Another year, another round of TV commercials. While the CES 2021 show earlier this year was a bit quiet compared to years past, given the move to an online event and some glaring no-shows, Hisense, for its part, skipped the event entirely. - we still hear a lot about the new TVs that are expected to launch next year. However, it's worth noting that a lot of the focus this year seems to be on factors and features other than image quality, the element we generally give the most weight to when reviewing. purchase of a new television. What do we mean by this? Well, this is the first year for the TV lines after the release of the next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, and that means manufacturers need to seriously think about what features are needed to work well with these new gaming machines. . HDMI 2.1, VRR (variable refresh rate) and 120Hz panels are all important here, while Samsung is also very explicit about interface improvements for gamers, such as overlays to quickly check response time. Samsung's new MicroLED TVs even offer split screen for 2-4 simultaneous content streams, so you can play together with your friends or family, although you might consider using 2-4 different consoles to enjoy it. Some TV brands are achieving more than others in this area: LG's line of OLED TVs have sub-1ms input lag, while Samsung has achieved low input lag even on displays for some time. Mid-range LCD. Panasonic proudly showed off a 14,4ms lag on its new JZ2000 set, which is a noticeable improvement, albeit a bit behind in the sub-20ms stage. One of the most fascinating confessions from TV brands we've heard, however, was a Panasonic representative telling us that the picture quality on their TVs was so good there was little room for it. improve, which has led the company to focus on just about everything. other. "We've reached a point where there really isn't much more we can do to," we were told. It's so good, and it's only going to be incremental improvements at this point, which is why we've shifted our focus to the feature set, for example, with players, and I think you'll be surprised at how much it's improved."
Sound and vision
Gaming isn't the only new priority, either. We doubt we'll see sound system overhauls like the OTS (Object Tracking Sound) technology we saw in the new Samsung TVs last year, but some TV manufacturers are certainly trying. Panasonic has confirmed that its flagship JZ2000 OLED will feature side-mounted speakers, alongside up-and-forward audio from previous models, delivering sound to the left and right of the TV for a dynamic surround-sound presence. . Although the total audio output has gone from 140W to a more relaxed 125W, we expect the experience to be totally different. We've already written about TV tripod mounts coming from both Samsung's OLED successor The Frame and LG's Gallery series, which shows that both companies are thinking about peripherals, not just the TV picture, but how it is framed from the outside and how it fits into a larger space. It wouldn't be fair to say that image quality has been completely ignored this year, of course, and that efforts are being made to specifically address brightness. The new LG G1 OLED incorporates evo OLED technology to help achieve maximum brightness, although it only applies to a single model in LG's 2021 lineup of TVs, making it a bit more hesitant development than we would have expected.