LAS VEGAS—The number of TV broadcast-related items on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has decreased over the last 10 years, but I was able to find a few RF items of interest to TV Technology readers in Las Vegas this year.

One technology I didn’t find in the main exhibit halls was ATSC 3.0 (often shortened to just ATSC 3), as most engineers still call it, or Next Gen TV, the more modern name used by people promoting the new standard to a wider audience. This wasn’t because manufacturers had given up on ATSC 3, rather the technology had matured enough that the next move will be the launch of real ATSC 3 products.

The integrated circuits needed for ATSC 3 receivers have been designed and it appears they will be available from multiple sources. There was an ATSC 3 signal available over-the-air and ATSC 3 devices were on display at CES 2019, but most were shown only by appointment off the convention floor. Channel Master was showing an ATSC 3 gateway at the Luxor. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get an appointment to see it.

When will ATSC 3 receivers become available? That will likely depend on when there are enough ATSC 3 broadcasts to justify a nationwide rollout of devices. This rollout could be through one or more “lighthouse” ATSC 3 stations in market carrying some major network programming, ideally in a format that shows off the potential of ATSC 3.

Could this happen in time for manufacturers to show devices at CES 2020 for distribution by Christmas that year? Perhaps. Broadcaster support for ATSC 3 is growing and the Phoenix ATSC 3 model market is providing an example of how ATSC 3 can be launched if stations cooperate.

There was one ATSC 3 demonstration being exhibited for all at CES. It was in the Westgate Pavilion, not the Las Vegas Convention Center, but it showed a practical example of ATSC 3 software that could be used to implement ATSC 3 reception now with currently available devices such as the Airwavz USB dongle.

The Wipro demo consisted of a Dektec software defined RF/modulator generating an ATSC 3 signal connected to an Airwavz Redzone USB receiver dongle hooked up to an NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV box running the Wipro software (Fig. 1). I saw the setup displaying video and a program guide and some other interactive functions.

It seems likely Airwavz will offer a version of the Wipro software to purchasers of its Airwavz ATSC 3 dongles, but I don’t have any information on pricing or availability at this time. I did learn Airwavz will be switching to a different demodulator at some point for future versions of the Airwavz dongle. USB ATSC 3 receivers may also be available before too long from other companies in China and possibly Korea.

ANTENNAS

Voxx’s RCA brand had some new antennas at CES 2019 that included elements for VHF, even low VHF. A representative said these were added as a result of more stations moving to VHF during the FCC incentive auction. There are two versions—the smaller amplified ANT850E and the larger unamplified ANT950E (Fig. 2) both designed for outdoor or attic installation and VHF and UHF reception. I wasn’t able to find an engineer to talk to, but it appears the VHF elements are single dipoles at least in the ANT850E, although the flat, enclosed elements in the ANT950E appear large enough to provide some benefit at high VHF. The tags for both antennas said, “Receives TV broadcasts including 4K and 1080 HDTV when available for highest quality picture and sound, both UHF and VHF stations.” Yes, make sure you don’t get stuck with an analog or standard-definition-only TV antenna. (Of course, I’m kidding—while antenna characteristics can affect the quality of digital TV reception, it has absolutely nothing to do with resolution.)

Now that TV broadcasting has switched to digital, the “cliff edge” effect where the signal goes from perfect to nothing with a small change in signal level makes antenna aiming difficult. RCA’s solution is to include an LED signal meter with some of its antenna products.

The representative I talked to said that it only works at UHF, but didn’t have details on exactly how it works. The bandwidth would have to be narrow enough to reject strong 700 MHz (and now 600 MHz) LTE wireless signals, but wide enough to catch at least one of the channels operating in a market. At the time this article was written, the company’s website did not have any information on these antennas.

In a previous column I mentioned how impressed I was with the performance of the small Antop indoor antenna with preamp. I had a chance stop by the Antop exhibit at CES. They didn’t have an open version of the antenna I was using but it appears the preamp was installed at the antenna and not in the coax line, as I suspected, which helped improve the performance of the small antenna. One similar model had two telescopic “rabbit ears” added for VHF.

OTHER ITEMS

3D was back with StreamTV Networks’ display showing “Glasses-Free 3D” with 8K panels. The images were simple but it seemed to work (Fig. 3). To learn more about it, see www.streamtvnetworks.com/ultra-d/.

The last item has no relevance to RF or broadcasting, except perhaps as a new ENG or camera platform, but Bell was showing their Nexus “air taxi,” a helicopter like transport that had six large rotors (like a drone, but rotors could be oriented horizontal or vertical). Bell had a computer-generated video on a large screen showing a flock of these air taxis flying through a city, landing and taking off from roof tops. People were lining up to have their picture taken inside the thing (Fig. 4). More info at www.bellflight.com/company/innovation/nexus.

What did I miss? Comments and questions are welcome. Email me atdlung@transmitter.com.

HUNT VALLEY, MD.--Fresh off the rollout of a multistandard DTV receiver chipset with support for ATSC 3.0 at the International CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Mark Aitken, president of ONE Media LLC and VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group is greatly encouraged about the prospects for ATSC 3.0.

Taking center stage for ONE Media at the annual consumer electronics extravaganza was the rollout of a receiver chipset capable of receiving 12 different digital television standards, including 3.0.

But Aitken’s enthusiasm extends well beyond the favorable reception the receiver chipset received at the show. The exhibit also featured a new broadcast radio head designed to integrate the inherent efficiencies and effectiveness of one-to-many OTA broadcasting into 4G and 5G wireless data networks.

Aitken–a long-time proponent of offloading the one-to-many portion of wireless network operators’ traffic to broadcast—says the broadcast radio head was favorably received by representatives of wireless networks and their suppliers in Las Vegas.

In this, the first of a two-part interview, Aitken talks about the multistandard DTV receiver chipset, the new broadcast radio head, LTE Broadcast and 5G and how 5G standards development envision integration of multiple wireless networks. He also provides an update on his offer to give away 1 million of new receiver chips to any vendor that promises to build them into mobile and portable devices.

(An edited transcript.)

TVTechnology:How would you characterize the reaction coming out of CES 2019 to ONE Media’s rollout of two multistandard DTV receiver chips with support for ATSC 3.0?

Mark Aitken: I would say I was startled by the level of activity and positive feedback.

What I mean by that is we had various meetings set up with Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese, Indian and U.S. companies—makers of dongles, set-top boxes, TV sets and gateways.

The discussions were not just about the chip. The other thing that was in the room as a backdrop for the chip was Saankhya had almost a dozen different applications of software-defined receivers. They ran the gamut from USB dongles and tablets to satellite radios and modulators.

Alongside of that was a product we are in the process of developing as a direct result of our conversations on the convergence of broadcast and broadband. We showed a prototype broadcast radio head.

TVT:What’s that?

MA: A broadcast radio head is a small, outdoor-mount utility device, not at all unlike an LTE radio head, except supporting broadcast.

We were involved in designing that for a customer deployment. The idea is pretty simple–a box that can sit on a tower alongside LTE and 5G that is designed to tie into the data network, the intelligent network of a telecom operator. In the 4G world, it’s the “EPC” [Evolved Packet Core]. In 5G, it’s the new 5G Core architecture.

The point is we are headlong into defining the interconnect of Next-Gen Broadcast to the world of telcom as a supplemental download or auxiliary download or however you want to view it—but a broadcast spectrum-enabled device that allows the conveyance of telcom data across an ATSC 3 waveform.

By the way, I almost hate to say ATSC 3 because with the implementation that is being prototyped and coming into a proof of concept we are supporting parts of the ATSC 3 standard that are extensions that will be enabled and signaled via the bootstrap. So, we are already evolving the standard.

TVT:So, from a wireless operator’s point of view, does this broadcast radio head fulfill what you have talked about for a long time: a technology that enables an operator to offload its one-to-many data traffic to broadcast, thus preserving a significant portion of its wireless network?

MA: Absolutely. It is being designed as a replacement to the very poorly conceived, very poorly implemented multicast mode in the LTE environment.

It’s known to the consumer as LTE Broadcast. It’s eMBMS [Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service].

But eMBMS is a unicast-enabled multicast mode of operation, and it is unicast-enabled because it can’t stand on its own as a broadcast waveform. It lives in the unicast environment and demands the ability to do lost packet replacement knowing there is going to be lost packets replaced versus a designed broadcast standard that is meant to stand on its own.

We are doing all of the plumbing. We are involved in India, not just with the chip development, but we are also a member of the telecom standards organization in India, TSDSI [Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India].

They are working at defining the standard that would allow anybody to a take a non-3GPP [Third Generation Partnership Project] broadcast radio—and I call it a radio because that’s how the telcom guys like to think of it—and tie it into a 3GPP access network. We are defining all the attributes that allow this non-3GPP radio to be integrated into that network.

TVT:What about 5G? It seems like you will be going head to head against what operators plan for 5G broadcast.

MA: Well, these go hand-in-hand. What we are doing is providing an invaluable supplemental feed that is actually aligned with the 5G standard.

TVT:Let me clarify what I was asking. I guess it’s a matter of perspective because I know some broadcasters—and you specifically—have talked about 3.0 being an integral part of a future 5G network. But I don’t know if the wireless industry has shown it is receptive to that and will let broadcasters play in their sandbox.

MA: Look, part of this is a matter of who owns the spectrum. Part of this is a matter of who controls the network.

So, the 3GPP spectrum I am talking about is “TS22.261, Release 16.” http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1831-sa1_5g. There are all kinds of pieces to this puzzle, but it [broadcast spectrum] is one of the many.

TS22.261 is the 3GPP technical standard and system aspects that define service requirements for 5G systems. It’s known as Release 16, and it’s not finished yet. But from its inception, Release 16 has continued to address the requirements to work in conjunction with 3GPP and non-3GPP systems.

There is an absolute recognition that 3GPP doesn’t live in the world by itself. There are other standards, and the true nature of 5G has nothing to do with specific spectrum.

You say 5G, and there are some people who think it is 20 GHz, or it is millimeter wave or it’s 60 GHz. People jump to the spectrum side of it, and there is some spectrum that is being opened up for advanced radios.

But at its heart, 5G is about convergence. 5G is about multi-radios. 5G is about how do we assemble all of the available radio assets into a unified environment? How does a telco fully utilize WiFi, how does it fully utilize all the efforts that are going on in CBRS [Citizens Broadband Radio Service].

How do all of these things get pulled together in one place? That is what this 5G spec is all about. It’s about convergence. It’s about heterogeneous networks—that’s the fancy term. Hybrid networks is an easier one to think about. And we have talked for so long about this convergence of broadcast and broadband—I don’t know how many different ways I have tried to describe it, but it goes much deeper than simply it’s [3.0 is] IP-enabled.

But I can tell you that if it weren’t IP-enabled, there would be no discussion on the table.

Great, it’s IP-enabled. That means the same stuff that flows across the carrier’s [spectrum] can flow across our spectrum. Check that box off. Well, how do you control that? How do you put that as an active, living mechanism under the control of a network operator? We are doing that work.

And I say all of that because if you walked into the room [at CES] and you could have the big screen TVs and the very same 3.0 chip doing ATSC 3 on one screen and ATSC 1 on another screen. If you wanted, it could have been DVB-T, DVB-T2 or ISDB-T. It could have been some of the advanced DVB satellite [standards]. It could be any of those.

But the point is in the background of that was this whole vibrant discussion of what if broadcasters were doing something more than television. There’s a shock.

I always have to draw people’s attention to the fact that ATSC was building a television standard. We were engaged in ATSC because we wanted a broadcast standard.

What you have in ATSC 3 is a broadcast standard, a broadcast television standard, but by nature of elements that were foundational—and by the way ours, I mean down to the IPR [intellectual property rights]—we ensured that we were not precluded from doing the other things we knew were possible with a newly baked, green field broadcast standard. Now we are beginning to explore those areas.

TVT:What sort of things?

MA: A very simple example, if you want high-speed mobility, an 8K FFT [fast Fourier transform] is not good enough. 8K gets you up to 100-plus mph. But what if you want a broadcast standard that can operate at Autobahn speeds or will support bullet trains? What if you have a broadcast standard that is more than just automobiles?

Well, you need a 2K or 4K FFT—neither of which are in the ATSC 3 standard, but are fully possible if you want to create a modulator that will do a 4K FFT for example—and a receiver that will process a 4K FFT.

Guess what. We have a software-defined radio. So, we can literally create a waveform on the front end and demodulate that waveform on the backend because both ends of that are software-defined.

We are doing simple stuff first, but it will advance to different coding techniques, different modulation schemes. We are crawling. We are just starting down the road.

So, in the background in this room [at CES], there was this radio head on a big tripod and an antenna attached to it that was demonstrating to people that there are products being envisioned and prototyped and that are going to be deployed that fit directly into the mobile network operator environment.

I choose those words carefully because it wasn’t until we were having discussions with one of the major providers to the telco industry, as we are describing this, that they said you are describing an architectural element.

We said, you are absolutely right. This is building a mobile network operation a bit differently. It’s just the primary architectural element is broadcast, not unicast. It’s not to the exclusion of unicast.

TVT:A couple of years ago at the ATSC annual meeting, you made an offer to provide 1 million ATSC 3.0 mobile receiver chips for free to mobile or portable device makers. Did your CES chipset rollout get you any takers?

MA: We had a couple of conversations with dongle manufacturers who wanted to know how they would take advantage of our offer. So, we’ve now got two vendors with whom we’ve had that first level of discussion. We are getting down to how we make that happen.

I can’t give you all the details of that, but the criteria for that was simply that it’s a party that commits to putting a million of these chips into mobile and portable devices, and that is a fairly broad range of products. And they may not all be ATSC 3.

In Part II,  Mark will discuss his concept of a "broadcast market exchange," content security within ATSC 3.0 and Sinclair's plans for Next Gen TV deployment in 2019. 

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, visit our ATSC3 silo.

CES 2019 will be marked as the true debut of 8K television.

In Las Vegas, four TV makers — LG, Samsung, Sony and TCL — announced they'd be shipping 8K big screen models to North American retailers this year, like it or not, ready or not. Other brands, including Changhong, Hisense, Sharp and Skyworth, fronted their LVCC booths with 8K prototypes, likely waiting to gauge sales by the top tier brands before announcing their own U.S. 8K product plans.

8K ON DISPLAY AT 2019 CES

While there was boastful excitement amongst the 8K TV vendors in Las Vegas — several banded together at CES to form the 8K Alliance — excitement among retailers, the industry and consumers at large is questionable.

This lack of excitement is reflected by 8K sales forecasts. CTA projects than 200,000 8K TVs would be sold in the U.S. this year compared to projected sales of 22.2 million 4K sets, growing to a mere 1.5 million 8K units in 2022. But there are those who believe these and other similar 8K forecasts are optimistic. A couple of months ago, Samsung forecast North America 8K sales of just 100,000 units in 2019, and only 759,000 sets in 2022.

"8K [is] just another distraction encouraging customers to second guess that aspirational 4K purchase," opined Robert Cole, founder and CEO of Philadelphia-based World Wide Stereo. "My guys on the floor learned quickly not to lead with the 8K story. The presentation was more about it being future-proof with the best technology available. As more 8K TVs are released, the story will evolve."

“Considering there is no content for 8K at the moment and the technology hasn't been standardized, making the leap isn't for everyone,” agreed Jon Abt, co-president of Glenview, Ill.-based Abt Electronics, which has sold around a dozen of the first Samsung 8K model. "It's certainly at a very early adopter stage at the moment, but the upscaling from 4K is promising for today's buyers. There will be an influx of sets in 2019 at lower price points, which should open the market up.”

“We were one of two retailers in Texas to receive Samsung’s first 8K TV," said Kris Dybdahl, VP of Bjorn’s Audio Video. "We have sold one or two already to our early adopters. It looks great with the internal 8K demo content, as well as the up-converted content that we play on it on a daily basis.

"However, in a perfect world I wish the manufacturers would have held off a little while longer before trotting out 8K," Dybdahl continued. "By bringing 8K out so quickly after 4K, when most people still don’t have a 4K set yet, I think causes confusion in the customers mind — even the possibility of should I wait to see if there will be 16K?”

Here's a rundown of the 8K sets announced at CES and scheduled to go on sale this year:

LG: Five 8K models are coming from LG in the second half of 2019, with pricing likely coming in June: the 88-inch Z9 OLED, and four LCD-based NanoCell models — SM80, SM85, SM90 and SM95. All five LG 8K sets will be imbued with the company's ThinQ smart home platform and Google Assistant, DolbyVision HDR and LG's next-gen Alpha 9 processor designed to enhance up-conversion.

Samsung: First to market with 8K last fall, Samsung has already started pre-sales on four new QLED 8K models, all equipped with HDR10+, adaptive brightness and sound technologies, as well as Apple AirPlay 2 and iTunes support: a 65-inch ($4,999), 75-inch ($6,999), 82-inch ($9,999) and 85-inch ($14,999). Samsung also displayed a 98-inch QLED model, but with no word on when or how much.

Sony: The company silently debuted 85- and 98-inch versions of its XBR Master Series Z9G 8K Android TV LCD models. While both sets are already listed on the company's web site, there is no word on when or how much.

TCL: As its CES press event, TCL announced two models — a 75-inch Roku-enabled 8-Series set equipped with QLED and quantum contrast technologies and a Roku hardware reference design that TCL is the first to license, as well as the Q10 QLED Android TV. Only the Roku 8K model is scheduled to be sold in the U.S., however, but in what potential additional sizes, when and at what price TCL hasn't said. 

Pictured: LG's Z9 OLED

LAS VEGAS--For the first time in memory, Sony announced no new products at its annual CES press presentation, held Monday in the company’s Las Vegas Convention Center booth.

Instead, the conglomerate spent 45 minutes discussing the complete intellectual property integration of its entertainment and electronics divisions.

Under the chairmanship of Sir Howard Stringer between 2005-2013, the two divisions were largely walled-off, a segregation many observers believe contributed to Sony's decline in electronics prominence. But after Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai took over the company, then moved up to chairman as current president and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida took over day-to-day operations, "Sony finally leveraged its content and broader Sony technology business," Yoshida explained.

To illustrate Sony's more tightly-integrated creative and technological approach, several Sony creative executives and creators took the stage to explain how their creative process and production was aided by Sony technology, and how Sony electronics helped delivered their creations to consumers — to the benefit of all Sony divisions.

"A critical part of the life span of movie content is the home entertainment window following its theatrical run," said Tom Rothman, president of Sony Pictures Entertainment. "And audiences watching great film and television content at home want the best possible home theater experience." Rothman cited the close collaboration between Sony camera engineers and filmmakers, most prominently “Avatar” director James Cameron.

Stay up to date on all things CES with one-click access to TWICE's CES Hub.

Next, Sony Pictures Animation president Kristine Belson, along with “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” creators Phil Lord and Chris Miller, discussed how Sony tech was integrated into their creative process. Then Rob Stringer, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, cited Sony's Lost in Music campaign, "where hot new Sony artists use Sony tech to promote their music."

Stringer then introduced Pharrell Williams, who rhapsodized about a recent trip he took to Tokyo to experience Sony's newest sound reproduction technology, 360 Reality Audio. But the process, aimed at creating spherical sound mixes using MPEG-H that can be streamed and listened to through new types of headphones and speakers, isn't simply another attempt at multi-channel headphones. "Sony wanted to provide more creative options for artists, which led us to the next level of innovation," noted Stringer — a development aim seconded by an enthusiastic Williams. 

TV suppliers are turning to big screens and advanced display technologies to bolster ASPs and improve earnings at CES 2019, where 8K TVs, improved contrast ratios, voice assistants, and new display technologies such as micro LED and rollable OLED are front and center.

The first roll-up TV — a 65-inch LG OLED model — is making its debut along with a greater selection of LCD TVs with quantum-dot WCG technology.

During the first 10 months of 2018, the retail ASPs of U.S. LCD TVs were flat year over year, with both dollar volume and unit sales up 3 percent, The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service found. LCD accounted for the vast majority of North American flat-panel shipments in 2018, or 98.4 percent of 42.6 million units, IHS Markit said.

Stay up to date on all things CES with one-click access to our CES Hub.

Continuing growth in demand for larger screen sizes could help boost ASPs in 2019, when sizes of 50 inches and up will account for almost 100 percent of North American 4K/8K TV shipments, said IHS Markit executive director Paul Gagnon. Among all TVs, sales of 60 inches and larger will increase faster in 2019 to account for 23 percent of all North American TV shipments, thanks to rapidly declining costs of 65-inch panels.

Big-display demand will help stoke 8K demand, Gagnon noted. 8K resolution will be more apparent on big screens that also reduce pixel visibility when viewers are close. Chris Larson, TCL’s North America senior VP, expects 8K “will be represented by all major brands” in the U.S. in 2019, though IHS expects 8K shipments to account for only 0.1 percent (or 42,700) of 42.7 million TVs shipped in North America.

Although native 8K video in noticeable quantities might be a few years away, 8K TVs will use up-scaling technology that has improved dramatically to deliver 8K resolution from HD sources, said Gagnon. Content from 8K cameras can also be displayed, as can a few 8K YouTube videos.

In Japan in December, NHK launched an 8K satellite channel, but David Mercer of Strategy Analytics said “expectations for 8K services should be cautious.” The rest of the world “will be slower to follow suit, given that the number of homes with 8K-ready TVs will remain low until the mid 2020s.”

Despite the excitement surrounding 8K TV, added Strategy Analytics director David Watkins, “It is important to remember that image resolution, whether native or otherwise, is only one element in perceived video quality, and TV vendors and content players alike should not lose focus on other important drivers of consumer satisfaction, such as high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rate (HFR).”

At CES, 8K launches include LG’s first two SKUs (an 88-inch OLED and 75-inch LCD) and a 98-inch Samsung LCD. They join Samsung’s $15,000 85-inch LCD. TCL is demoing a 75-inch 8K LCD and plans 2019 shipments of an 8K model, expected to feature 8K-capable HDMI 2.1 inputs. Samsung’s current 8K TV features an outboard HDMI switching box that can be swapped for a future HDMI 2.1 version.

8K screen sizes could trickle down below 75 inches in the U.S., said TCL's Larson, but “anything below 65 inches will be a challenge in a real-use environment.”

See: TV At CES 2019: 8K Is 'Getting Real'

Nonetheless, Nanosys sales/marketing VP Russell Kempt expects some suppliers to push LCD-based 8K into more mainstream sizes down to 55 inches in coming years. OLED displays, however, will be challenged to bring 8K to anything but “very large form factors.”

In other big-screen developments, LG is expanding its selection of 70-inch-plus sizes, Samsung is launching a 98-inch 8K model, Philips is showing a 75-inch 4K Android TV, and TCL is bringing back a 75-inch SKU (at less than $1,800 MAP).

Here’s what else to expect:

MICRO LED

Select suppliers will demo micro LED displays, which use emissive red, green and blue LEDs to create 4K color images. Each LED can be turned off to deliver perfect blacks and improved contrast, with faster response times and better off-axis viewing, compared to LED-lit LCD displays. Samsung is showing a smaller, 75-inch version of last year's 146-inch Wall TV. The Wall is available for commercial and custom residential applications. Sony showed a pro model at the CEDIA Expo.

CONTRAST

Full-array local dimming (FALD) will spread to more LED-backlit 4K LCD TVs in 2019 to improve contrast ratios. “Almost all premium LCD sets at about $1,500 and up will transition to FALD in 2019,” predicted Kempt of Nanosys. “We can achieve excellent contrast that a couple years ago people didn’t think possible with LCD technology.” In a new flagship 8 series, TCL is offering 300 percent more zones versus 120 and 96 in its 65- and 55-inch 6 series SKUs, respectively. Select 2018 Sony and Samsung TVs sport around 500 zones, and Vizio offers up to 192. 

MINI LED BACKLIGHTS 

With new mini LED backlights, more LCD TVs will feature thousands of FALD zones, Nanosys’s Kempt said. Samsung features thousands of zones in its current 85-inch 8K TV. TCL is demoing thousands of zones. Other demos might be private.

Mini LEDs are smaller than typical LEDs but larger than micro LEDs. 

More TV suppliers at CES will build far-field microphones for digital assistants into the chassis of select TVs rather than deliver voice control solely through a remote with built-in near-field mic. At a minimum, TVs with embedded far-field mics will be available later in 2019 from TCL and Philips, joining Sony models.

Separately, LG will offer three voice assistants — Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and proprietary ThinQ — in all new 4K smart TVs, with voice control delivered by a mic-equipped remote. ThinQ delivers voice control over more TV functions than other assistants alone provide, the company said.

BRIGHTNESS, GAMUT

More TVs will get closer to delivering 100 percent of DCI-P3 color gamut, delivered by 4K Blu-ray discs and streaming services. TCL plans its first U.S. TVs with gamut-widening quantum-dot displays sometime in 2019 in multiple screen sizes. “In 2019, quantum dot delivers the right performance for the cost for mainstream consumers,” said TCL North America SVP Chris Larson.

Attendees will likely find more 4K LCD TVs with peak brightness levels of 4,000 nits, as delivered by Samsung’s current 8K TV. One of the brightest 4K displays has been a 2,000-nit 65-inch Vizio TV.

As quantum-dot costs fall, added Kempt of quantum-dot supplier Nanosys, “it is now becoming possible for set makers to waterfall the technology across their product lineups.” As a result, by the end of 2018, “we’re beginning to see quantum-dot technology entering the mainstream market for TVs with several 65-inch TV products available below $1,500.” 

HDMI 2.1

At least one more company, LG, is adding select HDMI 2.1 features to TVs. All LG OLEDs and three top LCD series add 2.1’s variable refresh rate (VRR), auto low latency mode (ALLM), and eARC. Sony added them to select TVs in 2018.

Let Your Voice Be Heard At The CES Social Hub!

LAS VEGAS—LG Electronics believes its 2019 flagship OLED TVs are moving to the head of the class.

This year’s lineup, encompassing the Z9, W9, E9 and C9 series, promise optimized content and enhanced picture and sound thanks to the company’s second-generation a9 Gen 2 intelligent processor, and a deep-learning algorithm developed from a database of over one million visual cues. Together they “recognize” content source quality and determine the best upgrade method for visual output, LG said.

[Related: CES 2019 Preview: Your TV Wants To Control Your Home]

The new processor also automatically adjusts brightness based on ambient light conditions, taking into account the way the human eye perceives images in different lighting.The a9 Gen 2 processor can further refine HDR content by adjusting the brightness to add contrast, detail and depth of color to dark scenes in brightly-lit rooms, LG said.

Stay up to date with all things CES-related with one-click access to TWICE’s CES Hub.

On the sound front, quality is augmented by an intelligent algorithm that can up-mix two-channel audio to deliver what LG described as “convincing virtual 5.1 surround sound.” Meanwhile, the a9 Gen 2 chip can optimize output based on content type for clearer-sounding voices, adding further realism to the sets’ Dolby Atmos sound signature.

The platform’s smarts also extends to digital assistants, which this year includes Amazon Alexa in addition to the built-in Google Assistant, first made available on the 2018 models with ThinQ AI. Pressing the Amazon Prime Video button on the TVs’ Magic Remote allows users to manage smart-home devices, ask questions and access Alexa’s tens of thousands of skills.

Voice control also comes into play via LG’s own ThinQ AI smart platform, which now boasts a new conversational voice recognition feature that understands context and allows for more complex requests.

LG’s latest OLED series will be on display next week at CES 2019 in the company’s Central Hall booth, #11100.

Next week at CES 2019 we should expect to see a growing number of manufacturers introducing smart-home connectivity into their TVs in the form of voice activation. This latest innovation combines the ease of voice commands for TV control with myriad other functions that expand the television’s abilities by integrating it with the rest of the smart- home ecosystem.

Of course several brands, including Samsung, LG and Sony, already offer the ability to control connected devices in this way. But this we will likely see manufacturers show off some new relationships between their TV brands and the companies behind voice assistant technology, most noticeably Google Assistant software.

Stay up to date with all things CES-related with one-click access to TWICE's CES Hub.

So far, voice assistant technology comes to TVs in two formats. One type offers built-in assistant capabilities, which operate through a voice-enabled remote and do not require a standalone device. The second format does not have voice-assistant technology built into the TV itself, but does allow the user to control the TV through the use of a separate device such as an Amazon Echo. TVs with this format are commonly identified as “compatible with” various voice assistant operating systems, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.

In contrast, Amazon formed an exclusive partnership with Best Buy’s private-label Insignia brand and the Hisense-licensed Toshiba badge last year, which limits its prospects for expansion. However, many additional brands are nonetheless compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, including Haier, Hisense, LG, Sony and Vizio. We can expect to see more TVs added to this list this year, and perhaps even an additional player if Roku expands its voice control capabilities beyond the television. As for Samsung, the brand remains content with its proprietary Bixby technology to the exclusion of all others.

What results from the addition of this software is an integrated system that lets TV users speak into a voice-enabled remote to control the TV, as well as conduct any of the other functions available on a standalone virtual assistant device. In practical terms, this turns the television into a giant control center for the smart home at the same time that appliances, home audio, thermostats, security cameras, lighting and many other once-standard household devices are gaining new functions and abilities through the addition of virtual assistant software.

Point is, these smart-home products need some sort of external control source. Traditionally this was accomplished via a mobile app and later with the additional option of voice-controlled smart speakers. Now, with the integration of virtual assistants into the TV itself, the TV has the potential to become the control hub of the smart home, although the industry has yet to establish a need for the television to fulfill this role in the home. The convenience of an always-available smartphone or an always-on voice controlled speaker cannot be overstated, and the TV industry has yet to proffer a compelling reason why the TV is more suitable for this purpose than a smaller device.

The market may have an uphill battle on its hands in this regard, although TV manufacturers will be doing their best to drown out any doubts at CES.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) held its annual kickoff to CES on Thursday, with CES Unveiled New York once again held at the Metropolitan Pavilion.

But invoking the CTA’s infamous mantra of “Innovate or Die,” the organization mixed things up a bit this year, and the event was far from a carbon copy of the past. The introductory press conference was set up in a more casual setting across tables and couches, and the subsequent tabletop portion of the event was transformed into a more “experiential” environment, with attendees given the opportunity to get hands-on with new technology.

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Gary Shapiro, CTA president/CEO, kicked things off by highlighting the global environment of CES, describing it both as “the coolest, funnest, greatest tech event in the world” and the “only venue in the entire world where the entire ecosystem comes together.”

On that note, he addressed the CTA’s well-known critical stance on the Trump-imposed tariffs, warning of the “serious ramifications for companies in our industries and many industries” if the tariffs on imports from China rise from the current 10 percent to 25 percent on Jan. 1 as presently scheduled.

Shapiro also highlighted some of the upcoming new areas at CES, taking place Jan. 8-11 in Las Vegas, including the expanded Smart Cities Marketplace and the new Resilience conference, focusing on technologies enabling countries, cities and people to respond to and rebound from calamities, both natural and otherwise.

He furthermore announced that the CTA’s next book, “Ninja Future,” will officially launch at CES and unveiled the organization’s inaugural Tech Media Trailblazers Class of 2019. This group is made up of new journalists who will have the opportunity to cover CES for the first time. (Among the participants: David Lumb of TechRadar, a TWICE sister publication.)

Karen Chupka, executive VP of CES, provided further details on the upcoming show, which will feature an expected 4,500 exhibitors from 155 countries, regions and territories. New exhibitors include John Deere, JD.com, Procter & Gamble, and Raytheon.

Eureka Park, the dedicated area for start-ups, will host a record 1,200 exhibitors from 40 different countries, Chupka said, while 150 auto exhibitors will be spread across a space larger than four football fields.

Artificial intelligence and robotics will also play prominent roles at this year’s show, as will digital health. As previously announced, CES 2019 will, for the first time, offer attendees the ability to earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credits.