It seems there will be two ways to determine an 8K TV, as LG goes beyond the requirements set for manufacturers.
Even though 2019 was the year 8K rocked up for purchase, 2020 appears to be the year 8K becomes in reach of more people, as more brands look set to make 8K a thing of the now at CES in the coming days.
In fact, while Samsung has been busy working with the 8K Association on a badge to let customers know when they’re looking at an 8K TV, LG has been working to go beyond the current specifications and parameters set for manufacturers to make those 8K TVs in the first place.
Expected to be shown at CES, the LG “Real 8K” TVs have been developed to exceed the requirements relating to resolution, colour bit depth, inputs, and dynamic range set by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) for 8K Ultra HD. We’re told that includes contrast measurements and an active pixel count, plus support for leading Ultra HD digital codecs and support for 8K content at 60p, a whole bunch of jargon which may not mean much to everyone, but should mean solid 8K performance until you handle the question of where you find said content. As a result of the LG 8K TVs being able to do what the CTA does and then some, they’ll show the CTA 8K UHD logo, though we wouldn’t be surprised to find the 8K Association stamp pop up, too.
With that in mind, LG will have two 8K OLED panels coming in the 77 inch and 88 inch LG Signature screens for 2020, as well as 65 inch and 75 inch LED-backlit LCD TVs using the LG take on the colour-enhancing crystal technology NanoCell, another name for quantum dots.
Inside the new TVs, LG is leveraging its new Alpha 9 Generation 3 processor, which the company says can handle 8K up scaling thanks to artificial intelligence which analyses the content and upscales, applying noise reduction and sharpness to deliver a better image.
That new Alpha 9 chip can apparently also recognise faces to deliver a more natural upscaled look for people, while an automatic genre selection system can apply picture settings based on automatic pick up of what’s being played. Here’s hoping that means you won’t have to actively turn off artificial frames in anything other than sport.
LG is also talking up the new version of its webOS interface for the LG 2020 smart TVs, with compatible smart home devices able to be managed directly from the TV, while voice control should mean you’re reaching for the remote far less, thanks in part to support for Apple AirPlay 2, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.
As to how these TVs look, we’ll have all the information live from CES 2020 in the coming days, so stay tuned.
