Until today, Samsung has been playing it coy with its 2018 TV line-up: It teased that QLED TVs would make a comeback this year but, back at CES 2018, Samsung only had two new TVs to show off – the 8K-capable Samsung Q9S with AI upscaling and The Wall, a 146-inch modular TV that harnesses the power of MicroLED.
Both TVs, while certainly beautiful in every aspect, are only affordable for the most affluent of TV enthusiasts. So, what can the rest of us plebeians expect from Samsung in 2018?
For the main swath of TV buyers, you can look forward to four new series of QLED (the Q9F, Q8F, Q7C and Q7F) plus the entry-level Q6F QLED that debuted around the holidays in November of last year. Further down the line will be Samsung’s new UHD models that will be prefaced with the new NU- distinction and, at the very end, traditional HD TVs and Samsung's luxury design series from last year.
With so many models to take in, we thought it'd be beneficial for to see the entire line-up, from the high-end QLED to the entry-level TVs, all on one page.
It’s worth noting that a lot of the specs listed below could potentially change as we get closer to the retail release of these screens, but for the most part the specs you see here should be the components that make it in the final product.
Samsung 2018 TV technology
Because Samsung’s 2018 TV catalog is all over the place in terms of performance and price points, it’s hard to find one definitive incremental update that will touch every TV in the line-up – technologies that work for the 146-inch modular TV probably won’t apply to a 49-inch UHD TV and vice-versa.
That said, if there was one unifying technology that should touch all the models in one way or another, it’s the introduction of Bixby – Samsung’s virtual assistant – into every model in the QLED and MU- Series line-ups.
The addition of Bixby will help bring Samsung 2018 TVs closer in line with some of the better video streaming players out there, the Apple TV 4K and Amazon Fire TV, each of which have their own smart assistants on hand to help you track down content and answer any questions you have.
The addition of Bixby will also allow the TVs to be compatible with Samsung’s SmartThings smart home platform. Together, Bixby and SmartThings will allow you to control your home from the comfort of your couch, giving you voice control over everything from smart lights to your Samsung SmartThings-enabled refrigerator. This may not be as beneficial for those folks who aren’t quite ready to buy into smart home tech yet, but it’s a nice addition to those of us who already have.
Of course, the star of the show for Samsung in 2018 is still the QLED TV screen – essentially a variation on traditional Quantum Dot LED-LCD panels that feature a peak brightness between 1,500 and 2,000 nits. For a reference point, that’s about twice as bright as the competition from 2017 and four to five times as bright as the HD/SDR TV you’re used to watching.
For 2018, Samsung says it will be improving the black level performance of its QLED TVs – ideally bringing them down without trading any of its signature brightness. If it can pull this off, you’ll see a much better contrast ratio and better visual fidelity for 4K/HDR content. (Remember, Samsung TVs support two kinds of HDR right now, HDR10 and HDR10+.)
The last new feature Samsung announced is its new Ambient Mode. When the TV is turned off, Ambient Mode will help the TV mimic the color and pattern of the wall on which the TV is displayed, so that it blends seamlessly into home décor. It can also play music and display information about the news, weather, and traffic as well.
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