Latest news with #CES2025
Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Tom's Guide
Samsung RGB MicroLED TVs are coming — but should OLED makers be worried?
Micro-LED TVs are tipped to be a major shift in the world of display technologies — offering the same pixel-level control as OLED panels, but without the burn-in risk and with a much higher peak brightness. And Samsung could be the first manufacturer to make them. It made some big announcements related to Micro-LED at CES 2025, and if new rumors are anything to go off, we could finally see more from the company in the near future. If Samsung does finally show off a Micro-LED TV that's available in a reasonable size, it could pave the way for the end of OLED. But how quickly could that really happen? Micro-LED tech isn't exactly straightforward — and marketing terms have made it even harder to understand. Here's a primer. True Micro-LED tech is a massive step forward for LED tech. Mini-LED TVs use small LEDs in layer behind color conversion layers. On Mini-LED TVs, the LED layer is the backlight. Those LEDs aren't as small as a pixel, which means lighting zones have to control the luminance of thousands of pixels at a time. Micro-LED changes that a little. Micro-LEDs are self-emissive pixels, each made up of red, green, and blue (RGB) sub-pixels. That allows a TV to individually control the color and brightness of each pixel — the same level of control as an OLED TV. But Samsung's RGB MicroLED technology isn't quite there yet. While true Micro-LED TVs have self-emissive pixels, Samsung's 'RGB Micro-LED' TVs use a fancy RGB micro-LED layer as the backlight. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Samsung's 'RGB Micro-LED' backlight could have 'at least three times as many' LEDs in the backlight compared to a traditional LED TV, but nowhere close to a one-to-one parity with each pixel. According to reports, the 'RGB Micro-LED' backlight could have 'at least three times as many' LEDs in the backlight compared to a traditional LED TV, but nowhere close to a one-to-one parity with each pixel. To be clear, the tech is still cool. The backlight technology Samsung is using will make for a TV with better lighting control and brighter colors than traditional mini-LED TVs. But, it's not the Micro-LED TV that we've necessarily been waiting for. Instead, it's actually closer to the RGB Mini-LED TVs that the likes of Hisense have been touting. Samsung's RGB MicroLED TVs will allow for brighter colors and better lighting control, thanks to the RGB LEDs in the backlight, and the fact that those LEDs are smaller than a typical Mini-LED TV. But, those TVs still won't have pixel-level control, like you can get on an OLED TV. That's really the superpower of OLED TVs — they can turn individual pixels off when portions of the image are black, allowing for true deep blacks. Their downside is that they're not as bright as LED TVs, but with newer brighter OLED panels and the increased usage of tech like Tandem OLED, even the brightness of OLED TVs is improving. True Micro-LED TVs will be a force to reckon with, however. They'll have the pixel-level control, the super-bright highlights, and eliminate the burn-in risk that has plagued OLED TVs since they were first introduced. Unfortunately, true Micro-LED TVs likely won't be widely available for some time. We've seen some much larger Micro-LED TVs, which technically have the self-emitting pixels with RGB sub-pixels — but those models get around technical limitations by simply having larger individual pixels. But those true Micro-LED panels are extremely expensive, and are mostly used in corporate installations. Samsung is seemingly set to move ahead with its own RGB 'MicroLED' TVs. But where will those TVs sit in the market? In their current iteration, they'll probably sit slightly below Samsung's best TVs. They'll replace Samsung's high-end mini-LED TVs — the QN90F Neo QLED — but probably not its highest-end QD-OLED TVs, the Samsung S95F and S90F OLED. That goes for other RGB LED TVs that aren't marketed as Micro-LED TVs too — they'll make for brighter, more vibrant LED TVs that have better contrast and deeper black-levels, but won't quite have the same advantages as high-end OLED TVs. Pricing is still very much up in the air, but it's likely we'll see higher prices than we currently see with Samsung's Neo QLED TVs. We'd be shocked if we didn't see a Hisense TV with a similar number of zones as Samsung's RGB Micro-LED TVs at some point in the next year or two. Perhaps competition will change that, however. The likes of Hisense and TCL have been quick to adopt new LED technologies, and Hisense even started showing off RGB Mini-LED TVs at CES earlier this year. Those TVs were more focused on increased brightness and more vibrant colors than more dimming zones, which Samsung's TVs will likely be focused on, given the fact that they'll have those smaller LED lights. We'd be shocked if we didn't see a Hisense TV with a similar number of zones as Samsung's RGB Micro-LED TVs at some point in the next year or two. That still leaves true Micro-LED TVs on the table though. Those TVs likely won't come to consumer products for some time — and when they do, they'll be exorbitant in pricing. They could end up serving as the ultimate in TV technologies — and could truly kill off OLED TVs. LG won't let its preferred panel types go down without a fight, though, and there's no telling how its new four-stack OLED panels will change in 2026. For now, we'll just have to wait and see what's available by the time Micro-LED TVs are realistic. Until then, there's a place on store shelves for both technologies.
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I spent 48 hours with Lenovo's rollable laptop — and it genuinely blew my mind
I've tested several of the best laptops over the years, and the new Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is easily the most unique one yet. Its name might give away its main feature, but most people likely won't know what a 'rollable' laptop is without further explanation. I know I didn't when I first heard about this concept notebook two years ago. Well, Lenovo's rollable laptop is no longer a concept, as a review unit just arrived at our office a couple of days ago. We got to check out Lenovo's first rollable laptop at CES 2025, but I only gave it a cursory glance since my focus was on the Lenovo Legion Go S at that time. Now that I've had the chance to go hands-on with this rollable laptop, I can tell you that it's unlike anything I've ever tested — and I mean that in the best way possible. I'll have a full review of the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable for you soon, but for now, I wanted to share my initial thoughts, as this is a truly distinctive laptop. Though it's definitely strange (and very expensive), it's not something we should dismiss as gimmicky. In fact, it could be exactly what you need to boost your productivity. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable features a 14-inch 120Hz OLED panel that can expand to 16.7 inches to boost your productivity. Inside, it packs an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Though very expensive, this could be the ideal laptop if you don't want to carry an external display for more screen real estate. As I mentioned earlier, not everyone is familiar with rollable devices. As a result, I'll provide a brief summary to help you understand what Lenovo's rollable laptop is. A rollable device uses a flexible display that allows the screen to be extended or retracted by rolling it in and out of a housing, usually through a motorized mechanism. You can think of it like a window shade or even a scroll. As we explained in our Foldable phones vs. rollable phones piece, this technology differs from that of foldable phones, which fold in half. For the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, a portion of the display is inside the laptop. At the press of a button on the keyboard deck, the laptop's display rolls upward, extending the 120Hz OLED panel from 14 to 16.7 inches. You can even hear the motor whirr as the display extends or retracts, which is something I didn't originally hear on the busy CES show floor. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Now that we know how this laptop functions, let's get into what it's like using it. I probably shouldn't admit this as a tech journalist, but it's easy to become jaded about technology after you've tested hundreds of devices. The magic of testing something new is a feeling that's sometimes hard to recapture. I didn't expect to be surprised by the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable since I had already seen it at CES. Then I spent a good five minutes doing nothing but pressing the button that makes the display extend and retract. That might sound silly, but trust me, seeing the screen go up and down brings back that old magic I spoke about. You'd have to be one super jaded person to think this rollable function isn't one of the coolest things you've seen. It'll put a smile on your face. Cool factor aside, having such a comically long display is actually beneficial for work. With the extra 50% screen real estate, you can scroll long pages or documents more efficiently than you would on a 16:9 or 16:10 display. You can have two (or more) apps on top of each other, which can be useful if you don't have an external display. Getting into specifics, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable effectively has two display modes. The primary one is 14 inches with a 2000 x 1600 resolution and a 5:4 aspect ratio. In extended mode, the screen is 16.7 inches with a 2000 x 2350 resolution with an 8:9 aspect ratio. Those resolutions and aspect ratios aren't the norm for laptops, but whether it's rolled in or out, everything on the display appears sharp and vibrant. Based on my time so far, I haven't been disappointed by this laptop's performance. Thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU, 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, it easily handles my average workflow. It also performed well in the Geekbench CPU benchmark. I'll have a full account of its performance in my upcoming review. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is undeniably unique, but it's certainly not perfect. With the understanding that I'm still testing this laptop, I've already noted some flaws that could be detrimental in both the long and short term. And I'm not just talking about the steep $3,299 asking price. Measuring 11.9 x 9.08 x 0.75 (when rolled in and closed) and weighing 3.7 pounds, Lenovo's rollable laptop isn't too large or heavy. However, it's noticeably thicker than even a 14-inch MacBook Pro M4, which is 0.61 inches thick. I'm not surprised at the laptop's thickness, given that it needs room for the display to roll into. But if you're looking for a thin laptop, this one isn't it. Another thing I'm not enamored with is the inconsistency of using hand gestures to roll and unroll the display. You're supposed to place an open hand near the laptop's webcam and wait for an on-screen icon of a hand being scanned before you move your hand up or down for the appropriate action. However, this doesn't always work, if it even works at all. Maybe I'll eventually nail this action, but right now, let's just say I'm glad there's a button so I don't have to rely on gestures to roll and unroll the display. Lastly, there's the question of durability. When we asked Lenovo, a company rep told us that this laptop's display is rated for around 20,000 opens. That might sound like a lot, but keep in mind that foldable phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 are rated for 250,000 opens. However, since you might not constantly extend the display like you would on a phone, 20,000 opens might be more than enough. Still, durability is something that could eventually be an issue. Lenovo is always willing to try something innovative, as we've seen with the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 that we've reviewed. That's why I can appreciate what the company is doing with the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable. Yes, it's expensive and strange, but it can also be the ideal laptop for folks who travel a lot and don't want to lug an external monitor around to get more screen space. Again, I'll have a full review of the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, as well as additional related content, so stay tuned! 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CNET
4 days ago
- Automotive
- CNET
This 3-in-1 Eufy Vacuum Is a Steal at the Record-Low Price of $349
Robot vacuums are great, but there's some places they just can't reach. Fortunately, you don't have to compromise with the extremely versatile Eufy E20. This hybrid three-in-one vacuum offers the best of all worlds, and right now you can pick it up for a new all-time low price. Amazon has knocked the Eufy E20 down to just $349, which is a new record-low and saves you a staggering $301 compared to the usual price. For those who don't want to compromise, this is definitely one of the best vacuum deals out there at the moment. However, it could expire or sell out at any time, so get your order in soon if you don't want to miss out. This vacuum won the CES 2025 Best of Innovation award, and for good reason. The robot vacuum has 8,000Pa in suction power and laser detection to help avoid objects in its path, and a battery life of up to 180 minutes. It also converts into a handheld when you need to clean stairs, upholstery or your car. For spot cleaning and deep cleaning, the cordless stick vacuum has 30,000Pa suction power. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. The features keep on coming, too. The self-emptying robot vacuum means you won't have to deal with dust or dirt for up to 75 days between manual empties. Throw in a five-stage filtration system that captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns, and you have everything you need for a stress-free clean. Why this deal matters It can be hard to choose between a stick or a robot vacuum to tackle messes around the home, but with this 3-in-1 vacuum, you don't have to. Plus, with over $300 off, it's now at a new low price and more affordable than ever. If you're considering an upgrade, this Eufy vacuum combo is a great option.
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
LG CineBeam S 4K projector now available for pre-order in global markets
LG has started the global launch of its new CineBeam S Mini Ultra Short Throw (UST) 4K projector. The device is now listed on LG's official websites in several countries, including Canada, Australia, and South Korea. Customers in Australia can pre-order it for AUD 2,499, with deliveries expected to begin in mid-August 2025. In the United Kingdom, retailer Richer Sounds has opened pre-orders for £1,099, with stock likely to arrive in September. The LG CineBeam S projector, identified by model number PU615U, was introduced during CES 2025. LG confirmed the regional pricing shortly after the event. The projector comes equipped with a three-channel RGB laser light source and is designed to display 4K images up to 100 inches in size. With a 0.25:1 ultra-short throw ratio, it allows users to project large images from a short distance. The projector offers a brightness output of up to 500 ANSI lumens and claims 154 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. It supports HDR10 and features a dynamic contrast ratio of 450,000:1. The device includes features such as automatic screen adjustment, wall colour calibration, and screen scaling. The CineBeam S projector runs on LG's webOS24 platform, which offers access to streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV. It also supports wireless screen sharing through Apple AirPlay 2 and MiraCast. Audio features include built-in stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos support. Connectivity options include two USB-C ports and an HDMI eARC port. Furthermore, the projector measures 160 x 160 x 110 mm, which makes it aking it a compact option in the home entertainment segment. Users can operate the device using a redesigned remote control or through the LG ThinQ mobile application. The unit's design follows a minimal approach with a metallic exterior, made to blend into home settings. In South Korea, the CineBeam S is being marketed as the CineBeam Shorts and is available for 1.79 million won. It is also set to be launched in several other regions, including Europe and parts of Asia.
Al Bawaba
29-07-2025
- Business
- Al Bawaba
LG Revolutionizes Workplace Flexibility With Launch of Smart Monitor Swing in Gulf Region
LG Electronics has introduced a game-changing addition to the Gulf region's technology landscape with the launch of the LG Smart Monitor Swing (model 32U889SA). This CES 2025 Innovation Award winner represents a significant leap forward in display technology, combining workspace versatility with entertainment excellence in a single, intelligent the heart of this innovation lies a revolutionary flexible stand system that transforms how users interact with their displays. The monitor's unique rolling stand mechanism enables effortless repositioning, allowing the 32-inch screen to adapt from traditional desktop configurations to touch-optimized angles. This adaptability makes the device equally suitable for professional presentations, creative work sessions, or leisurely content consumption from any position in the display itself showcases LG's commitment to visual excellence through its 4K UHD resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, delivered via advanced IPS technology. This combination ensures exceptional image clarity, accurate color reproduction, and superior contrast ratios that enhance both productivity tasks and entertainment experiences. The generous 32-inch screen real estate provides ample workspace for multitasking while maintaining crisp, readable text across all new ground for the Smart Monitor series, the 32U889SA introduces comprehensive touchscreen capabilities that transform user interaction. This intuitive interface, combined with LG's proven webOS smart TV platform, creates an ecosystem where users can seamlessly navigate between productivity applications and entertainment content without requiring a connected PC. The integration of webOS brings access to cloud-based office suites, streaming services, and remote desktop solutions directly to the remains a priority with the inclusion of USB Type-C supporting 65W power delivery alongside traditional HDMI inputs. This versatile connection portfolio ensures compatibility with modern laptops, tablets, and desktop systems while providing sufficient power to charge connected devices. The built-in speaker system eliminates the need for external audio equipment, creating a complete workspace solution. The monitor's intelligence extends beyond hardware through sophisticated software features designed to enhance user experience. The Auto Pivot functionality automatically adjusts screen orientation based on content type, optimizing the viewing experience for both landscape and portrait applications. When paired with a PC, the LG Switch App unlocks additional productivity features, including customizable screen layouts, multi-device control through unified keyboard and mouse inputs, and seamless environment switching between PC and Smart TV awareness comes through the Brightness Control system, which dynamically adjusts screen illumination based on ambient lighting conditions. This feature not only enhances viewing comfort but also contributes to energy efficiency throughout extended use versatility of the LG Smart Monitor Swing extends across multiple use cases, from professional environments where presentation flexibility is crucial, to creative spaces where artists and designers require precise positioning for digital work. Musicians can utilize the display for sheet music, while home users benefit from the seamless transition between work and entertainment modes. The LG Smart Monitor Swing (32U889SA) is now available at major retail outlets across the Gulf region, with a retail price of AED 3,699. The new monitor serves as an accessible premium solution for consumers seeking to upgrade their workspace technology without compromising on features or performance.
