AWE2024观察：彩电行业产品趋势——MiniLED势不可挡 新技术争相亮相

AWE, alongside CES and IFA, has long been recognized as one of the world's top three home appliance and consumer electronics exhibitions. With the expansion of China's home appliance industry scale and advancements in high-end technology, AWE has evolved into a large-scale exhibition that uniquely showcases a comprehensive range of mature household appliances alongside cutting-edge conceptual technologies.

Take display products for example. At AWE 2024, major brands presented their latest TV models, while panel manufacturers like Samsung and TCL exhibited new technologies such as MicroLED and OLED. To capture trends in the color TV industry for 2024, the China Home Appliance Network Product Center analyzed products on display at the event.

Continuing its dominance from recent years, MiniLED TVs have maintained an advantage over the OLED camp, with many brands slowing down OLED TV iterations to focus on MiniLED technology breakthroughs.

This has led to a significant leap in two key indicators of MiniLED TVs: backlight partitioning and peak brightness, with flagship MiniLED TVs in 2024 featuring tens of thousands of backlight partitions and peak brightness exceeding 5000 nits. At the exhibition, TCL showcased a 20000+ partition MiniLED TV and demonstrated its backlight effects, allowing viewers to experience the enhanced control capabilities brought by increased backlight partitioning.

TCL's globally first 20000+ partition QD-MiniLED TV

Meanwhile, TCL's X11H, released just before AWE 2024, features 14112 backlight partitions and peak brightness reaching XDR 6500 nits; Hisense's U8N Pro, launched concurrently with the exhibition, is equipped with a 5376-zone Mini LED full-array dynamic backlight system, with each LED capable of achieving a brightness increase of 2 times, enabling a stable peak brightness of 3000 nits XDR Pro.

Hisense U8N Pro TV

However, if backlight partitioning and peak brightness are considered the core competitiveness of MiniLED TVs in their "1.0 era", then the comprehensive optimization of MiniLED TVs through software and hardware, particularly the integration of AI technology and picture quality chips for image enhancement, marks the entry of MiniLED TVs into their "2.0 era".

At AWE 2024, Samsung's entire lineup of new TVs featured AI image processing chips, leveraging technologies such as 8K AI Image Enhancement Pro, AI Dynamic Enhancement Pro, and AI Three-dimensional Depth Enhancement Pro, combined with AI audio tuning, to usher in a new era of AI TVs. Huawei's Vision V5 series is equipped with the HiSilicon 900 flagship chip, which, with smartphone-level computing power, can analyze every frame of video to intelligently optimize picture quality. TCL's TSR independent picture quality chip uses three steps: global information collection, full-dimensional image analysis, and panoramic picture quality enhancement, to systematically process picture quality, delivering a more natural viewing experience. Hisense's TV U8N Pro is powered by a self-developed most comprehensive chain chip architecture, with the new generation Hisense AI Sensing Chip, which has AI full-dimensional sensing capabilities, achieving full-scenario AI picture quality.

Chips displayed or introduced by Hisense, HiSilicon, Samsung, and TCL at AWE 2024

In stark contrast to the vitality of the MiniLED camp, the number of participating brands and models of OLED TVs at AWE 2024 were fewer than in previous years, raising concerns about a repeat of the plasma scenario. However, the decline of plasma was due to insufficient industrial scale expansion, whereas in this regard, the OLED panel did not show signs of weakness. On the contrary, it has accelerated its penetration in display, mobile phone screens, and AR devices. Moreover, inheriting the legacy of JOLED, TCL Huaxing also showcased numerous OLED products based on printing technology, preserving the spark of OLED display technology.

TCL Huaxing's 4K dome-shaped OLED display

LG showcased the UltraGear OLED gaming monitor 32GS95UE at AWE 2024, one of the first 4K 240Hz high-specification WOLED monitors. This 31.5-inch 4K OLED monitor has a typical brightness of 275 nits and is certified by DisplayHDR TRUE BLACK 400. In 1080p resolution, it can achieve a refresh rate of 480Hz. TCL Huaxing, meanwhile, exhibited the world's first 14-inch 2.8K printed Hybrid OLED laptop display, a 31-inch 4K dome-shaped OLED display, and the world's first 65-inch 8K printed OLED curved display.

TCL Huaxing's world's first 65-inch 8K printed OLED curved display

As a strong contender for the next-generation display technology, a batch of MicroLED products were showcased at AWE 2024. Samsung brought transparent MicroLED samples and multi-size MicroLED products ranging from 114 inches, 101 inches, to 76 inches to China for the first time. TCL displayed a 163-inch MicroLED giant screen TV with 2488 million inorganic RGB self-luminous chips and a super peak brightness of 10000 nits. Hisense also demonstrated a series of MicroLED display scenarios.

Comparison between Samsung's transparent MicroLED and transparent OLED exhibits

TCL's 163-inch MicroLED product

MicroLED represents the future development direction of the color TV industry and is currently the "pearl on the crown" of display technology. As China's investment in the display field continues to expand, China is gradually transforming from a color TV manufacturing powerhouse to a technology powerhouse. The "shortage of chips and lack of panels" of the past has become history, and now China's display panel manufacturing scale ranks first in the world, and breakthroughs are continuously being made in chip and display technology research and development fields.

Recently, during the "two sessions", the topic of "the TV power-on rate is less than 30%" became a hot topic online. Under the impact of computers, smartphones, and other devices, the media attributes and entertainment attributes of televisions have been greatly weakened, leading to a 40% decrease in television sales compared to their peak. How to give televisions more functional attributes and additional value, thereby increasing the power-on rate of televisions and bringing families back together in front of the TV, is a major challenge facing the television industry.

Among the solutions, artful and stylized design of televisions, allowing them to possess aesthetic attributes beyond their functional roles, became a consensus among major television manufacturers at AWE 2024. Brands including Changhong, Hisense, Huawei, Casarte, LG, Samsung, etc., all showcased unique, aesthetically pleasing television products such as wall-mounted TVs, flush-mounted TVs, and art TVs.

Art TVs, wall-mounted TVs, and other distinctive and artistic TV products from LG, Hisense, Samsung, Changhong, etc.

Moreover, functions such as smart frames, cloud art galleries, and art galleries on Samsung TVs allow televisions to present artwork when not displaying content, making televisions an integral part of home art decoration.

Samsung The Frame wall-mounted art TV

In addition, through connectivity with the smart home ecosystem, televisions can serve as the control screen of smart homes. After incorporating cameras, televisions can also function as input devices, adding features such as video calls, fitness, and online meetings. Huawei's Vision through sharing the distributed HarmonyOS ecosystem with smartphones allows the Vision to directly open smartphone apps via Super Desktop and Super Casting functions, and with the Huawei Lingxi Pointer Technology, users can simulate smartphone interactions, playing TV like playing a smartphone, adding more usage scenarios.

"Giant Screen Phone" Huawei Vision V5 series

For ordinary TV products that are difficult to cover certain demographics and consumer needs, such as users with limited living space, outdoor portability, and strong demand for ultra-large screens, projectors, AR displays, and portable screens may be better options. During AWE 2024, projector brands targeted young fashion, decorative art, and outdoor camping audiences, showcasing products tailored to these specific markets.

Projector products targeting outdoor scenarios

Meanwhile, after achieving the popularization of three-color laser light sources, screen-related technologies have become the future direction of development for laser TVs. At AWE 2024, Hisense showcased laser TV products with rollable, foldable, and sound-emitting screens, further solving the entry-related problems of ultra-large-screen laser TVs.

A series of laser TV products showcased by Hisense

The display industry, known for its rapid technological development and frequent updates, has always been a highlight at exhibitions. During AWE 2024, many ordinary visitors stopped to watch and comment on the high-end technologies on display. With the layout of various brands in the full-house smart home and even the entire vehicle-home ecosystem, we believe that there will be more TV products equipped with innovative display technologies and application scenarios at future AWE events.

Main information of AWE 2024

Date: March 14~17, 2024

Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Center

Halls: W1~W5, N1~N5, E1~E3

Organizer:

China Household Electrical Appliances Association Exhibition Department