CES 2020: Samsung First Look event delivers 8K, gaming and lifestyle screens

(Image credit: Future)

last updated 6 January 2020

CES 2020 has now begun, with Samsung the first major player to show off some of its new consumer technology for the year ahead in its First Look keynote event.

The event took place on the evening of Sunday 5, 2020, at Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and T3 was in residence reporting live from the event.

The theme of the South Korean maker's show this year was "Screens Everywhere", and it proceeded to show off its upcoming range of screens in terms of 8K TVs, lifestyle screens like the Sero, as well as two new gaming monitors.

Here are the key takeaways from the First Look.

Samsung's new 8K TVs are very smart, and in demand

Samsung led the First Look with an unveiling of its new 8K TV range for 2020, which is headed by the flagship Q950.

The Q950 showcases the very best tech on offer in the range, with a certified 8K resolution delivered by a Quantum Processor with Tizen. This processor is partnered with revolutionary new Deep-learning AI upscaling technology, too, which specializes in bringing any non-8K content up to a near-8K level.

All of Samsung's 8K TV range this year also comes with a suite of advanced new features, including Tap View, which allows a phone to be linked with the set with one tap, a Digital Butler, which helps manage and control any of the home's connected WiFi devices, phone multi-view, which allows the users phone screen to be displayed on the TV screen alongside the watched piece of content, and both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa built in.

The Q950 finally seems to be doing something about bad in-built TV audio, too, as it boasts a virtual 5.1 speaker system built-in that not only features Object Tracking Sound+, but also an Active Voice Amplifier as well as the ability, through Q-Symphony, to use its rear speakers even while it is connected to a soundbar, for added immersion.

"Samsung’s flagship Q950TS QLED 8K TV is the industry’s first 8K TV to combine a striking, ultra-thin form factor, premium 8K picture quality, and impressive surround-sound audio. Plus, the Q950TS introduces the ‘Infinity Screen,’ which produces a screen-to-body ratio of 99 percent to create an unprecedented viewing experience."

Samsung is good at making gaming monitors, and it's made two more

Samsung also announced a brace of new gaming monitors, which it was pleased to mention it was now the biggest supplier of worldwide. Samsung shipped more gaming monitors than anyone else the audience was told.

The new monitors, which include the G7 and G9, feature a 1000R curve and boast a refresh rate of 240Hz and response time of 1ms. Gamers will be pleased.

The Sero, Serif and Frame prove lifestyle screens are in

The most interesting aspect, arguably, of the First Look event was Samsung's unveiling of three new lifestyle screens. Firstly, there was the new Serif range, which will now come in 43-inch, 49-inch and 55-inch models.

The Serif screens use Samsung's QLED technology and, in 2020, come in the original's Cloud White, as well as a new colour, Cotton Blue.

Samsung also launched new versions of its Frame TV / digital picture frame. There are two new screen sizes for 2020, which are 32-inch and 75-inch, which were chosen to maximise the Frame's appeal.

The Frame uses Dual LED technology and, with a new and improved Art Store, which is now infused with extra AI smarts, the set can now follow the types of art a user browses and then offers them recommendations along the same lines.

Samsung also showed off a new lifestyle screen at its First Look event: the Sero. This TV was first launched in South Korea back in May 2019 and it's coming to "several global markets" this year.

The Sero is best described as a vertically orientated, floor standing TV screen that acts very much like a mobile device but on a large scale, with the user's mobile, for example, syncing to the screen and then unlocking the same experience but much, much bigger. The screen also rotates if desired for a regular horizontal orientation.

“Consumers today expect TVs that can fully integrate into their individual lifestyles and Samsung is redefining the role of the screen creating delivering new digital services and creating new designs to enhance your life” said Grace Dolan, Vice President of Marketing Communication at Samsung Electronics America.