Public Information Display

01 IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry and Beyond

IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry andBeyond

Held from 6th - 11th September in Berlin, IFA 2019 was yet another successful year for the globaltechnology exhibition. After last year’s event saw 161,200 square meters of show floor spacecompletely sell out to 1,814 exhibitors, the 2019 event broke records once again.

This September, we saw an all-time high for international attendance with more than 50 percent oftrade visitors traveling from abroad, cementing IFA as one of the world’s biggest technology events.

We’ve rounded up some of our picks from the near-2000 exhibitors, and also highlighted Samsung’smost attention-grabbing innovations.

Display trends8K

Public Information Display

02 IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry and Beyond

8K technology continued to be a popular talking point, after also taking center stage at last year’s IFAevent.

Since IFA 2018, consumers have come even closer to accepting 8K resolution which is why moreconsumer-ready 8K TVs were showcased than ever before.

At the event, Samsung announced a new 55-inch QLED 8K TV. This smaller size and lower price pointenables more consumers to welcome 8K into their living rooms. This high-end and accessible displaywas a hit with the critics - it was even awarded the Best TV of IFA award by TechRadar.

Samsung also displayed larger models with the same technology, with the already available 65”, 75”,82”, 85” and 95” models at IFA 2019.

Memorable 8K moments at IFA 2019 included:

Hisense exhibiting their 75” TV, and also announced a 85” 8K TV,

Sony bringing along their 85” and 98” models,

Sharp debuting their 120” 8K TV prototype, which was shown alongside their commerciallyavailable 60”, 70” and 80” models which all form part of their wider 8K ecosystem,

TCL unveiling the new 8K QLED X Series TVs available in 65”, 75” and 85” models; their 75” 8KMini LED TV was also shown at the event,

Konka rolling out their new 85” model, while also showing 75” and 98”,

Public Information Display

03 IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry and Beyond

Skyworth announcing new 8K LCDs in 75” and 120” sizes, and generated discussion with theirW-OLED 88” model.

MicroLED and Mini-LED

Another returning trend was MicroLED (very small LEDs that help create brighter and more colorfulscreens) and Mini-LED (a similar but more mature, transitional technology). At IFA 2018, MicroLEDtechnology was in its early stages but still seen functioning in products, such as Samsung’s TheWall—the world’s first modular MicroLED 146” TV.

This year, Samsung showcased new sizes of the MicroLED The Wall, with the famous display nowavailable in 146” and 219”, while other manufacturers continued to exhibit new Mini-LED innovations.

Other MicroLED and Mini-LED headlines included:

Sony placing their MicroLED Z9G TVs (available in 85” and 98”) on display,

TCL proudly presenting their 132" 4K Cinema Wall, and unveiling their 75" Mini-LED BLU too,

Hisense also displaying their own 75” 4K Mini-LED BLU TV,

Konka exhibiting their Mini-LED BLU 4K 75" unit,

Changhong debuting a 65” 4K Mini-LED BLU display,

Skyworth also showing their 65”4K Mini-LED BLU.

Public Information Display

04 IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry and Beyond

Curved Monitors

Since their first emergence at CES 2013, curved monitors have continued to make an impact atevents. We saw this recently with their positive reception at the World Cyber Games’ esportsconference.

The technology has continued to evolve with new use cases and a growing variety of sizes,curvatures, and resolutions now available.

At IFA 2019, we saw Samsung unveil new 27" FHD 1500R 240Hz and 49" DQHD 1800R 240Hz TVs.Both of these displays used RapidCurve™, which enables the lightning-fast 240Hz refresh rate.

Understanding the demand for curved monitors for gaming, Samsung presented a gaming experiencezone featuring their monitors. Such is the popularity with gamers that Acer and Asus both announcedgaming laptops with 300Hz curved monitors built-in.

That’s not all. Other curved monitor news at IFA 2019 came from:

Philips coming to the event with their B2B 55" 4K HDR1000, 31.5/27" 4K HDR 600, B2C 43.4/34"wide curved monitors,

ASUS revealing their 1.5/27" 4K HDR1000(Mini-LED BLU), alongside their gaming laptop screen,17" FHD 144Hz monitor for portable gaming and a 34" QHD+ IPS Curved(1900R) monitor,

Lenovo debuting their 43.4" WUHD and 49" DQHD curved monitors, and also exhibiting their27" QHD and 34” 1500R QHD displays.

Other trendsSmart homes

Public Information Display

05 IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry and Beyond

One theme that could be seen widely at IFA 2019 was connected homes. Technology innovations suchas Artificial Intelligence (AI) sensors and voice assistants were deployed on many different products,with more and more items forming part of the Internet of Things (IoT).

At the event, we saw lots of Samsung’s SmartThings system. This allows consumers to controlcompatible appliances and electronics with the voice control assistant Bixby and a single, easy-to-useapp. Its capabilities were shown with connections to various home appliances, such as air conditioningunits, air purifiers, TVs, and the Samsung Air Dresser closet which airs, steams, dries, and purifiesclothes.

Other talking points for connected homes at IFA 2019 included:

Both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant showing how they can also connect with various homeappliances,

LG Electronics and Lumi United Technology (the largest IoT home technology company in China)unveiling how they will be collaborating on AI smart home services,

Lenovo revealing a smaller and cheaper version of Google Assistant-based smart display - theLenovo Smart Display 7,

Eve Systems announcing four new HomeKit-compatible products - The Eve Extend (a rangeextender for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices), the Eve Light Switch (which enables consumers tohave smart lights without changing all lighting in their house), the Eve Thermo (an improvedsmart radiator valve), and the Eve Water Guard (a water sensor that helps protect homesagainst leaks that will be released next year).

Robots and drones

Public Information Display

06 IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry and Beyond

This year, robotics made an impact with innovative functionalities and use cases.

During the IFA technology show, Samsung demonstrated a robotic arm cooking. Helping Michelin-starred chefs Michel Troigros and Michel Roux Jr., the cBot Chef acted a sous chef, stirring dishes andadding seasoning. As the demonstration host explained, “[The cBot Chef] gets to do all the boringparts, so you can concentrate on the more creative.”

Some of the other interesting displays included:

ExoAtlet’s medical exoskeleton that helps people with lower limb issues rehabilitate and walkagain. This is already used in hospitals in Russia and South Korea, and awaits FDA clearance asto whether it will be sold in the US too,

The Aalto Explorer, which is a community-controlled underwater drone. Members of the publiccan view footage from its 360° camera online or via a virtual reality headset, all while steeringthe drone to help gather data on water conditions.

5G

Public Information Display

07 IFA 2019: The Key Trends for the Display Industry and Beyond

5G was also a popular topic, with the key focus being on improved connectivity.

Samsung showed off one of the first affordable 5G phones - the Samsung Galaxy A90 5G, nowavailable to buy in Korea and soon to launch in the UK (October 4th). The recently announced 5Gvariant of the Samsung Galaxy Fold was also exhibited.

Other talking points included:

Chipmaker Qualcomm’s keynote, which focused on how “everything is connected” and laid outexciting uses of faster mobile internet, including augmented reality, cloud gaming, improvedvideo streaming, and connected cars (with Qualcomm and BMW also unveiling their pilotprogram to create the world’s first 5G connected car in 2021),

Huawei’s showcase of their Kirin 900 processor which was equipped with 5G, AI overload and 10billion transistors,

Intel’s announcement of Core i9-9900KS in October, which also included a dig at AMD and theirrecent controversial Ryzen 3000 processors and their boost speeds.

Once again, IFA was an unmissable and fascinating event for all those involved in technology. With abroad range of innovations and emerging technologies on display, Samsung is proud to be at theforefront of many of these.

For more on display and digital signage trends, check out our ISE 2019 recap.