Here visitors can find what is going on sale in time for Christmas. This is how the organizers of the IFA, the traditional trade fair under the Berlin radio tower, see it. The electronics show has been over for a week now, so it’s high time to report on a few new products that also stand for the trends of the season.
It was not just this year that the electronics industry discovered video gamers as a hot target group. In 2022, however, she has particularly carefully targeted young screen artists – with a generation of televisions, for example, that can do everything the player needs. With devices that support high frame rates of up to 240 Hertz, control variable frame rates and, if possible, also run in G-Sync mode in order to synchronize the screen directly with the Nvidia graphics card of a connected computer.
LG showed something suitable in Berlin. Just a few months ago, the manufacturer proudly announced that it would also be able to produce OLED screens in the manageable 42-inch format in the future. This small caliber is now the basis for the new LX3 television model, which will actually only show TV images as a part-time job: the device’s screen can be bent at will – suitable for gamers who are sitting a short distance in front of the screen and are looking away from the scenery would like to be completely surrounded. 20 degrees of curvature and, on top of that, different angles of inclination can be selected with the remote control.
And if a film is supposed to be part of the program, the LX3 shows it with the typical OLED contrasts and fine UHD resolution. The fact that the manufacturer can also achieve great things was shown right next door with its first OLED screen with a wall-filling 97-inch diagonal. More is currently not possible with this technology, but such proofs of competence will not fuel the Christmas business anyway.
IFA
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An industry is crooked
Back to the players: They need the right headsets, and there was no shortage of relevant innovations in Berlin. We found nice specimens at Teufel – not directly on the exhibition grounds, but in the Berlin branch of the online provider. The Zola model is adorned with colorful ear pads and earpiece covers. Bright coral red, sunny yellow, changing tones between violet and water blue are available to choose from, either to be ordered right away or to be ordered later as an accessory for retrofitting. The technology is also interesting. A condenser microphone with a moderate directional characteristic captures the spoken word in clean quality, and playback can be optimized with a ten-band software equalizer. USB and jack plugs are available for analogue or digital signal transmission, and the DTS Headphone:X function can be switched on at the touch of a button. It creates virtual 7.1-channel surround sound on the PC.
Proven bonus
Also on the periphery of the IFA, we looked at the new televisions from Philips, including the future flagship of the manufacturer, called OLED+937, which will soon be in stores with diagonal dimensions of 65 or 77 inches. We already know many of the technical ingredients of this model from current series. A loudspeaker in an external housing, which was developed by the English specialists Bowers & Wilkins, ensures good sound. Ambilight, a tried-and-tested addition to the brand’s televisions, provides colored room backlighting that matches the picture content.
Here, then, progressive precision work creates the attraction of the new: if the data sheets are correct, the large OLED model now achieves peak brightness of up to 1300 nits, which exceeds the previous upper limits of this screen technology. In the Ambilight light chains on the back of the device, each light cell now has its own separate control, the loudspeakers sound with more powerful chassis, and a powerful image processor can now optimize the details on the screen even more sensitively. We looked at relevant demo material in comparison with other brands – and were quite impressed.
OLED technology of a completely different kind characterizes the most interesting new product from computer manufacturer Asus. There, a foldable computer with a 17.3-inch display that suits very different application scenarios caused a stir. When unfolded, the computer called the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED works as a maxi tablet; when set up on its long side, it can be used as a desktop monitor. The Bluetooth keyboard that is part of the complete set then enables ambulatory work like in the office. And the feeling of a notebook sets in when the screen, folded at a 90-degree angle, shows its upper half as a front display and the lower half as an additional horizontal screen.
Beautiful shapes are also important when it comes to home appliances. Samsung, for example, is showing its Bespoke device series with new facade art: fronts with delicate pastel colors are not only available for new devices, but also to refine older models. From a technical point of view, extended functions of the networking functions called Smart Things are interesting: they should help to reduce power consumption when cooling, allow cooler temperatures when washing and access digital recipes when cooking.