TCL’s new 115-inch mini-LED television is drawing crowds at CES 2024, where it’s garnering notice for its 20,000 local dimming zones and 5,000 nits peak brightness. The IMAX Enhanced TV has a 120Hz QLED display panel with anti-glare coating. The model, TCL QM891G, also features built-in 6.2.2-channel Dolby Atmos speakers and an ATSC 3.0 tuner for NextGen TV broadcasts. TCL says its new smart TV is 2.5 times brighter than any currently available television. The company also debuted two other mini-LED TVs (at 75-98 inches) and a pair of new QLEDs (43-98 inches). All of them offer 4K resolution. Continue reading CES: TCL 115-Inch Mini-LED TV Has 20,000 Dimming Zones

Audiences are migrating from broadcasting to streaming, and Google just announced its decision to phase out third-party cookies. What’s a marketer to do? At CES, Disney, Pfizer and GroupM marketers discussed how they plan to evolve in a changing landscape. The Walt Disney Company’s Lisa Valentino emphasized the need for interoperability of data across platforms, with the consumer at the center. GroupM debuted its Ad Innovation Accelerator to “strategize and create scalable ad formats that are designed to be ubiquitous across ad-supported streaming environments.” Partners include BrightLine, Disney, KERV, NBCUniversal, Roku, Telly and YouTube. Continue reading CES: Marketers Shift Tactics in Streaming, Post-Cookie World

During a CES 2024 panel on “Amazon Streaming: Clay Tablets to Streaming TV — The Evolution of Storytelling,” moderator Carly Zipp, who is Amazon global director of brand marketing, asked panelists for their favorite stories, recounting that her son replaced her bedtime stories with ChatGPT. Lauren Anderson, Amazon Studios head of AVOD originals and unscripted programming, picked the story of Tracy Chapman’s song “Fast Car.” “It shows how stories can resonate through generations, genres, geographies, and ethnicities,” she said. For GroupM global CEO Christian Juhl, the stories of Hans Christian Andersen were formative in his childhood. Continue reading CES: Marketers Look at Evolution of Storytelling with AI Twist

The technology sector had a tough 2023. During a CES session in Las Vegas yesterday, Circana Vice President Paul Gagnon and Circana Industry Analyst Ben Arnold revealed the details of what they’ve been tracking over the last year, noting both areas of decline and “pockets of growth.” They encouraged tech vendors to look for innovative ways to sell products, targeting consumers via age group and income bracket as well as looking at geographic zones such as Mexico that are experiencing growth. The good news, they stressed, was the return of growth in the latter half of 2023. Continue reading CES: Circana Foresees an Increase in Tech Spending in 2024

Samsung Electronics kicked off CES 2024 with a bang, premiering a transparent MicroLED display at its First Look curtain raiser that created a great deal of buzz in Las Vegas. Transparent screen technology is poised to extend virtual experiences into the world’s living rooms, and Samsung says that its MicroLED tech — the result of six years of R&D — is better than competing OLED and LED options, claiming the clear, glass-like display offers superior brightness and clarity to competing options. To illustrate its claim, Samsung’s demo lets visitors compare its transparent MicroLED display next to transparent OLED and LCD screens. Continue reading CES: Samsung Demonstrates Transparent MicroLED Display

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. Continue reading Roku to Demo Its Pro Series TVs and Smart Picture AI at CES

On the eve of CES 2024 taking place January 9-12 in Las Vegas, LG Electronics has unveiled this year’s lineup of OLED TVs powered by the company’s new A11 AI Processor. LG’s high-end G4 OLED and wireless M4 OLED models leverage what is being called an artificial intelligence “superchip” to enable features such as adjusting the image based on scene context and enhancing the distinction between foreground and background objects. Both series will be showcased at CES. Two lower priced new models, the C4 and the B4 OLEDs, utilize the company’s A9 and A8 AI chips. Continue reading LG’s New OLED TVs Tap AI Superchip for Enhanced Features

LG Electronics will showcase its latest television technologies at CES in Las Vegas next week, including its 2024 lineup of QNED and QNED Mini LED TVs with models up to 98 inches, and the company’s top-line M4 and G4 OLED TVs (more on those sets in tomorrow’s ETCentric). LG says the advanced graphics capabilities of faster AI processing will provide viewers with a brighter picture, smoother motion and superior, vibrant colors. The company also announced an upcoming soundbar lineup, featuring premium surround-sound devices specifically designed for its new OLED and QNED TVs for what LG describes as an “elevated home cinema experience.” Continue reading LG Plans to Demo Its New OLED and QNED TV Tech at CES

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to eliminate penalties for early termination and other so-called junk fees from cable and direct broadcast satellite television providers. The agency will also be studying the impact of such practices on consumers, which it believes may be subject to undue hardship when penalized for things like moving, unexpected financial hardship or poor service. During its December Open Meeting last week, the FCC voted to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to end what it appears to feel are unjustified fees that also potentially harm competition by adding costs to switching services. Continue reading FCC Votes to End Cable and Satellite Early Termination Fees

Samsung Display has revealed plans to begin mass production on a new type of monitor with ultra-high-definition resolution of 3840×2160 pixels. Samsung says this is the highest pixel density and UHD resolution among available OLED monitors, and that the display also offers super-fast response speed to thrill gamers. The new QD-OLED monitors will initially be offered in two sizes: 32 inches and 27 inches. Typically, 30-inch QHD monitors offer 2560×1440 pixels, which Samsung says is fine for “general-purpose” use, adding that “consumers who enjoy gaming and high-definition video content will have a strong preference for UHD products.” Continue reading Samsung’s New QD-OLED Monitor Called a ‘Game Changer’

Alphabet-owned Google, which announced the end of its Play Movies & TV app in October 2022, now has a plan for relocating the video content that users have purchased on the service. Starting January 17, customers will be able to access their past Play Movies & TV purchases as well as active rentals on YouTube, Android TV devices, Google TV devices and the Google TV mobile app (including the iOS version). “We are making some changes to simplify how you purchase new movies or access the movies and TV shows you’ve purchased through Google,” the company explained. Continue reading Google Will Relocate Play Movies & TV Purchases in January

The Hisense 110UX TV, a 110-inch diagonal screen said to have 10,000 nits of peak brightness — five times greater than that of the best OLEDs — will make its official debut at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With more than 40,000 backlight zones for local dimming and high levels of color volume, Hisense says it achieves 95 percent of the BT.2020 color palette, or about 20 percent better than the top OLEDs. Developed on Hisense’s ULED X platform, the preview photo showed it on a console-style stand that appeared to house its own audio system. Continue reading Hisense to Debut ‘World’s Brightest’ 110-Inch TV at CES 2024

Samsung TV Plus reports it has seen enthusiastic consumer use over the past year, with a 60 percent rise in global viewership. Accordingly, the TV maker is upgrading its free streaming service — available on Galaxy devices, Samsung Smart TVs, Smart Monitors and Family Hub appliances and on the Web — with an emphasis on discoverability for kids and music programming. Launched in 2015, the free ad-supported TV (FAST) and ad-based video on-demand (AVOD) service offers content spanning news, sports, entertainment, music, and more, in 24 countries where it is accessed on 535 million TV and mobile devices. Continue reading Samsung TV Plus Hits Refresh on a 60 Percent Viewer Surge

Sweden-based digital music service Spotify has redesigned its television user interface to make it look and feel more like the platform’s desktop and mobile experiences, a move its users have been waiting for. The frequently played content now appears at the top of the interface, while playlists and favorites are also easily accessed. A playback queue that opens from the side of the screen lets you see what’s playing and program what’s coming up, and you can easily switch accounts by toggling profile options. A dark mode option has been added for the television interface as well. Continue reading Spotify Redesigns TV Interface to Better Match Its Mobile App

YouTube has introduced three dozen new features that do everything from improve mobile playback and search to expand creator tools. When the words “like and subscribe” are uttered by creators, the buttons will respond with animations. Bigger preview thumbnails and a “lock-screen” feature designed to prevent mishaps are also in the new toolset. The improvements build on the “new look and feel” YouTube debuted last year, adding “more modern design elements and features that helped our viewers feel more immersed,” the company says. Some of the improvements target smartphones and connected TVs, while others are for the web app. Continue reading YouTube Adds Dozens of Mobile Playback, Creator Controls