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Samsung boosts TV AI, sticks to matte screens
The company makes the same controversial choices it did last year but also some new, more meaningful ones
ew tech giants are as impervious to media criticism and consumer feedback as Samsung has historically been and one would only need to look at what the company just announced at CES 2025 for proof. In short: not only did Samsung repeat the two most controversial choices it made last year in the TV category as a whole, but it actually went even further this year by offering even more products embracing those choices.
It did make a few new choices that make sense for consumers and its own bottom line, though, leading to extra options for anyone looking to buy a new TV this year. Let’s go through these choices one by one.
More QD-OLED uncertainty, more anti-glare coating controversy
Having achieved considerable commercial success with its QD-OLED TVs in previous years, Samsung would obviously introduce new models for 2025, but there are a few things consumers should know about the new structure of these product lines. The flagship series, for instance, the S95F, is the only one based on Samsung Display’s new QD-OLED panel which promises “up to 30%” higher brightness than its predecessor.
This effectively means that the S95F will be able to surpass 2000 nits in a 10% window in a color-accurate picture mode, which is great (although LG may go even higher this year with its flagship G5/M5 models). The S95F will also be offering VRR refresh rates up to 165 Hz. Not a big jump from last year — and only of interest to PC gamers obviously — but welcome nonetheless.
Different TV models of the same product line being based on different kinds of screens is confusing, yet here we are… again.
The S95F will be offered in 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch sizes, but the largest size is not guaranteed to use the new QD-OLED panel: yes, just like last year’s S90D, the S95F 83-inch will be built around either an LG Display WOLED panel or a Samsung Display QD-OLED one — and consumers won’t be able to know the difference before…
