the surrounding environment to help reduce power consumption.
For those looking for a clean set-up with no messy cables, Samsung’s unique One Clear Cable will be available on select models. The One Clear Cable combines the source cables and power into one thin, translucent five-metre cord that, when connected to the One Connect Box, offers more freedom to decide where and how to place the TV. Adding to the premium design ethos is the Slim Fit Wall-mount, which hides the body of the wall-mount inside the TV chassis. This helps rest the wall-mounted TV snug to the wall allowing it to seamlessly blend into the room around it.
Samsung’s One Remote Control has also received an upgrade. It continues to express its simple features for ease of use and now includes a dedicated button to access Netflix, Amazon Prime, and the TV’s Web Browser.
Following the success of the award winning N950 soundbar, Samsung is expanding its range of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X capable soundbars with the Q Series. The Q70 soundbar introduces brand new innovation, combining Samsung’s innovative Acoustic Beam technology and object-based sound to deliver true Dolby Atmos & DTS:X sound from only the single soundbar. The listening experience from a Samsung soundbar is also enhanced via Samsung’s new Adaptive Sound, 4K HDR10+ pass through, and the availability to pair with wireless rear speakers on every soundbar in the range.
“Vision and sound are both essential ingredients in creating the ultimate home viewing experience,” explained Senior. “At Samsung, we believe our innovations in both categories can be combined to create an immersive experience that delivers Australians’ favourite content.”
The 2019 Q Series Soundbars are compatible with Amazon Alexa to help you control your TV using the SmartThings App so you can manage your entertainment using only your voice.
It’s not just about movies. All models in the 2019 Q Series Soundbar range feature a dedicated Game Mode to help players feel part of the game and to hear their opponents coming thanks to clear directional sound. This perfectly complements the 2019 TV range’s Game Mode, which reduces input lag without causing a dip in brightness. Combined, these are designed to give players the ultimate competitive gaming edge.
Samsung’s innovative approach to audio technology begins at the world-class Audio R&D Lab in Los Angeles, California. Samsung’s Q Series Soundbars have also received testing by harman / kardon, continuing the collaboration between the two brands in applying harman / kardon’s 65 years of audio expertise to Samsung’s cutting-edge audio technology.
Samsung’s 2019 TV range will be available through a variety of retail outlets nationally from 1st of April 2019.
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