CES 2024: Samsung unveils disappearing TV, wireless 8K projector
Amid Samsung’s many wild announcements at CES 2024 (the return of Ballie anyone?!), the tech giant had the crowd at its press conference gasping over some of its new entertainment display options.
The two showstoppers from Samsung are the Transparent Micro LED display and the first-of-its-kind wireless Premiere 8K Projector. Basically, Samsung made sure that the other TV giants at CES — namely LG and TCL — didn’t walk away with all the television-related headlines.
Transparent Micro LED
First up, Samsung’s Transparent Micro LED display. This screen looks like a see-through slab of glass when turned off. However, when the display is turned on, a Micro LED chip projects a crystal-clear image onto the glass, transforming it into a TV screen.
If you’ve been following CES 2024 so far, a transparent TV screen may sound familiar. That’s because LG previously snagged headlines by unveiling its own transparent television first at the tech conference. Unlike Samsung’s Transparent Micro LED display, LG’s is an OLED TV called OLED T with the “T” standing for “transparent.”
Also, unlike LG’s which the company says consumers will be able to buy later this year, Samsung’s Transparent Micro LED doesn’t appear to be a purchase-ready consumer product. So, LG has the upper hand here, but Samsung has its own version of a transparent television in the works too.
Premiere 8K Projector
In addition to its Transparent Micro LED display, Samsung also unveiled the Premiere 8K projector. According to Samsung, the Premiere 8K is the first wireless projector, meaning there’s no need to connect your entire home entertainment system and surround sound to the projector with messy wiring. (Note: The projector still takes conventional power via a cord.)
The Premiere 8K is an ultra-short throw projector, meaning it can cast a big, clear image on your wall from a very short distance. In the Premiere 8K projector’s case, this means projecting an image as large as a whopping 150 inches.
Earlier in the week at CES, Mashable was able to get up-close with TCL’s new 115-inch QM89, which the company says is the largest 4K mini-LED television set. When it comes to TVs overall, there have been monster-sized displays shown at CES, but no consumer-ready television set quite as large as the QM89. It was quite impressive, particularly since it’s not a flashy conceptual announcement, but a retail item that will be in stores in the near future.
While a projector is of course not a TV set, Samsung’s Premiere 8K boasts that it can dwarf that with its 150 inch projection, which is much larger than the average projector size for home projectors. And, Samsung is offering 8K opposed to TCL’s 4K.
Mashable can’t compare the quality quite yet as we’ve yet to experience the Premiere 8K in the same way we did TCL’s QM89. But, both LG and TCL were running away as the clear winners in the TV category at CES 2024 with their respective transparent display and super-sized screen departments. That is until Samsung reminded CES that along with smartphones, robotics, and its slew of other products, it’s still the biggest player in the TV arena as well.