Samsung’s new 83-inch TV may be a sign of consumer confusion

Samsung is about to start selling its first TVs with OLED panels made by rival LG after months of negotiations. Unfortunately, the way TVs coming out of this deal are named and sold can cause confusion for consumers looking for more bang for their buck.

On Tuesday, Samsung released a blog post reveal a A new 83-inch TV which resides in the S90C range of the industry’s most advanced OLEDs. Indeed, the set was released a few weeks earlier, where TV personality Vincent Teoh wa HDTV testing he hurried see that Samsung currently doesn’t make 83-inch panels—meaning that this should be the first TV in the Samsung-LG partnership.

The complex story behind Samsung’s new OLEDs

Rumors of a Samsung-LG deal have been swirling for months. While LG produced and shipped OLED TVs and panels and discussed the advantages of OLED compared to the old LED LCDs, Samsung stuck to shipping LCD TVs, introducing new technologies to try to make the old technology competitive.

However, Samsung recently found itself at a disadvantage when Chinese LCD manufacturers who are in demand for Samsung TVs paid higher and higher prices. This, along with LG’s success in shifting public perception of high-end TVs to OLED, led Samsung to adopt OLED technology in its high-end TVs.

Samsung only makes OLED TV panels in 55-, 65-, and 77-inch sizes, while LG has been making larger ones for a while. Large screen TVs are one of the fastest growing market segments, and many consumers looking to buy them also want to make sure they get the best picture possible.

The Samsung chaebol has deep ties to the South Korean government, so government officials he says they arranged meetings between Samsung and LG (also a South Korean company) so LG could supply large panels to Samsung to keep the giant competitive. After some difficulties, the two companies they agreed in which LG will supply Samsung with 77- and 83-inch panels.

The introduction of another size of Samsung TV in the existing line may not attract much attention here, but there are two reasons that deserve attention.

The first is the result of the aforementioned companies Samsung-LG, which seems to be sealing the agreement that the most high-end TVs will be OLEDs in the future, and to install LCDs in the lower and mid-range (where it belongs at the moment. ). Related to this, there is another aspect where Samsung has been openly criticizing OLED and LG its implementation for a long time, but now I am starting to sell the same thing that has been criticized.

The second is that LG’s panels are built with different technology and different subpixels than Samsung’s existing OLED TVs, which can cause confusion for consumers.

Pixel settings and consumer confusion

Samsung is here 55-, 65-and 77 inches The TVs in the S90C line all use QD-OLED, a new OLED technology that promises better color at high brightness and (in theory, at least) a longer lifespan with less wear and tear. LG’s panels use WRGB, which can sometimes be very bright, but which can probably be seen as a little low.

The new 83-inch S90C uses WRGB, while the other three sizes use QD-OLED. To make things even more confusing, LG and Samsung’s deal also included 77-inch panels, which could mean that consumers may face a lottery for 77-inch panels in the future – that is, they may not know what technology they’re getting. when they buy.

It’s speculative, of course, since only an 83-inch model has been announced so far, and we know it’s a WRGB version. But it’s something to watch because Samsung is currently not clear about the OLED technology it’s using. All of the TVs discussed here are simply marketed as “OLED.” Samsung doesn’t make separate lines for these two colors, so even though all 83-inch TVs in the line use WRGB and all 55-inch TVs use QD-OLED, most consumers don’t know this unless they dig. on popular sites like Rtings or HDTV Test. They will think they are getting the same picture and performance regardless of size, and that may not be the case.

Vincent Teoh of HDTV Test was identified in the video that there are several easy ways to see which technology is being used if you have a TV in front of you. You can take a screen shot of a bright TV screen and check the subpixel resolution. If it has a triangular shape unlike QD-OLEDs, you know it’s QD-OLED. If not, it’s WRGB. Alternatively, you can turn on the backlight when the screen is turned off. If it turns gray, it’s a QD-OLED. If not, it’s WRGB.

But most people order their TVs online unseen at this point, so it won’t help anyone. So if you’re in the market for a large OLED TV and considering the world’s most popular brand when shopping, make sure you do some extra research – because Samsung’s marketing isn’t going to tell you everything you need to know. making the best decision.