OLED on a budget - Hisense announce their first OLED TV for the UK
The Chinese giant announced their new line-up of LED LCD TVs at CES 2018, which includes the U9 with its full array backlight of 1,000 dimmable zones, a peak brightness of 2,500nits and a wider colour gamut that apparently reaches 90% of Rec.2020. Hisense now also plan to release a 4K Ultra HD OLED TV in the UK towards the end of this year.
The new OLED will support HDR10, HDR 10+ and Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG). Hisense have also announced their latest smart platform which includes Freeview Play and integration with Amazon Alexa for full voice control.
Sony has revealed that their A1 OLED will remain their flagship OLED TV for 2018, alongside the ZD9 LCD. Instead the A1 will be joined by the AF8. This new 4K Ultra HD TV has all the same picture features as the A1 with the X1 Extreme Processor, Acoustic Surface, Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) and support for High Dynamic Range (HDR10, Hybrid Log-Gamma and Dolby Vision via a firmware update). The difference is in the form factor, with the AF8 dropping the easel stand of the A1 and using two woofers rather than one larger one. The AF8 will be available in April in screen sizes of 55 and 65 inches.
Minimal improvements from Sony for 2018, then. Despite the AF8 apparently sitting under the A1, the A1 will most likely end up being cheaper because of continued discounting.