Hisense Highlights Laser TV at CES, Showing First 8K Laser Set in Booth
Laser TV took center stage in Hisense’s virtual CES news conference, presented live from Mandalay Bay via a YouTube feed Tuesday.The Chinese brand will display 8K laser TV for the first time publicly this week at its Central Hall booth at CES, using a Hisense-developed 8K 120-Hz image-quality chip that can support 20,000 Mini-LED backlight partitions, said former LG executive David VanderWaal, recently named Hisense vice president-marketing, Americas.
The 8K chip has AI-sensing ability for improved definition, contrast and picture depth, VanderWaal said. It’s due to go into mass production this quarter and will also be used in Hisense 8K professional broadcast monitors, he said.
Xianrong Liu, Hisense Laser Display chief scientist, said laser TV has a multistage separation advantage over other display technologies, with opportunities for innovation and breakthroughs at every stage. Over the past year, Hisense combined advances in laser TV display technologies with green laser technology to achieve a 120-inch laser TV with 100% BT.2020 color representation, making it the first product to achieve 100% BT.2020 color coverage, he said.
“Laser TV cannot only show the most saturated, never-before-seen colors but also can switch among all of the color standards, reproducing colors in the most precise way,” Liu said. Design efficiencies allowed engineers to achieve the same brightness with a 44% larger image, Liu said, and the company road map shows laser TV achieving a 45% cost reduction by 2024. Today, Hisense’s TriChroma Laser TV Series covers 75-100 inches, but the technology is capable of delivering products in different sizes and form factors, he said, including rollable and bendable designs. He also cited energy efficiency: A 120-inch laser TV uses only 350 watts, he said.
Leading Hisense’s 2022 TV lineup, meanwhile, is the 75-inch U9H 4K quantum dot TV due in late summer at $3,199, with 2,000 nits of peak brightness, over 1,280 full-array local dimming zones, Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision IQ. Appealing to gamers, Douglas Kern, Hisense USA senior director-product and brand marketing, touted the sets’ tear- and stutter-free low-latency HDR gaming experience, Game Mode Pro, variable refresh rate and FreeSync via ultra-high-speed HDMI ports.
The advanced TVs have integrated NextGenTV ATSC 3.0 tuners (see report, this issue) and a step-up 2.1.1-channel audio package with embedded speakers on the bottom and top of the TV for an immersive audio experience, Kern said. The audio complement includes Dolby Atmos, enhanced audio return channel (eARC) and Wireless Speaker and Audio Association (WiSA) compatibility.
Six other series complete Hisense’s 2022 portfolio, with three models, starting at $1,099, in the U8H series, due mid-summer, in 55-, 65- and 75-inch screen sizes. Features include a 120Hz refresh rate, peak brightness up to 1,500 nits, Imax Enhanced, Filmmaker Mode and Dolby Vision IQ. An 85-inch TV in the U7H series is due mid-summer, price not given.
Hisense also bowed a $3,999 4K ultra-short-throw projector with Android TV operating system, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and Google Assistant and Works With Alexa voice control. The PX1-PRO TriChroma Laser Cinema produces a picture from 90-130 inches, has Dolby Atmos, is WiSA Ready and has ultra-high-speed HDMI ports to support eARC and auto low-latency mode, said the company.