[Update: Since first publishing this article, I've added an extra Q7CN (US only) range to the product list. I've also included a qualifier on the 55-inch Q9FN model, as it seems possible this is only going to appear in Europe. I will update this point again when I have confirmation. The rest of the article remains unchanged.]
At long last, after months of speculation and impressive demos of mysterious screens that didn’t even have model numbers, Samsung has locked down the details of its high-end QLED TVs for 2018.
I’ve managed to get some pretty detailed information on all the improvements Samsung is introducing for the 2018 QLED sets, which I’ll get into later. First, though, let’s cover the core range information. The first models will start to appear this month, and from the top of the tree down, the key specs go as follows:
Q9SN
Screen sizes: 85-inch
8K resolution with direct LED lighting and new ‘micro-dimming’ precision light control system. Likely won’t go on sale until the second half of the year.
Q9FN
Screen sizes: 88-inch (US only), 75-inch, 65-inch, 55-inch (may be Europe only)
4K Resolution with direct LED lighting and local dimming (hundreds of zones). Brightness is claimed to reach 2000 nit peaks on this flagship model – and it’s nice to find a 55-inch model included in the flagship range this year. Though at the time of writing this 55-inch model is only confirmed for Europe.
Q8FN (North America only)
Screen sizes: 75-inch, 65-inch, 55-inch
4K resolution with direct LED lighting and local dimming (less zones than the Q9FN).
Q8CN (Europe only)
Screen sizes: 65-inch, 55-inch
4K resolution curved-screen TV with edge LED lighting and local dimming. Peak brightness reduces to 1500 nits here. I have a feeling European TV buyers are not going to be happy that they get a curved, edge-lit Q8N series rather than a direct-lit flat one…
Q7FN
Screen sizes: 75-inch, 65-inch, 55-inch
4K Resolution TV with edge LED lighting and local dimming.
Q7CN (US Only)
Screen sizes: 65-inch, 55-inch
Curved version of the Q7FN. My suspicion is that these TVs are essentially Europe’s Q8Cs.
Q6FN
Screen sizes: 82-inch, 75-inch, 65-inch, 55-inch, 49-inch
4K resolution TV with edge LED lighting. There’s only ‘frame’ dimming rather than local dimming, and peak brightness is down to around 1000 nits.
So much for the basic stuff. Let’s now get into the nitty gritty that will hopefully make 2018’s QLED TVs a big step forward from the QLED debutantes we saw in 2018.
First up, the Q9SN. This model stands apart from the rest of the new QLED range thanks to its 8K resolution, and from what I’ve seen of it so far at a number of tech demos, it’s set to be an absolute beast.
For starters, the fact that its 85-inch screen plays host to an 8K resolution rather than the 4K one you’ve only just got used to means you can enjoy its gargantuan pictures without having to worry about visible pixel structure.
Samsung is also providing the Q9SN with a completely new processing system for converting non-8K sources (as in, pretty much everything!) to 8K, driven by an ‘AI’ approach that sees the TV constantly learning how best to handle different source types.
It’s easy to be cynical about this sort of stuff, but the demos I’ve seen of the upscaling in action have suggested that it’s remarkably effective.
Arguably even more important to the Q9SN’s mouth-watering picture potential is its new micro dimming technology. This means the TV is capable of simultaneously outputting different levels of light from an unprecedented number of separately controlled LED ‘zones’ placed behind the screen, with potentially revolutionary impact on contrast.
Unfortunately, while Samsung hasn’t yet confirmed pricing information, I anticipate that you’ll need to find tens of thousands of dollars if you want a Q9SN in your living room.
My first impressions of this TV as witnessed at the CES in January can be found here.
Let’s turn now to the more mainstream 4K Samsung QLED TV models (though many of the features covered below will also apply to the Q9SN).
As with last year’s sets, the 2018 Samsung QLED pictures will be driven by the brand’s metal-clad Quantum Dots. This year, though, these Dots have been improved by decreasing the width of wavelength they produce. This has resulted, Samsung claims, in 5% more color purity – enough, apparently, to enable all the new Samsung QLED models to cover a full 100% of the key DCI-P3 (Digital Cinema) color spectrum.
What’s more, since there are no white sub-pixels involved in the construction of Samsung’s QLED TVs, they should be able to retain full colour saturation even in the brightest areas – something OLED TVs currently struggle to do (though OLED screens, of course, have up to now generally had the advantage with dark scenes).
The single most important change Samsung has made for its 2018 QLED range, though, is the introduction to some models (the Q9FN and Q8FN series) of direct LED lighting, where the LEDs sit directly behind the screen. This superior lighting approach will be partnered with local dimming, too (involving hundreds of separate zones in the case of the flagship Q9FN).
This should result in a contrast performance that eclipses that of any of 2017’s QLED sets. Especially as Samsung is claiming peak brightness levels of more than 1500 nits for the Q7, Q8 and Q9 series.
Contrast will also benefit from a supposedly improved version of the remarkable anti-reflection filter Samsung introduced on its QLED TVs last year.
It’s not just through hardware changes, though, that Samsung claims to have transformed the contrast of its QLED TVs for 2018. There are apparently some powerful new contrast software algorithms too.
Liquid crystal phase difference compensation, for instance, is claimed to reduce diagonal light leakage from the LCs by as much as 40%.
Greyscale is now separately controlled by the new Q Engine processor to retain shadow detail better in dark areas, and each frame is analysed to figure out more precisely where the maximum light output needs to go to boost the brightest parts of the picture without compromising black levels elsewhere.
Another processing enhancement increases the backlight driving in the middle of a bright area and subtly decreases it at its edges, thus minimizing backlight blooming around bright objects.
Turning to the Q9FN’s handling of HDR, all 2018 QLED TVs will support the new HDR10+ format, with its dynamic tone mapping to improve contrast and colour accuracy. Also, though, Samsung’s new Q Engine picture processing chip can apply a new ‘virtual’ HDR10+ effect to standard HDR10 content. This analyses each HDR10 frame ‘on the fly’ to figure out how best to optimize its presentation.
The Q Engine is claimed to deliver a key color tool, too: 16-bit color mastering. Even though all the new QLED panels are only natively 10-bit, Samsung claims that running color through a 16-bit mastering system (finally!) gets rid of the distracting colour banding that’s plagued HDR playback on Samsung’s past couple of high end TV generations.
All of 2018’s QLED models introduce some key new design features too. The most surprising of these is an Ambient Mode, designed to do away with the ‘empty black screen’ problem you normally get when a TV is turned off.
The Ambient Mode essentially apes Samsung’s 2017 Frame TVs by letting you keep the screen running even when you’re not specifically watching it, showing ‘screen savers’ that can be your own digital photographs; artwork from galleries around the world; or information screens showing news, sport and weather feeds.
Naturally the Ambient Mode will use less power than normal viewing modes, and will also automatically adjust the picture’s brightness according to changing light levels in your room.
So important is the Ambient Mode to Samsung’s thinking this year that it’s earned a dedicated button on the latest QLED ‘smart’ handset.
Samsung is also keen to point out (inevitably!) that the Ambient Mode is a feature rival OLED screens would likely struggle to offer because of their potential issues with image retention when displaying a static image for a protracted period of time.
Samsung has tweaked for 2018 the ground-breaking ‘invisible connection’ cable concept it introduced to its 2017 QLED TVs. The latest ultra-thin cable can now carry power to the screen as well as all picture and sound data, meaning 2018 QLED TVs only have a single cable running into them.
Carrying the power as well as the AV signals has required the latest Invisible Cable to become a bit wider (3.4mm versus last year’s 1.8mm). This seems a pretty fair trade off, though, for removing the need for a separate power cable.
The new Invisible Connection cable is also apparently stronger than its predecessor, attaches via an improved ‘clip’ system, and will be available in sizes up to 15m.
The 2018 QLED improvements extend to a more sophisticated smart TV platform than anything we’ve seen from Samsung before. A new Universal Browse & Play system, for instance, will bring together in one single screen recommendations from a variety of platforms – including, it seems, Netflix and Amazon.
These recommendations will be based on analysis of your viewing habits – though it’s a little unclear at the moment whether this analysis will be from each contributing platform, or connected to some central Samsung database.
Another key development will be a new Smart Things dashboard. This can be used for accessing other new ‘smart’ devices on your network. Fridges, dishwashers, washing machines, lights – even robotic vacuum cleaners will all potentially be accessible from your 2018 QLED TV.
Samsung is promising greatly enhanced communication with your smart phones and tablets too, including being able to use them to make the initial TV set up process easier.
The last key improvements delivered by the 2018 QLED TVs relate to gaming. First, mercifully, they will automatically detect when a gaming source is connected, and activate the low-latency Game mode. No longer will you have to delve deep into obscure parts of your Samsung TV’s menus to track down the Game preset.
Even better, Samsung claims that its Game mode auto-detect system is sophisticated enough to tell whether your console is playing a game or video (from a streaming app, DVD, Blu-ray player or 4K Blu-ray player). No longer will you have to remember to manually deactivate the Game mode yourself when watching video via a console.
The other intriguing game development is a dynamic frame rate system. This can detect when a game’s frame rate slips below 60 frames a second due to performance limitations in the console, and automatically start interpolating extra frames of image data to remove judder and tearing.
All in all there really does seem plenty to look forward to with Samsung’s 2018 QLED TV range – especially the Q9SN, Q9FN and Q8FN ranges. Review samples shouldn’t be too far away, so keep an eye on my Forbes feed to see if they live up to the hype.
In the mean time, my hands-on first impressions of the Q9FN can be found here.
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If you enjoyed this story, you might also like these:
Samsung 2018 Flagship Q9FN QLED TV First Impressions
Samsung 8K Micro-Dimming TV First Impressions
Samsung QNQ9F QLED TV Review: Out With The O, In With The Q?
Samsung Micro LED TV First Impressions: 146 Inches Of Magnificent Madness
