When it comes to TV this year's IFA show in Berlin is going to be all about HDR.
And, when you're the only TV manufacturer in the world making big screen Ultra HD 4K TVs with the next-gen OLED technology, you don't want to be left behind in the fidelity race by your competitors rocking the only high dynamic range (HDR) TVs around.
Which is why LG has pre-announced its new TV lineup for IFA and why that lineup includes the world's first consumer UHD OLED TV with support for HDR.
That's a whole lot of acronyms to contend with, but it's also the holy trinity for image enthusiasts when it comes to getting the very best picture for your television.
The new 65 and 55-inch screens (the LG 65EF9500, LG 55EF9500 and LG 55EG9200) will all support 4K HDR content. There's also a fourth OLED panel (the LG 55EG9100) which will feature an ultra slim curved panel.
It's interesting too the top-end HDR OLED screens, both the EF9500 panels, will eschew the curve in favour of a traditional flat screen. These will be the first flat screen UHD OLEDs available to consumers.
There must be a certain amount of frustration for LG, given that it's made a huge effort getting big screen Ultra HD OLED TVs out to the paying public, for Samsung to still beat it to the image crown with its JS9500 and JS9000 series HDR screens.
Dynamism
High dynamic range arguably makes more of a difference to your viewing experience than the step up from HD to Ultra HD.
So much so that it has been reported that when Netflix does finally release its HDR content update, if the available bandwidth drops during viewing a HDR source, it will drop from UHD to HD to preserve the HDR portion of the stream rather than the 4K resolution.
As incredible as the Samsung HDR screens look, it's the OLED technology which looks to be the perfect partner for high dynamic range images. HDR is all about the contrast between light and dark and when LG's OLED panels are capable of intense, inky blacks and the sort of colour reproduction that would make Kandinsky weep, the experience ought to be quite stunning.
"Anyone who sees our newest TVs at this year's IFA will walk away without a shred of doubt that HDR and OLED complement each other perfectly," said Lee In-kyu, Head of TV and monitors at LG. "Our expanded 4K OLED TV lineup will demonstrate to consumers that OLED is here to stay and that LG is committed to leading the next generation TV market."
Of course, even if you pick up the very latest LG Ultra HD OLED HDR-ready TV, you're going to be seriously starved of content.
Amazon has just opened up its Instant Prime Video service in HDR to more countries, though that only includes one series of Mozart in the Jungle and a pilot episode for Red Oaks. Netflix though is likely to announce its own HDR service launch before the end of the year and Ultra HD Blu-rays will start to hit the streets this holiday too.
The new optical disc format will feature support for HDR standards and could well offer the most incredible movie experience we've ever seen. Without the bandwidth constraints of your network Ultra HD Blu-ray will deliver the most picture information and deliver the greatest fidelity.
It's one of the main reasons there is still a hope for optical media for the videophiles.
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