Hisense has announced a brand new 8K TV and some additions to its 4K Laser TV range at IFA 2019. To be more precise, it’s added three new models to its Laser family: the 100L5 Sonic Screen, the 100L9, and the L9 TriChroma. But let’s not beat about the bush: it’s the 8K U9E that’s the star of the show.
Keen to save the best for last, we’ll start with the new Laser TVs. Before we dive into them, though, here’s a fun fact you need to know: Hisense’s Laser TVs aren’t actually TVs; they’re projectors that use a short-throw design to eliminate the need to position the bulb on the other side of the room.
It’s because of this technique that you can rest the projector on a flat surface right in front of the wall you want the image to be projected on. So, why are they called TVs? That’s simple — unlike most projectors but akin to a TV, Hisense’s Laser TVs have speakers, a smart platform, and a TV tuner built in.
Now that’s all cleared up, we can take a look at the new additions. As we said earlier, there are three: the 100L5 Sonic Screen, the 100L9, and the L9 TriChroma. Hisense says the trio are using its X-FusionTM Laser Light Engine, which can provide a “near-infinite” array of colors for more accurate visuals.
The two L9 Series devices also make use of something called Ambient Light Rejecting to create a more natural image; while the 100L5 Sonic Screen is benefiting from the addition of a Distributed Mode Loudspeaker that’s been designed to bolster the audio (again, similar to a regular LED TV).
On a more traditional front, the U9E 8K TV is running Hisense’s reworked AI-fuelled Hi-View Engine, which has complete control over the television’s 1,694 dimming zones to deliver more accurate contrast on a frame by frame basis, by shutting off individual zones to achieve deeper blacks.
Set to be available in two sizes — with either a 75- or an 85-inch screen — the larger U9E is crammed full of Quantum Dots for improved color accuracy and has an 8K Super Resolution Upscaler on board for taking standard 4K Ultra HD content and weaving it into a higher 8K resolution in real-time.
The smaller 75-inch model, on the other hand, touts the same core features like Hi-View Engine, but it doesn’t take advantage of Quantum Dots. Instead, just like the 4K 65U9E (also new for IFA 2019) it’s a dual-cell ULED XD TV, so it combines color and monochrome LCDs to create OLED-like contrast.
There’s no word on when or where the 100L5 Sonic Screen, the 100L9, and the L9 TriChroma Laser TVs and the U9E 8K TV will launch, or how much they’ll cost when they do, but at least we know they’re on the way. Hopefully the 85-inch model isn’t quite as steep as LG’s $42,000 88-inch 8K OLED TV.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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