Williams Pelegrin
I wouldn’t say my 43-inch TCL Roku TV is perfect, but it more than gets the job done. For most people, it’s a TV that would serve them well. Then you see something like the Samsung Q950TS, an 8K TV with a stunner of a design.
The remarkable design begins and ends with the incredibly-slim 2.3 mm bezels on the top, bottom, and sides. The slim bezels are thanks to Samsung ditching those black borders you normally see on TVs and monitors. Getting rid of that black matrix lets Samsung bring the picture right up to the metallic edges, giving the Q950TS the effect of a disembodied moving image.
Assisting with the effect is the 15 mm depth, impressive thinness for something with a full-array dimming LED backlight. Pictures don’t do the design justice, but there’s no denying the Q950TS looks sharp.
Speaking of sharp, the Q950TS sports a QLED panel with 8K resolution. We don’t yet have 8K movies and TV shows to make proper use of such a panel, but Samsung hopes the TV’s feature set is enough to make you consider buying the TV anyway. The AI “quantum processor” can upscale any source to 8K and teach itself algorithms to improve the picture.
The TV also has Samsung’s AI ScaleNet technology, which compresses an 8K source to 4K and streams the image over the internet. From there, the aforementioned AI processor upscales the image back to 8K. Additional features include a “digital butler” that can control hardware over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the ability to mirror content from mobile devices, and support for Bixby, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa.
Samsung also touted the Q950TS’ audio capabilities. Normally, we’d steer people toward soundbars and away from their TVs’ built-in speakers. That might not be the case with the Q950TS and its Object Tracking Sound Plus technology, which moves the audio based on what’s happening on the screen. That means the TV features a 5.1 surround effect with just its speakers. There’s also the Q-Symphony feature, which combines the TV’s speakers with compatible soundbars.
Samsung didn’t say how much the Q950TS costs or when it’ll be available. For reference, the 85-inch Samsung Q900 8K TV costs a penny shy of $15,000.
