Roku is following up the budget-priced, self-branded TV sets it introduced in January last year at CES with the more ambitious Roku Pro Series TV lineup debuting at next week’s CES 2024 and shipping later this spring. The 4K QLED Pro TVs will come in 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch sizes retailing for under $1,500. Included are features like Mini LED local dimming for heightened contrast and deeper blacks. The Pro TVs also tap artificial intelligence for a Smart Picture feature that automatically adjusts picture and audio. The feature is scheduled to roll out to all Roku TVs this year.

“Using AI, machine learning and data from content partners, Roku Smart Picture determines what type of content is on the screen and adjusts the TV settings to ensure viewers get the best presentation,” TechCrunch writes. The feature will be coming to third-party Roku hardware, too, not just the signature line.

The Roku operating system provides access to streaming channels, including free and live TV. Consumers “have streamed billions of hours’ worth of content on the platform,” per The Verge, resulting in the company gaining “a wealth of data and expertise when it comes to video processing, bit rate optimization, and so on.”

Among the Roku research findings: “over 90 percent of customers never change their picture modes at all, so now the company is going to handle that duty itself,” says The Verge. Motion smoothing will be on by default, but “whenever Roku Smart Picture detects cinematic content it’ll turn off the smoothing automatically” so viewers can experience the content as its creators intended.

The Pro Series also has immersive audio and a new flat-to-wall mount.

Bloomberg sees the move into higher end sets as “a bid to continue sales momentum for the company’s devices” and says it “comes at a critical time for the company, which made its name in cheap streaming boxes that could plug into existing TVs.”

“Building on the success of our Roku Select and Plus Series TVs, the Roku Pro Series delivers a powerful, yet simple streaming experience,” Roku explained in a blog post. The company says it “will also expand the retail availability of its less expensive TVs, which are already sold at some stores such as Best Buy” and “top out at $999,” writes Bloomberg.

Be sure to check back with us next week. The ETCentric team will be reporting live from the CES show floor January 8-12.