OPINION: Another CES is done and dusted, setting the template (and temperature) for the year to come. As far as TVs are concerned, the future is bright (quite literally). However, after a week’s passing since CES officially closed its convention doors, I’m not so sure about how bright that future is.
Going into the event, I had doubts that there would be much innovation – more a case of evolution – and while there were some announcements that could be classed as ‘new stuff’, in the end TVs are brighter, smarter and more colourful. It’s the same story every year.
AI had a bigger presence but machine learning algorithms and neural networks have been in TVs for years, although as AI has hit the zeitgeist, TV brands have latched onto it to make their main message, and a simpler way for the watching audience to understand what TVs are doing now. Personally, I can’t remember the last time TVs were this confusing.
There are so many acronyms to remember, so many technologies to cover that it’s a struggle to understand. Most of this brand new technology won’t touch any TV you’re likely to buy in the next few years.
There was the wave of RGB Mini LED TVs, or as some brands appeared to describe as RGB Micro LED TVs, and these aren’t the same as MicroLED TVs. Hisense, Samsung, and TCL all have models in progress, but only Hisense has one that will launch this year with its RGB TriChroma model. Sizes start at 100-inches, which is for the few and not the many.
That leads me to the focus on bigger screens. There’s clearly demand otherwise they wouldn’t be made but the sizes are so far removed from the average person’s living space that the only context is for a house that has space for 10 bathrooms. They’re not irrelevant but they’re also not consequential either.
So whether it’s RGB Mini LEDs or RGB Tandem OLEDs, AI, immersive audio, high peak brightness or low-glare screens; there’s a lot happening. Will TVs have better picture and sound? Yes on the former, a wobbly ‘maybe’ on the latter but the real question is what relevance does all this have for the average person, and the answer is not much.
In chasing bigger sizes, advanced AI features and higher brightness in TVs most won’t come in contact with, there’s a gap developing between the experiences you get from premium screens to affordable ones.
The mid-range area of the TV market is starting to fade – few TV brands talk about this segment as it’s now either premium, expensive TVs (for the manufacturers) or affordable screens (for the consumer). Technology that might have bridged that gap has become (or is becoming) quickly affordable (QLED, Mini LED). Smart TVs are ubiquitous and there’s unlikely to be growth in that area. Anything that might have given the mid-range a boost, say MLA for OLED TVs, is no longer around.
There is a disconnect that’s formed over the last few years between the premium-priced models TV brands want to sell to you, and the affordable screens customers are likely to buy. Factor in a market that doesn’t appear to be growing as much as it used to, and all this ‘innovation’ makes me wonder if it’s hiding a sense of worry on behalf of TV brands.
