One of the new television unveilings at CES this year was Hisense’s L9Q, the latest evolution of the Chinese company’s L9 Series of laser TVs first introduced in 2014. Offering five immersive screen sizes ranging from 100 to 150 inches at 4K UHD resolution, L9Q touts the most compact laser TV console (as small as a 12-inch laptop). Its proprietary TriChroma triple-laser light engine emits up to 5,000 lumens with a 5,000:1 contrast ratio and is the first to achieve 1,500 nits full-screen brightness. Each L9Q is paired with one of the company’s Ambient Light Rejection (ALR) screens. The L9Q also supports Dolby Atmos, DTS Virtual X, and eARC for quality surround sound. Continue reading CES: Hisense Introduces L9Q Laser TV with Compact Console

Fitting for a trade show long associated with the latest and greatest television sets, this year’s CES featured a panel titled “The Future of Immersive TV.” The panelists, led by moderator Rick Kowalski, senior director of business intelligence for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), underscored the biggest current challenge for home entertainment is the fragmentation of platforms on which consumers view content. Multimodal content delivery is impacting production workflows and advertising services. From trends in consumer behavior to emerging technologies, the panel speculated about interactive TV, shoppable TV, and the need for consistent experiences. Continue reading CES: TV Industry Adapts to Expansion of Platforms and Devices

Having commercialized the idea of a TV that displays art in its downtime, Samsung has faced some criticism for The Frame’s performance when it comes to displaying traditional video content. Now the company is attempting to silence the critics with The Frame Pro, a mini-LED TV that promises brighter colors, sharper contrasts and improved local dimming for deeper blacks. Powered by the NQ4 Gen3 AI Processor, “The Frame Pro offers unparalleled picture quality for both artwork and video content,” Samsung claims. It comes with Wireless One Connect, allowing a seamless blend with the environment. Continue reading CES: Samsung Goes Wireless with mini-LED on The Frame Pro

During CES this week, Sony demonstrated a proof-of-concept experience based on the popular HBO post-apocalyptic drama “The Last of Us.” We were dropped into a six-person pod of newly enlisted defenders and assigned to a hardened defender who needed new recruits to combat a serious surge of zombie assaults that she was convinced could be overcome with our assistance. Armed with LED-enabled shotgun-like devices and tracked flashlights to assist our leader in discovering the concealed attackers, our combat leader led us with sharp and direct commands as she guided us through the terrors of the attack. Continue reading CES: Sony Introduces Interactive Experience – ‘The Last of Us’

Extreme brightness, advanced AI and a 165Hz refresh rate for gaming are among the features of the LG’s 2025 OLED evo lineup. Powering the OLED evo M5 and OLED evo G5 series is LG’s freshly minted Alpha 11 Gen 2 processor, with improved power and AI capabilities to take it beyond last year’s G4 series in picture and sound. LG calls the line the world’s first wireless OLEDs, with the ability to transmit throughout the home. LG’s Brightness Booster Ultimate — offering “brightness three times higher than conventional OLEDs” — and the Alpha 11 Gen 2 processor enhance the package. Continue reading CES: LG Wireless OLED TVs Boost Brightness, Include AI Tech

Hisense is going high-end at CES 2025, with two XXL-size TVs that leverage new display technology. For 2025 the company has queued up a 136-inch micro-LED TV and a 116-inch mini-LED TV that uses RGB backlight for improved color. The Chinese company’s 2025 TVs all feature a new Hisense Hi-View AI Engine X processor that the company says is faster than last year’s and uses artificial intelligence to optimize the picture and sound, as well as energy consumption. The models also have built-in ATSC 3.0 tuners for NextGen digital TV broadcasts. No word yet on pricing or availability. Continue reading CES: Hisense Goes Big and AI with New Micro-, Mini-LED TVs

TCL’s new QM6K series of mini-LED TVs is turning heads at CES 2025 for its combination of high-end features, low price, and fact that it is available now, starting at $750 for the 50-inch model, going up to 98-inches for $3,500. Featuring a bezel-free design, the TV is powered by the company’s proprietary AiPQ Pro Processor, a Super High Energy mini-LED chip that TCL is using on all its 2025 mini-LED TVs. The company says the AiPQ Pro produces 53 percent more brightness and has 500 local dimming zones controlled by TCL Precise Dimming, debuting on the QM6K series. Continue reading CES: TCL’s QM6K Series TVs Boost Brightness by 53 Percent

Google TV is incorporating Gemini AI to make it easier to converse with a voice assistant as well as generating helpful onscreen information. These new Google TV devices will also feature an upgraded, Gemini-powered voice experience capable of handling more complex voice commands. “You and your family will be able to gather together and have a natural conversation with your TV,” Google announced at CES 2025, where it shared a preview of the new capabilities. The Gemini model also lets Google TV users create customized artwork, control smart home devices and get an overview of the day’s news. Continue reading CES: Google TV Integrates Gemini AI for a Conversational Feel

At CES on Monday, Comcast unveiled Universal Ads, an advertising platform aimed at being an “easy button” for small- and medium-sized businesses to buy ad time on traditional TV’s streaming businesses, with the goal of luring them away from social media and digital outlets. In addition to Comcast’s own NBCUniversal, additional partners include DirecTV, Fox Corporation, Paramount, Roku, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNBC Senior Media & Tech Correspondent Julia Boorstin moderated a panel with Comcast and some major partners who explained why they signed on to the new platform. Continue reading CES: Comcast Debuts Universal Ads, Inks Media Partnerships

CES 2025 kicked off appropriately with a high-powered panel on AI’s impact in entertainment. Under the expert moderation of our friend, and former president of the Hollywood Professional Association, Seth Hallen, three of the industry’s most senior leaders spoke candidly about what the technology means to the industry: Samira Panah Bakhtiar (GM of Media and Entertainment, Games, and Sports at Amazon Web Services), Academy Award-winner Ed Ulbrich (Chief Content Officer and President of Production at Metaphysic), and Richard Kerris (GM of Media and Entertainment at Nvidia). Continue reading CES: Industry Leaders Highlight Transformative Potential of AI

At CES 2025’s opening session on Tech Trends, futurist Brian Comiskey, the Consumer Technology Association’s senior director of innovation and trends, forecasted record retail revenues of $537 billion in 2025, representing a growth in hardware, software and services. He also enumerated the growth of AI as a continuing trend. Fueling this record growth is the dominance of Gen Z, which he dubbed “the first true digital natives.” Comiskey noted, however, that the incoming government proposal to establish tariffs threaten U.S. purchasing power for technology products. Continue reading CES: CTA Futurist Predicts the Impact of Latest Tech Trends

Samsung Electronics has teamed with Google on a new spatial sound standard, Eclipsa Audio, that could emerge as a free alternative to Dolby Atmos. On display at CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week, the format is rolling out across Samsung’s line of 2025 TVs and soundbars, and Google will support it on the content side by enabling Eclipsa 3D audio on some YouTube videos this year. Samsung has been a notable holdout on Dolby Vision HDR embracing instead the competing HDR10+. Now the South Korean electronics giant seems to be staking out its own turf in 3D audio, advocating for open source. Continue reading CES: Samsung and Google Team on Spatial Audio Standard

Artist-led generative AI film and animation studio Asteria has joined with AI research startup Moonvalley to create Marey, “the entertainment industry’s first clean foundational AI model.” Trained exclusively on “ethically sourced data” owned by Asteria, Marey is named after the French physiologist who helped put the “motion” in motion pictures, Étienne-Jules Marey. Asteria says Marey is being trained for a 2025 debut targeting major Hollywood productions with a pitch that says it has not and will not rely on scraped data, something Big Tech competitors have taken heat on. Continue reading Asteria and Moonvalley Team Up on Ethical AI for Hollywood

Walmart has closed its $2.3 billion all-cash acquisition of smart television maker Vizio. The deal increases the retail giant’s media clout, signaling an expansion of its video-based advertising efforts and interest in content-based marketing. “The acquisition of Vizio and its SmartCast operating system allows Walmart to serve its customers in new ways to enhance their shopping journeys,” Walmart said in concluding the deal, initiated in February. Walmart’s media efforts to date have focused around Walmart Connect, which works with brands to position ads across Walmart.com and in the company’s U.S. stores. Continue reading Walmart Closes $2.3 Billion Acquisition of Vizio, SmartCast OS

Subscription-free streaming platform Plex — which features more than 600 channels, movies and TV shows — has redesigned its user interface to emphasize discovery and personalization. The new look is available in preview on mobile, with a public rollout planned in the weeks to come. “For personal media pros, we’ve centralized media libraries into a dedicated tab,” explains Plex, noting it’s added an option to save favorite libraries and quickly access power-user features. The Watchlist now has a dedicated spot in the navigation bar. Customers are using Plex to “find any title, anytime,” then linking it across services or adding it to the Watchlist. Continue reading Free Streaming Video Platform Plex Redesigns User Interface