That means we’re almost certainly looking at the first Samsung OLED TV to use a panel produced by its South Korean rival LG’s display division. “I have no doubt that this 83 inch Samsung OLED TV will be equipped with a white OLED panel also known as LG Display’s WRGB OLED panel,” HDTV testing extremely knowledgeable Vincent Teoh said in a video last month after news leaked over the TV.
Samsung did not immediately respond The edge‘s request for comment on who’s supplying the panel in the TV, and it seems unlikely the company will ever officially confirm it’s using LG Display’s hardware. But the TV announcement comes just a few months later Reuters reported that the two companies had signed a deal to supply millions of panels in both 77-inch and 83-inch variants over the next few years.
Usually this is just another funny example of the mutually beneficial relationships that even supposedly fierce rivals in the tech space can have with each other. See also Samsung and Apple, who teamed up to provide OLED displays for the iPhone, while battling it out over patents. If Samsung’s new 83-inch TV does indeed use an LG Display panel, it will likely lead to Samsung using two different types of OLED panels in its S90C lineup. The smaller TVs have their QD OLED panels, while this larger TV could have a WOLED (or WRGB OLED) panel.
It would be foolish of me to say at this point whether that will lead to major differences in picture quality across the lineup, as processing can be just as important as panel technology in determining how good a TV’s picture ultimately becomes. But rings’ existing comparison between The current top of the line OLEDs from Samsung and LG suggest that WOLED may have a small overall brightness advantage, while QD-OLED may benefit from brighter colors. Rings ongoing TV burn-in test also suggests that QD OLEDs may be slightly more prone to burn-in in extreme cases where you’re constantly watching content with static elements on the screen, findings LG investigated happy to redeem.
Once these new 83-inch Samsung OLED TVs start making their way into customers’ hands (which, according to Samsung’s website, should starts later this month), HDTV testing That reports Teoh it should be pretty simple to verify what kind of OLED panel technology they use. Identification methods include taking a zoomed photo of the TV to look at the sub-pixel array, or else shining a light on the TV when it’s off and seeing if the screen goes gray or stays black. Gray means it’s a QD OLED, black means WOLED / WRGB OLED.
Aside from the panel, Samsung’s 83-inch S90C has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a Samsung OLED. It runs Samsung’s Tizen operating system, features a Neural Quantum Processor for upscaling content to 4K, Dolby Atmos, HDMI 2.1, and support for 120Hz 4K content. It features Samsung’s Gaming Hub with support for game streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, and comes with a SolarCell remote that can be charged “via artificial or natural light, as well as RF waves.” As with Samsung’s other TVs, there’s no mention of support for Dolby Vision HDR here, instead you get HDR10 Plus.
“Large screen sizes are the fastest growing segment in the TV industry,” said Samsung Electronics America’s senior vice president for its home entertainment and display division James Fishler. “With this new 83-inch OLED S90C 4K TV model, we’re providing yet another opportunity for people to experience the benefits of Samsung’s OLED TV, on an even bigger screen.”
