Samsung Dismisses LG's Claim

LG Electronics displays its 8K NanoCell TV and Samsung Electronics' QLED 8K TV at its booth at the IFA trade fair in Berlin.

The war over the 8K TV image quality is intensifying between South Korea’s two electronics giants Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. LG Electronics claimed that Samsung Electronics’ 8K TV does not meet industry standards.  Samsung Electronics dismissed the claim, saying, “That is an absurd assertion.” LG Electronics, however, is continuously launching a brutal attack on its competitor, saying, “Consumers need to know the truth.”

LG Electronics held a press briefing at IFA 2019, Europe’s largest trade show for household appliances, in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 7 (local time) and officially raised a question about Samsung Electronics’ 8k TV image quality. A company usually explains the IFA’s technology trend as a whole at a press tech briefing. However, LG Electronics spent the whole time talking about the 8K TV image quality. Park Hyoung-sei, executive vice president of LG Electronics’ TV Business Operation Center, said, “Consumers deserves to know whether the high-priced 8K TV product they are purchasing correctly complies with international standards. Our competitor's 8K TVs do not comply with criteria set by an international organization.”

At the tech fair, which will run through Sept. 11, LG Electronics has been conducting a side-by-side comparison with products from other companies, putting its 8K NanoCell TV and Samsung's QLED 8K TV together to show visitors the difference. The company did not mention that it was Samsung’s product at the booth. However, it clearly claimed that Samsung’s 8K TVs do not meet the international standards for 8K resolution at a press briefing. Regarding to the 8K TV image quality issue, Kim Hyun-suk, president of Samsung's consumer electronics division, said on Sept. 6 before the opening of the IFA 2019, “Are you sure it is our product? The market can grow at a faster pace if there is an issue.”


LG Electronics brought up the problem based on objective data on Sept. 7 as if the company was motivated by Samsung’s no action taken. It said it asked Germany’s institute of electricalandelectronicsengineers, known as VDE, to run tests on 65 and 75-inch 8K TVs from Samsung. LG Electronics asserted that the results showed that Samsung’s 75-inch QLED 8K TV had a contrast modulation level of 12 percent and 65-inch product 18 percent, which were the level of resolutions for 4K TVs. The figures are far below the 50 percent threshold to qualify for the 8K standard recommended by the respected International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDM). An official from LG Electronics said, “This is the standard set together with Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electronics also explained this well on its own Newsroom in 2016.” In conclusion, the company said Samsung Electronics’ 8K TVs actually have the 4Kresolutions.

In this regard, Samsung Electronics said LG Electronics is just making such assertions to put a blemish on the market leader. Han Jong-hee, president of Samsung Electronics’ visual display business division, said, “There is no place to certify the image quality. I don’t know what the standard LG is talking about. We have a wide variety of products ranging from 50 inches to 90 inches and they all have a different image quality as you see. We think such controversy is a process and we are not dealing with it.” Samsung Electronics had an unscheduled press conference on Sept. 7 right after LG’s tech briefing but didnotmakeasinglereferenceto the controversy over its 8K TVs’ image quality. It clearly showed that LG’s assertions cannot be a controversial issue.

However, the debate over Samsung’s 8K TV resolutions is expected to continue for a while, though Samsung Electronics is not dealing with the issue. This is because LG Electronics announced its plans to continuously let consumers know the truth about 8K TV resolutions. For starters, LG Electronics is planning to hold a tech conference at the head office in Yeouido, Seoul, on Sept. 17.

Some say LG Electronics is making assertions to promote their products. In fact, the company launched a TV commercial for its new organic light emitting diode (OLED) TV in South Korea during the IFA 2019. It seems that LG Electronics is intentionally stirring up the controversy over the image quality by making a frontal attack on Samsung Electronics’ quantum dot light emitting diode (QLED) TV.

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