On today ’s You Asked : As many of your questions about CES and what to bear ( that I can peradventure serve ) .
There have been so many good enquiry this week , it ’s been tough to choose .
The future of sound
Hayden Schaub from Celina , Texas , writes : The Samsung Q990 series has been rated well for years , but is have long in the tooth . How amazing would it be if they hail out with a new Q series with separate front speakers ? Will Samsung or any other manufacturers create a unmediated competitor to the Sony Quad ? The separation of sound seems to be the future , and I would love to see competitors essay this the means Sony has with the Quad .
I agree that theSony Bravia Theater Quadseems to be the best hybrid between traditional plate - theater - in - a - loge solutions and soundbar - based surroundings organisation . I also think it was inevitable that Sony would get some competition .
Hisense has already lifted the veil on its vie product hollo theSaturn . It ’s a 5.1.2 Atmos system with a small box seat , just like theSony Bravia Theater Quad . I expect the Saturn to be much more low-priced than the Theater Quad — pricing information wo n’t be available until further into 2025 .
Will we see something like the Theater Quad from Samsung ? I do n’t jazz . However , I do think that Samsung has an opportunity to use theMusic Framespeakers to do something similar . It would need a processor boxwood like the Quad , however . I do n’t think that ’s in the cards for 2025 , but I could be wrong ( and would n’t be mad if I was ) .
TV announcements at CES
Zach F writes : I was wondering : What of the following do you remember is most potential to happen at CES 2025 :
Of those four , the most probable to actually happen is No . 3 : Panasonic announce new releases for 2025 OLED and LCD telecasting .
Here ’s why I do n’t believe two of the others are likely :
LG bring MLA OLED panels to the C - Series : This seems a bit ahead of time . Before MLA came out , I suppose LG needed more to key the G — or , Gallery — series from the C - Series OLED TVs , and MLA was just the affair . Before that , it was basically a difference in design and audio — that ’s it . I do imagine MLA will trickle down to the C - Series at some point in time — just not likely in 2025 .
Samsung announcing 83 - column inch QD - OLED TVs : I do n’t think this is likely , but I ’m promising I ’m incorrect . Samsung has been cagey about which TVs have QD - OLED and which boob tube have LG ’s W - OLED panels . I doubt they will interchange that strategy . It ’s very possible that 83 - inch Samsung QD - OLED TVs will be a matter , but we will have to analyze those TVs to make that determination — I do n’t think Samsung will come right out and say it .
Transparently , I ’ve allow Samsung know that while I see they may be interested about confusing non - enthusiast customers about what TVs have what kind of control panel , I remember being forthright about what TVs have QD - OLED is in reality in their adept interests . ( I do n’t sleep together that my view has enough rock to change a corporate tactic , but hey , I tried . )
What’s up with FlexConnect?
Michael Beckerman write : What happened toDolby FlexConnect ? Back at the showtime of 2024 , everyone was worked up about new Dolby FlexConnect speakers and FlexConnect - enabled TVs from companionship like Hisense , TCL , and Sony . Demos were done and videos were loose , then … nothing . Crickets . What pass off to Dolby ’s FlexConnect opening move and will we at last see it occur to market a year late in 2025 or will it just ride off into the sunset and be passed over / forgotten about entirely ? Can you please get to the bottom of this and report on it while you are in Las Vegas ?
First , I do n’t think it was ever realistic to expect many products with Dolby Atmos FlexConnect in 2024 . While it is true that Dolby has worked with cook up partners , when they touted FlexConnect at CES 2024 , it was as much about attracting brand partner as stirring public excitement . The two maneuver go hand in bridge player : Show that the public is excited about this form of applied science and you will have an easier time getting brands to put that technical school in their products .
The genuine enquiry now : Since there ’s been some time to be after , design , and make FlexConnect Cartesian product , will we see declaration about them at the show ? I sure hope so , but I have not find out about any yet . I ’m foil my finger but I ’m not exceedingly optimistic . If we do see FlexConnect Speaker or telly , they may come from small-scale brands .
The future of HDMI
Brian Cochran spell : What are your thoughts about the future of HDMI versions and the relative stability of AV engineering science over the next few years ? It seems withHDMI 2.1supporting 4K/120 and 8K/60 resolutions , as well as all lossless audio recording formatting , perhaps we have reach a stasis head for the time being ? While thing are always evolving and the reverence of obsolescence is always an offspring , is it good to say that the general computer hardware / protocol platform that we are using now will remain relatively the same for the next several years ? Or are there some awful new video display / audio applied science just over the skyline that will revolutionize the experience we have now ( and demand an upgrade ) ?
I will only say this because it has been wide think over in reporting : HDMI 2.2is expected to be announce at CES 2025 — and I wait it , too . I think HDMI 2.2 will offer much higher bandwidth and it may require a different form of overseas telegram . I do n’t know for sure , though , and I also ca n’t say to what degree it will be back compatible . I am promising that it will be , and that an HDMI 2.2 - compliant cable is all that ’s needed to unlock the high bandwidth capableness . We ’ll make out more from CES and I ’ll be sure to tell you all about it .
It ’s lawful that there is lilliputian to no immediate pauperization for higher bandwidth now . However , if electronics brand require to push the envelope of what ’s possible with audio and telecasting signals , they will need more bandwidth to do it . HDMI 2.2 opens door to the future , but it will be a while , I think , before we see any consumer products taking reward of it . This is one of the more exciting thing I hope to get concrete information on from CES .
Ultrawide dreams
Caleb Helpingstine from Illinois writes : Why have n’t goggle box maker started to make ultrawide screen video when we had ultrawide monitor for a few year that took reward of video games and some movies ? Will there be one at this 2025 CES ? I could see a welfare of using an ultrawide screen to expose the movies that expend 2:35:1 and 1:85:1 to see their cinematic gloriole . That ’s an idea to think about .
Indeed , that is an idea to think about . It was actually thought about , acted upon , tried , failed , and empty already — 10 twelvemonth ago .
At CES 2015 , Samsung and LG both showed off a curved 21:9 . One was a mechanize screen that could go from flat to curved and back in under a minute . Samsung ’s was 108 inches , if I recall .
I ca n’t recall if they were ever sell in retail or if they even made it past the concept form . However,21:9TVs are a hard sell to anyone other than cinephiles and videophiles because most content is delivered at 16:9 , and if there ’s anything the public hates more than letterbox bars , it ’s pillarbox bar . Those big , thick , dim bars on the unexpended and right side of an ikon are necessary for the 16:9 content that comprises most of what family watch on TV .
The mart for 21:9 tv set is slender than forOLED control board , so it does n’t make sense to fabricate them since they ca n’t be made at scale . Until TV shows start getting shot like heroic movies , I do n’t think that 21:9 telecasting can ever really take off . you may get 21:9 video display — mostly professional products — but consumer idiot box are not probable to go in that direction unless production houses change gears ( or , lenses , really ) and shoot in cinematic formats as a young rule .
