Stefan Mileschin

Modern smart televisions do much more than just display broadcasted programs, so these days TV makers need to equip them with powerful applications processors to decode HD and Ultra-HD content, as well as handle other complex tasks. To that end, LG has revealed that it plans to use its new α9 Gen 3 SoC for its latest Signature OLED and NanoCell 8K televisions set to be available this year.

LG’s latest α9 Gen 3 processor supports playback of 8Kp60 content encoded using HEVC, VP9, and particularly important going forward, the recently released AV1 codec. But since 8K videos are not common just yet, the SoC supports LG’s AI 8K Upscaling algorithm that relies on its machine learning capabilities to analyze videos it upscales and properly apply Quad Step Noise Reduction and frequency-based Sharpness Enhancer.

In addition to intelligent upscaling, LG’s new 8K TVs also support AI Picture Pro technology to correctly enhance sharpening and skin tones as well as Auto Genre Selection to apply general picture settings common for a particular type of content. Also, the televisions monitor background noises and adjust their 5.1 audio subsystems accordingly.

High-end televisions from LG are based on the webOS operating system and therefore the company can add support for new features just by installing appropriate applications. The 2020 Signature OLED and NanoCell 8K TV’s support LG’s Home Dashboard to control IoT using Hands-Free Voice Control (enabled by ThinQ voice recognition). Also the webOS supports a host of third-party voice-based services, including Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Assistant. In addition, it can access a variety of content streaming services, such as Apple TV/Apple TV+, Disney+, and Netflix.

LG’s 2020 8K television lineup includes 88 and 77-inch class Signature OLED TVs (models 88/77 OLED ZX) and NanoCell IPS TVs (models 75/65 Nano99, 75/65 Nano97, 75/65 Nano95). The OLED models will variable refresh rate support (including NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible certification) right out-of-box. The Ultra-HD TVs will be available in the coming months.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15407...w-av1-decoding