We are pretty much at that point in the world of TV technology where Smartphones have been for a year or two now – incremental not revolutionary advances in technology. So what makes a 2017 TV better than a 2016 TV? Very little is the honest answer.
I spend a little while watching some movies on the all-new Samsung QLED TV which will hit stores in mid April and ranges in price from $4,499 up to $39,999.
The TV I watched was the 65 inch Q7 variant, retailing at $6,499.
No doubt Samsung have done some nifty things with these nano sized Quantum dots that embrace each pixel, this Quantum science is used to enhance the brightness of the overall picture and the technology has boosted the “nits” of brightness (a measure of light) to 1,500 from 1,000 last year, while in the top-of-the-line Q9 series that goes up to 2,000 nits.
With a 2016 Samsung Series 9 TV in my lounge room, could I tell the difference with the new Q7? No.
The picture is sensational, the user interface is once again brilliant with shortcuts for your connected devices and favourites.
What I did notice was a brand new look remote control which frankly suits the premium price-tag of the device, while the stand out feature for me was the new almost invisible single cable that runs from the TV to the control box where your inputs are for HDMI and other such things.
I could barely notice the cable until I took a close look, and wisely it seems quite long.
This is a great technical leap forward, but I do wonder how important it is given Samsung already had the single cable solution, and for those who have invested so much in a TV a wall mount is much more likely so the cable is hidden anyway.
With all that said, there’s no doubt this is Samsung’s best ever TV. It is most likely the market leader for brightness, and the blacks, even though not technically as good as OLED, are much better again than previous models.
The truth is, the 2017 Samsung QLED TV aren’t targeted at 2016 TV owners. Those who have TVs of 4, 5, 6 or more years old it’s always important to know what the best out there is. With 2016 models going for several thousand dollars less it would be hard not to recommend those. Though for genuine future proofing you should always stump up for the very latest if you can.
We won’t really know how good this TV is until we sit it side by side with LG’s 2017 OLED TVs. Is the brightness of Quantum Dots enough to beat the brightness of OLED with Dolby Vision? Can the blacks on the Samsung QLED TV come close to the OLED?
Inch for Inch, dollar for dollar, Samsung seems arrogant. $6,499 is a big price to pay, and for the Q9 the 65 inch is $9,499. For $15,000 you can buy the Q9 in 75 inches, or if the LG pricing is as we anticipate for their Signature W series (wallpaper thin) TV you can get one of those in 65 inches. Frankly, I’d take the wallpaper any day.
2017 is going to be an interesting battle in TV world, though with Samsung’s extensive range putting a TV in almost every price-point they will be tough to beat.
