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The 8 most interesting PC monitors from CES 2025

CES, CES 2025, corsair, dell, Features, lg, Monitors, samsung, Tech / Tim Belzer / January 12, 2025

Monitors worth monitoring

Here are upcoming computer screens with features that weren’t around last year.

Yes, that’s two monitors in a suitcase.

Plenty of computer monitors made debuts at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this year, but many of the updates at this year’s event were pretty minor. Many could have easily been a part of 2024’s show.

But some brought new and interesting features to the table for 2025—in this article, we’ll tell you all about them.

LG’s 6K monitor

Pixel addicts are always right at home at CES, and the most interesting high-resolution computer monitor to come out of this year’s show is the LG UltraFine 6K Monitor (model 32U990A).

People seeking more than 3840×2160 resolution have limited options, and they’re all rather expensive (looking at you, Apple Pro Display XDR). LG’s 6K monitor means there’s another option for professionals needing extra pixels for things like developing, engineering, and creative work. And LG’s 6144×3456, 32-inch display has extra oomph thanks to something no other 6K monitor has: Thunderbolt 5.

This is the only image LG provided for the monitor. Credit: LG

LG hasn’t confirmed the refresh rate of its 6K monitor, so we don’t know how much bandwidth it needs. But it’s possible that pairing the UltraFine with a Thunderbolt 5 PC could trigger Bandwidth Boost, a Thunderbolt 5 feature that automatically increases bandwidth from 80Gbps to 120Gbps. For comparison, Thunderbolt 4 maxes out at 40Gbps. Thunderbolt 5 also requires 140 W power delivery and maxes out at 240 W. That’s a notable bump from Thunderbolt 4’s 100–140 W.

Considering that Apple’s only 6K monitor has Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 5 is a differentiator. With this capability, the LG UltraFine is ironically better equipped in this regard for use with the new MacBook Pros and Mac Mini (which all have Thunderbolt 5) compared to Apple’s own monitors. LG may be aware of this, as the 32U990A’s aesthetic could be considered very Apple-like.

Inside the 32U990A’s silver chassis is a Nano IPS panel. In recent years, LG has advertised its Nano IPS panels as having “nanometer-sized particles” applied to their LED backlight to absorb “excess, unnecessary light wavelengths” for “richer color expression.” LG’s 6K monitor claims to cover 98 percent of DCI-P3 and 99.5 percent of Adobe RGB. IPS Black monitors, meanwhile, have higher contrast ratios (up to 3,000:1) than standard IPS panels. However, LG has released Nano IPS monitors with 2,000:1 contrast, the same contrast ratio as Dell’s 6K, IPS Black monitor.

LG hasn’t shared other details, like price or a release date. But the monitor may cost more than Dell’s Thunderbolt 4-equipped monitor, which is currently $2,480.

Brelyon’s multi-depth monitor

Brelyon Ultra Reality Extend. — Someone from CNET using the Ultra Reality Extend. Credit: CNET/YouTube

Brelyon is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and was founded by scientists and executives from MIT, IMAX, UCF, and DARPA. It’s been selling display technology for commercial and defense applications since 2022. At CES, the company unveiled the Ultra Reality Extend, describing it as an “immersive display line that renders virtual images in multiple depths.”

“As the first commercial multi-focal monitor, the Extend model offers multi-depth programmability for information overlay, allowing users to see images from 0.7 m to as far as 2.5 m of depth virtually rendered behind the monitor; organizing various data streams at different depth layers, or triggering focal cues to induce an ultra immersive experience akin to looking out through a window,” Brelyon’s announcement said.

Brelyon says the monitor runs 4K at 60 Hz with 1 bit of monocular depth for an 8K effect. The monitor includes “OLED-based curved 2D virtual images, with the largest stretching to 122 inches and extending 2.5 meters deep, viewable through a 30-inch frame,” according to the firm’s announcement. The closer you sit, the greater the field of view you get.

The Extend leverages “new GPU capabilities to process light and video signals inside our display platforms,” Brelyon CEO Barmak Heshmat said in a statement this week. He added: “We are thinking beyond headsets and glasses, where we can leverage GPU capabilities to do real-time driving of higher-bandwidth display interfaces.”

Brelyon says this was captured from the Extend, with its camera lens focus changing from 70 cm to 2,500 cm. Credit: Brelyon

Advancements in AI-based video processing, as well as other software advancements and hardware improvements, purportedly enable the Extend to upscale lower-dimension streams to multiple, higher-dimension ones. Brelyon describes its product as a “generative display system” that uses AI computation and optics to assign different depth values to content in real time for rendering images and information overlays.

The idea of a virtual monitor that surpasses the field of view of typical desktop monitors while allowing users to see the real world isn’t new. Tech firms (including many at CES) usually try to accomplish this through AR glasses. But head-mounted displays still struggle with problems like heat, weight, computing resources, battery, and aesthetics.

Brelyon’s monitor seemingly demoed well at CES. Sam Rutherford, a senior writer at Engadget, watched a clip from the Marvel’s Spider-Man video game on the Extend and said that “trees and light poles whipping past in my face felt so real I started to flinch subconsciously.” He added that the monitor separated “different layers of the content to make snow in the foreground look blurry as it whipped across the screen, while characters in the distance” still looked sharp.

The monitor costs $5,000 to $8,000 depending on how you’ll use it and whether you have other business with Brelyon, per Engadget, and CES is one of the few places where people could actually see the display in action.

Samsung’s 3D monitor

Samsung Odyssey 3D — Samsung’s depiction of the 3D effect of its 3D PC monitor. Credit: Samsung

It’s 2025, and tech companies are still trying to convince people to bring a 3D display into their homes. This week, Samsung took its first swing since 2009 at 3D screens with the Odyssey 3D monitor.

In lieu of 3D glasses. the Odyssey 3D achieves its 3D effect with a lenticular lens “attached to the front of the panel and its front stereo camera,” Samsung says, as well eye tracking and view mapping. Differing from other recent 3D monitors, the Odyssey 3D claims to be able to make 2D content look three-dimensional even if that content doesn’t officially support 3D.

You can find more information in our initial coverage of Samsung’s Odyssey 3D, but don’t bet on finding 3D monitors in many people’s homes soon. The technology for quality 3D displays that work without glasses has been around for years but still has never taken off.

Dell’s OLED productivity monitor

With improvements in burn-in, availability, and brightness, finding OLED monitors today is much easier than it was two years ago. But a lot of the OLED monitors released recently target gamers with features like high refresh rates, ultrawide panels, and RGB. These features are unneeded or unwanted by non-gamers but contribute to OLED monitors’ already high pricing. Numerous smaller OLED monitors were announced at CES, with 27-inch, 4K models being a popular addition. Most of them are still high-refresh gaming monitors, though.

The Dell 32-inch QD-OLED, on the other hand, targets “play, school, and work,” Dell’s announcement says. And its naming (based on a new naming convention Dell announced this week that kills XPS and other longstanding branding) signals that this is a mid-tier monitor from Dell’s entry-level lineup.

The monitor’s specs, which include a 120 Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync Premium, and USB-C power delivery at up to 90 W, make it a good fit for pairing with many mainstream laptops.

Dell also says this is the first QD-OLED with spatial audio, which uses head tracking to alter audio coming from the monitor’s five 5 W speakers. This is a feature we’ve seen before, but not on an OLED monitor.

For professionals and/or Mac users that prefer the sleek looks, reputation, higher power delivery and I/O hubs associated with Dell’s popular UltraSharp line, Dell made two more notable announcements at CES: an UltraSharp 32 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U3225QE) coming out in February 25 for $950 and an UltraSharp 27 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U2725QE) coming out that same day for $700.

The suitcase monitors

Before we get into the Base Case, please note that this product has no release date because its creators plan to go to market via crowdfunding. Base Case says it will launch its Indiegogo campaign next month, but even then, we don’t know if the project will be funded, if any final product will work as advertised, or if customers will receive orders in a timely fashion. Still, this is one of the most unusual monitors at CES, and it’s worth discussing.

The Base Case is shaped like a 24x14x16.5-inch rolling suitcase, but when you open it up, you’ll find two 24-inch monitors for connecting to a laptop. Each screen reportedly has a 1920×1080 resolution, a 75 Hz refresh rate, and a max brightness claim of 350 nits. Base Case is also advertising PC and Mac support (through DisplayLink), as well as HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, Thunderbolt, and Ethernet ports. Telescoping legs allow the case to rise 10 inches so the display can sit closer to eye level.

Ultimately, the Base Case would see owners lug around a 20-pound product for the ability to quickly create a dual-monitor setup equipped with a healthy amount of I/O. Tom’s Guide demoed a prototype at CES and reported that the monitors took “seconds to set up.”

In case you’re worried that the Base Case prioritizes displays over storage, note that its makers plan on adding a front pocket to the suitcase that can fit a laptop. The pocket wasn’t on the prototype Tom’s Guide saw, though.

Again, this is far from a finalized product, but Base Case has alluded to a $2,400 starting price. For comparison to other briefcase-locked displays—and yes, doing this is possible—LG’s StanbyME Go (27LX5QKNA) tablet in a briefcase currently has a $1,200 MSRP.

Corsair’s PC-mountable touchscreen

If the Base Case is on the heftier side of portable monitors, Corsair’s Xeneon Edge is certainly on the minute side. The 14.5-inch LCD touchscreen isn’t meant to be a primary display, though. Corsair built it as a secondary screen for providing quick information, like the song your computer is playing, the weather, the time, and calendar events. You could also use the 2560×720 pixels to display system information, like component usage and temperatures.

Corsair says its iCue software will be able to provide system information on the Xeneon, but because the Xeneon Edge works like a regular monitor, you could (and likely would prefer to) use your own methods. Still, the Xeneon Edge stands out from other small, touchscreen PC monitors with its clean UI that can succinctly communicate a lot of information on the tiny display at once.

Specs-wise, this is a 60 Hz IPS panel with 5-point capacitive touch. Corsair says the monitor can hit 350 nits of brightness.

You can connect the Xeneon Edge to a computer via USB-C (DisplayPort Alt mode) or HDMI. There are also screw holes, so PC builders could install it via a 360 mm radiator mounting point inside their PC case.

Alternatively, Corsair recommends attaching the touchscreen to the outside of a PC case through the monitor’s 14 integrated magnets. Corsair said in a blog post that the “magnets are underneath the plastic casing so the metal surface you stick it to won’t get scratched.” Or, in traditional portable monitor style, the Xeneon Edge could also just sit on a desk with its included stand.

Corsair Xeneon Edge — Corsair demos different ways the screen could attach to a case. Credit: TechPowerUp/YouTube

Corsair plans to release the Xeneon Edge in Q2. Expected pricing is “around $249,” Tom’s Hardware reported.

MSI’s side panel display panel

Why attach a monitor to your PC case when you can turn your PC case into a monitor instead?

MSI says that the touchscreen embedded into this year’s MEG Vision X AI 2nd gaming desktop’s side panel can work like a regular computer monitor. Similar to Corsair’s monitor, the MSI’s display has a corresponding app that can show system information and other customizations, which you can toggle with controls on the front of the case, PCMag reported.

MSI used an IPS panel with 1920×1080 resolution for the display, which also has an integrated mic and speaker. MSI says “electric vehicle control centers” inspired the design. We’ve seen similar PC cases, like iBuyPower’s more translucent side panel display and the touchscreen on Hyte’s pentagonal PC case, before. But MSI is bringing the design to a more mainstream form factor by including it in a prebuilt desktop, potentially opening the door for future touchscreen-equipped desktops.

Considering the various locations people place their desktops and the different angles at which they may try to look at this screen, I’m curious about the monitor’s viewing angles and brightness. IPS seems like a good choice since it tends to have strong image quality when viewed from different angles. A video PC Mag shot from the show floor shows images on the monitor appearing visible and lively:

Hands on with MSI’s MEG Vision X AI Desktop: Now, your PC tower’s a monitor, too.

World’s fastest monitor

There’s a competitive air at CES that lends to tech brands trying to one-up each other on spec sheets. Some of the most heated competition concerns monitor refresh rates; for years, we’ve been meeting the new world’s fastest monitor at CES. This year is no different.

The brand behind the monitor is Koorui, a three-year-old Chinese firm whose website currently lists monitors and keyboards. Koorui hasn’t confirmed when it will make its 750 Hz display available, where it will sell it, or what it will cost. That should bring some skepticism about this product actually arriving for purchase in the US. However, Koorui did bring the display to the CES show floor.

The speedy display had a refresh rate test running at CES, and according to several videos we’ve seen from attendees, the monitor appeared to consistently hit the 750 Hz mark.

World’s first 750Hz monitor???

For those keeping track, high-end gaming monitors—namely ones targeting professional gamers—hit 360 Hz in 2020. Koorui’s announcement means max monitor speeds have increased 108.3 percent in four years.

One CES attendee noticed, however, that the monitor wasn’t showing any gameplay. This could be due to the graphical and computing prowess needed to demonstrate the benefits of a 750 Hz monitor. A system capable of 750 frames per second would give people a chance to see if they could detect improved motion resolution but would also be very expensive. It’s also possible that the monitor Koorui had on display wasn’t ready for that level of scrutiny yet.

Like many eSports monitors, the Koorui is 24.5 inches, with a resolution of 1920×1080. Perhaps more interesting than Koorui taking the lead in the perennial race for higher refresh rates is the TN monitor’s claimed color capabilities. TN monitors aren’t as popular as they were years ago, but OEMs still employ them sometimes for speed.

They tend to be less colorful than IPS and VA monitors, though. Most offer sRGB color gamuts instead of covering the larger DCI-P3 color space. Asus’ 540 Hz ROG Swift Pro PG248QP, for example, is a TN monitor claiming 125 percent sRGB coverage. Koorui’s monitor claims to cover 95 percent of DCI-P3, due to the use of a quantum dot film. Again, there’s a lot that prospective shoppers should confirm about this monitor if it becomes available.

For those seeking the fastest monitors with more concrete release plans, several companies announced 600 Hz monitors coming out this year. Acer, for example, has a 600 Hz Nitro XV240 F6 (also a TN monitor) that it plans to release in North America this quarter at a starting price of $600.

Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She’s been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Tom’s Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK.

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Three bizarre home devices and a couple good things at CES 2025

AI, ai slop, CES, CES 2025, Google Home, Google Nest Hub, home automation, lg, matter, philips hue, Smart Home, switchbot, Tech / Rejus Almole / January 11, 2025

You can’t replace cats with AI, not yet

Some quietly good things made an appearance at CES 2025, amidst the AI slush.

Credit: Verity Burns/WIRED UK

Every year, thousands of product vendors, journalists, and gadget enthusiasts gather in an unreasonable city to gawk at mostly unrealistic products.

To be of service to our readers, Ars has done the work of looking through hundreds of such items presented at the 2025 Consumer Electronic Show, pulling out the most bizarre, unnecessary, and head-scratching items. Andrew Cunningham swept across PC and gaming accessories. This writer stuck to goods related to the home.

It’s a lie to say it’s all a prank, so I snuck in a couple of actually good things for human domiciles announced during CES. But the stuff you’ll want to tell your family and friends about in mock disbelief? Plenty of that, still.

AI-powered spice dispenser: Spicerr

A hand holding a white tubular device, with spice tubes loaded into a bottom area, spices dropping out of the bottom. — Credit: Spicerr

Part of my job is to try and stretch my viewpoint outward—to encompass people who might not have the same experiences and who might want different things from technology. Not everybody is a professional writer, pecking away in Markdown about the latest turn-based strategy game. You must try to hear many timbres inside the common voice in your head when addressing new products and technologies.

I cannot get there with Spicerr, the “world’s first AI-powered spice dispenser,” even leaving aside the AI bit. Is the measurement and dumping of spices into a dish even five percent of the overall challenge? Will a mechanical dispenser be any more precise than standard teaspoons? Are there many kinds of food on which you would want to sprinkle a “customized blend” of spices? Are there home cooks so dedicated to fresh, bright flavors that they want their spices delivered in small vials, at presumably premium prices, rather than simply having small quantities of regularly restocked essentials?

Maybe the Spicerr would be a boon to inexperienced cooks, whose relatives all know them to under-season their food. Rather than buying them a battery-powered device, they must charge to “take the guesswork out of seasoning,” though, you could … buy them good cookbooks, or a Times Cooking subscription, or just a few new bottles of paprika, oregano, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric.

Philips Hue’s (sigh) AI-powered lighting assistants

Image of AI assistant responding to prompts from user, — Credit: Signify

I’m not dismayed that Philips Hue is jumping on the “This has AI now” bandwagon. Well, I am, but not specifically dismayed, because every vendor at CES this year is hawking AI. No, the bad thing here is that Hue lights are devices that work great. Maybe Philips’ pursuit of an “AI assistant” to help you figure out that Halloween lights should be orange-ish won’t distract them from their core product’s reliability. But I have my doubts.

Hue has recently moved from a relatively open lighting system to an app-and-account-required, cloud-controlled scheme, supposedly in the name of security and user control. Having an AI assistant is perhaps another way to sell services beyond hardware, like the $130 or $3/month LG TV app it now offers. The AI service is free for now, but charging for it in the future is far from impossible.

Again, none of this should necessarily affect people who, like me, use Hue bulbs to have a porch light come on at sunset or turn a dim, warm hue when it’s time to wind down. But it felt like Hue, which charges a very decent amount for their hardware, might have held off on chasing this trend.

Robot vacuums doing way too much

Switchbot K20+ Pro holding up a tablet while a woman does a yoga pose in front of an insanely wealthy-person view of a California cliffside. — Credit: Switchbot

Robot vacuums are sometimes worth the hassle and price… if you don’t mind doing a pre-vacuum sweep of things that might get stuck in its brushes, you’ve got room for an emptying base or will empty it yourself, and you don’t mind that they usually miss floor edges and corners. They’re fine, I’m saying.

Robot vacuum makers have steadfastly refused to accept “fine” and are out way over their skis this year. In one trade show, you can find:

Eureka’s J15 Max Ultra, incorporating “IntelliView AI 2.0,” infrared, and FHD vision, detects liquid spills and switches brushes and vacuums to better clean and avoid spreading.
Roborock’s Saros Z70 has a “mechanical task arm” that can pick up objects like socks and small debris (up to 10.5 ounces) and put them in a pre-determined pile spot.
SwitchBot’s modular K20+ Pro, which is a vacuum onto which you can attach air purifiers, tablet mounts, security cameras, or other things you want rolling around your home.
Dreame’s X50, which can pivot to clean some small ledges but cannot actually climb.
The Narwal Flow, which has a wide, flat, off-center mop to reach wall edges.

Pricing and availability are not available for these vacuums yet, but each is likely to set you back the equivalent of at least one new MacBook. They are also rather big devices to stash in your home (it’s hard to hide an arm or an air purifier). Each is an early adopter device, and getting replacement consumable parts for them long-term is an uncertain bet. I’m not sure who they are for, but that has not stopped this apparently fertile field from growing many new products.

Now for good things, starting with Google Home

Nest Hub second generation, on a nightstand with a bamboo top and dim lamp in the near background. — Credit: Corey Gaskin

I’ve been watching and occasionally writing about the progress of the nascent Matter smart home protocol, somewhat in the vein of a high school coach who knows their team is held back by a lack of coordination, communication, and consistent direction. What Matter wants to do is vital for the future of the smart home, but it’s very much a loose scrimmage right now.

And yet, this week, in a CES-adjacent announcement, Google reminded me that Matter can really, uh, matter. All of Google Home’s hub devices—Nest screens and speakers, Chromecasts, Google TV devices running at least Android 14, and a few other gadgets—can interoperate with Matter devices locally, with no cloud required.

That means people with a Google Home setup can switch devices, adjust volumes, and otherwise control devices, faster, with Internet outages or latency no longer an issue. Local, no-cloud-required control of devices across brands is one of Matter’s key promises, and seeing it happen inside one major home brand is encouraging.

More we’ll-see-what-happens news is the unveiling of the public Home APIs, which promise to make it easier for third-party devices to be set up, integrated, and automated in a Google Home setup. Even if you’re skeptical of Google’s long-term support for APIs, the company is also working with the Matter group to improve the Matter certification process for all devices. Device makers should then have Matter to fall back onto, failing enthusiasm for Google Home APIs.

This cat tower is also an air purifier; it is also good

Two fake cats, sitting on seats atop an air purifier at CES 2025 — Credit: Verity Burns/WIRED UK

There are a lot of phones out there that need charging and a bunch of gamers who, for some reason, need even more controllers and screens to play on. But there is another, eternally underserved market getting some attention at CES: cats wanting to sit.

LG, which primarily concerned itself with stuffing generative AI interfaces into every other device at CES 2025, crafted something that feels like a real old-time trade show gimmick. There is no guarantee that your cat will use the AeroCat Tower; some cats may just sit inside the cardboard box it came in out of spite. But should they deign to luxuriate on it, the AeroCat will provide gentle heat beneath them, weigh them, and give you a record of their sleep habits. Also, it purifies the air in that room.

There is no pricing or availability information yet. But if you like your cats, you want to combine the function of a cat tower and air purifier, or you just want to consider something even just a little bit fun about the march of technology, look out for this one.

Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He has previously worked at Lifehacker, Wirecutter, iFixit, and Carbon Switch.

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Why I’m disappointed with the TVs at CES 2025

AI, CES, CES 2025, generative ai, Google, lg, Microsoft Copilot, oled, samsung, Software, Tech, TVs / Kris Guyer / January 9, 2025

Won’t someone please think of the viewer?

Op-ed: TVs miss opportunity for real improvement by prioritizing corporate needs.

The TV industry is hitting users over the head with AI and other questionable gimmicks Credit: Getty

If you asked someone what they wanted from TVs released in 2025, I doubt they’d say “more software and AI.” Yet, if you look at what TV companies have planned for this year, which is being primarily promoted at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas this week, software and AI are where much of the focus is.

The trend reveals the implications of TV brands increasingly viewing themselves as software rather than hardware companies, with their products being customer data rather than TV sets. This points to an alarming future for smart TVs, where even premium models sought after for top-end image quality and hardware capabilities are stuffed with unwanted gimmicks.

LG’s remote regression

LG has long made some of the best—and most expensive—TVs available. Its OLED lineup, in particular, has appealed to people who use their TVs to watch Blu-rays, enjoy HDR, and the like. However, some features that LG is introducing to high-end TVs this year seem to better serve LG’s business interests than those users’ needs.

Take the new remote. Formerly known as the Magic Remote, LG is calling the 2025 edition the AI Remote. That is already likely to dissuade people who are skeptical about AI marketing in products (research suggests there are many such people). But the more immediately frustrating part is that the new remote doesn’t have a dedicated button for switching input modes, as previous remotes from LG and countless other remotes do.

LG AI remote — LG’s AI Remote. Credit: Tom’s Guide/YouTube

To use the AI Remote to change the TV’s input—a common task for people using their sets to play video games, watch Blu-rays or DVDs, connect their PC, et cetera—you have to long-press the Home Hub button. Single-pressing that button brings up a dashboard of webOS (the operating system for LG TVs) apps. That functionality isn’t immediately apparent to someone picking up the remote for the first time and detracts from the remote’s convenience.

By overlooking other obviously helpful controls (play/pause, fast forward/rewind, and numbers) while including buttons dedicated to things like LG’s free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels and Amazon Alexa, LG missed an opportunity to update its remote in a way centered on how people frequently use TVs. That said, it feels like user convenience didn’t drive this change. Instead, LG seems more focused on getting people to use webOS apps. LG can monetize app usage through, i.e., getting a cut of streaming subscription sign-ups, selling ads on webOS, and selling and leveraging user data.

Moving from hardware provider to software platform

LG, like many other TV OEMs, has been growing its ads and data business. Deals with data analytics firms like Nielsen give it more incentive to acquire customer data. Declining TV margins and rock-bottom prices from budget brands (like Vizio and Roku, which sometimes lose money on TV hardware sales and make up for the losses through ad sales and data collection) are also pushing LG’s software focus. In the case of the AI Remote, software prioritization comes at the cost of an oft-used hardware capability.

Further demonstrating its motives, in September 2023, LG announced intentions to “become a media and entertainment platform company” by offering “services” and a “collection of curated content in products, including LG OLED and LG QNED TVs.” At the time, the South Korean firm said it would invest 1 trillion KRW (about $737.7 million) into its webOS business through 2028.

Low TV margins, improved TV durability, market saturation, and broader economic challenges are all serious challenges for an electronics company like LG and have pushed LG to explore alternative ways to make money off of TVs. However, after paying four figures for TV sets, LG customers shouldn’t be further burdened to help LG accrue revenue.

Google TVs gear up for subscription-based features

There are numerous TV manufacturers, including Sony, TCL, and Philips, relying on Google software to power their TV sets. Numerous TVs announced at CES 2025 will come with what Google calls Gemini Enhanced Google Assistant. The idea that this is something that people using Google TVs have requested is somewhat contradicted by Google Assistant interactions with TVs thus far being “somewhat limited,” per a Lowpass report.

Nevertheless, these TVs are adding far-field microphones so that they can hear commands directed at the voice assistant. For the first time, the voice assistant will include Google’s generative AI chatbot, Gemini, this year—another feature that TV users don’t typically ask for. Despite the lack of demand and the privacy concerns associated with microphones that can pick up audio from far away even when the TV is off, companies are still loading 2025 TVs with far-field mics to support Gemini. Notably, these TVs will likely allow the mics to be disabled, like you can with other TVs using far-field mics. But I still ponder about features/hardware that could have been implemented instead.

Google is also working toward having people pay a subscription fee to use Gemini on their TVs, PCWorld reported.

“For us, our biggest goal is to create enough value that yes, you would be willing to pay for [Gemini],” Google TV VP and GM Shalini Govil-Pai told the publication.

The executive pointed to future capabilities for the Gemini-driven Google Assistant on TVs, including asking it to “suggest a movie like Jurassic Park but suitable for young children” or to show “Bollywood movies that are similar to Mission: Impossible.”

She also pointed to future features like showing weather, top news stories, and upcoming calendar events when someone is near the TV, showing AI-generated news briefings, and the ability to respond to questions like “explain the solar system to a third-grader” with text, audio, and YouTube videos.

But when people have desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones in their homes already, how helpful are these features truly? Govil-Pai admitted to PCWorld that “people are not used to” using their TVs this way “so it will take some time for them to adapt to it.” With this in mind, it seems odd for TV companies to implement new, more powerful microphones to support features that Google acknowledges aren’t in demand. I’m not saying that tech companies shouldn’t get ahead of the curve and offer groundbreaking features that users hadn’t considered might benefit them. But already planning to monetize those capabilities—with a subscription, no less—suggests a prioritization of corporate needs.

Samsung is hungry for AI

People who want to use their TV for cooking inspiration often turn to cooking shows or online cooking videos. However, Samsung wants people to use its TV software to identify dishes they want to try making.

During CES, Samsung announced Samsung Food for TVs. The feature leverages Samsung TVs’ AI processors to identify food displayed on the screen and recommend relevant recipes. Samsung introduced the capability in 2023 as an iOS and Android app after buying the app Whisk in 2019. As noted by TechCrunch, though, other AI tools for providing recipes based on food images are flawed.

So why bother with such a feature? You can get a taste of Samsung’s motivation from its CES-announced deal with Instacart that lets people order off Instacart from Samsung smart fridges that support the capability. Samsung Food on TVs can show users the progress of food orders placed via the Samsung Food mobile app on their TVs. Samsung Food can also create a shopping list for recipe ingredients based on what it knows (using cameras and AI) is in your (supporting) Samsung fridge. The feature also requires a Samsung account, which allows the company to gather more information on users.

Other software-centric features loaded into Samsung TVs this year include a dedicated AI button on the new TVs’ remotes, the ability to use gestures to control the TV but only if you’re wearing a Samsung Galaxy Watch, and AI Karaoke, which lets people sing karaoke using their TVs by stripping vocals from music playing and using their phone as a mic.

Like LG, Samsung has shown growing interest in ads and data collection. In May, for example, it expanded its automatic content recognition tech to track ad exposure on streaming services viewed on its TVs. It also has an ads analytics partnership with Experian.

Large language models on TVs

TVs are mainstream technology in most US homes. Generative AI chatbots, on the other hand, are emerging technology that many people have yet to try. Despite these disparities, LG and Samsung are incorporating Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot into 2025 TVs.

LG claims that Copilot will help its TVs “understand conversational context and uncover subtle user intentions,” adding: “Access to Microsoft Copilot further streamlines the process, allowing users to efficiently find and organize complex information using contextual cues. For an even smoother and more engaging experience, the AI chatbot proactively identifies potential user challenges and offers timely, effective solutions.”

Similarly, Samsung, which is also adding Copilot to some of its smart monitors, said in its announcement that Copilot will help with “personalized content recommendations.” Samsung has also said that Copilot will help its TVs understand strings of commands, like increasing the volume and changing the channel, CNET noted. Samsung said it intends to work with additional AI partners, namely Google, but it’s unclear why it needs multiple AI partners, especially when it hasn’t yet seen how people use large language models on their TVs.

TV-as-a-platform

To be clear, this isn’t a condemnation against new, unexpected TV features. This also isn’t a censure against new TV apps or the usage of AI in TVs.

AI marketing hype is real and misleading regarding the demand, benefits, and possibilities of AI in consumer gadgets. However, there are some cases when innovative software, including AI, can improve things that TV users not only care about but actually want or need. For example, some TVs use AI for things like trying to optimize sound, color, and/or brightness, including based on current environmental conditions or upscaling. This week, Samsung announced AI Live Translate for TVs. The feature is supposed to be able to translate foreign language closed captions in real time, providing a way for people to watch more international content. It’s a feature I didn’t ask for but can see being useful and changing how I use my TV.

But a lot of this week’s TV announcements underscore an alarming TV-as-a-platform trend where TV sets are sold as a way to infiltrate people’s homes so that apps, AI, and ads can be pushed onto viewers. Even high-end TVs are moving in this direction and amplifying features with questionable usefulness, effectiveness, and privacy considerations. Again, I can’t help but wonder what better innovations could have come out this year if more R&D was directed toward hardware and other improvements that are more immediately rewarding for users than karaoke with AI.

The TV industry is facing economic challenges, and, understandably, TV brands are seeking creative solutions for making money. But for consumers, that means paying for features that you’re likely to ignore. Ultimately, many people just want a TV with amazing image and sound quality. Finding that without having to sift through a bunch of fluff is getting harder.

Why I’m disappointed with the TVs at CES 2025 Read More »

The optical disc onslaught continues, with LG quitting Blu-ray players

Blu-ray, dvd, lg, streaming, Tech / Paul Patrick / December 12, 2024

Speaking of things staying the same, Blu-rays and DVDs also won’t have their content altered after purchase, as we’ve seen happen to digital versions of media.

While certainly in decline, the US Blu-ray and DVD disc market made $1.34 billion in the year ending in March 2023, according to market research group Circana. Data from the first half of 2024 from entertainment trade association The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) found that while overall Blu-ray and DVD sales declined 22.2 percent during that time period, there were some areas of growth, too:

Consumers continue to show strong demand for collectible disc formats with SteelBooks, [or Blu-rays sold in collectible steel cases], up 44 percent and 4K UHD Blu-ray catalog sales growing by 16 percent.

A *Dune: Part Two* SteelBook. Credit: Steelbook

Furthermore, sales of newly released Blu-rays decreased more slowly, at 14 percent, according to DEG. A look at the top-selling Blu-rays for the week ending on November 30 based on data from Circana shows recent films, like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Deadpool & Wolverine, topping the list.

And it was only about a year ago that 4K Blu-rays of the megahit Oppenheimer actually sold out.

There are still options

For those interested in a new Blu-ray player, though, the options are more limited with LG exiting the market, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Even though brands like Panasonic and Sony haven’t made new Blu-ray players in years, they continue to sell them. And the market still sees the occasional new release, such as the Magnetar UPD900 that came out last year.

With the benefits of physical media still present, the demise of LG Blu-ray players is notable, but not defining, for physical media aficionados.

For those who don’t want to use their Blu-ray player anymore, there’s always the option to turn it into a laser-scanning microscope.

The optical disc onslaught continues, with LG quitting Blu-ray players Read More »

LG TVs start showing ads on screensavers

ads, lg, Tech, TVs / Rejus Almole / September 25, 2024

Ad fatigue —

LG’s TV business is heightening focus on selling ads and tracking.

Scharon Harding – Sep 25, 2024 6: 01 pm UTC

LG's 2024 G4 OLED TV. — Enlarge / LG’s 2024 G4 OLED TV.

LG

Last month, Ars Technica went on a deep dive into the rapid growth of ads in TV software. Less than three weeks later, LG announced that it was adding advertisements to its TVs’ screensavers. The move embodies how ads are a growing and virtually inescapable part of the TV-viewing experience—even when you’re not watching anything.

As you might have expected, LG didn’t make a big, splashy announcement to consumers or LG TV owners about this new ad format. Instead, and ostensibly strategically, the September 5 announcement was made to advertisers. LG appears to know that screensaver ads aren’t a feature that excites users. Still, it and many other TV makers are happy to shove ads into the software of already-purchased devices.

LG TV owners may have already spotted the ads or learned about them via FlatpanelsHD, which today reported seeing a full-screen ad on the screensaver for LG’s latest flagship TV, the G4. “The ad appeared before the conventional screensaver kicks in,” per the website, “and was localized to the region the TV was set to.” (You can see images that FlatpanelsHD provided of the ads here, here, and here.) The reviewer reported seeing an ad for LG’s free ad-supported streaming channel, LG Channels, as well as third-party ads.

LG has put these ads on by default, according to FlatpanelsHD, but you can disable them in the TVs’ settings. Still, the introduction of ads during a screensaver, shown during a pause in TV viewing that some TVs use as an opportunity to show art or personal photos that amplify the space, illustrates the high priority that ad dollars and tracking have among today’s TVs—even new top-of-the-line ones.

According to LG’s ads arm, LG AD Solutions, the screensaver ads activate “across the home screen, LG Channels, and Content Store on LG smart TVs.” The point is to capitalize “on idle screen time, turning what may be perceived as a period of downtime into a valuable engagement opportunity.” LG AD Solutions claims that it has commissioned testing showing that screensaver ads drive “on average a 2.5 times higher lift in brand awareness.”

In a statement, LG AD Solutions CTO Dave Rudnick seemed to acknowledge that people whose TVs are showing screensavers are often trying to do something other than look at adverts.

“In the past, a screensaver ad might have indicated that viewers had left the room, but today’s viewing habits are markedly different,” he said. “Now, 93 percent of viewers multitask while watching TV, engaging in activities like messaging, shopping, browsing social media, or playing games on their phones.”

TV advertising: The next generation

The addition of screensaver ads that users can disable may sound like a comparatively smaller disruption as far as TV operating system (OS) ads go. But the incorporation of new ad formats into TV OSes’ various nooks and crannies is a slippery slope. Some TV brands are even centered more on ads than selling hardware. Unfortunately, it’s up to OS operators and TV OEMs to decide where the line is, including for already-purchased TVs. User and advertiser interests don’t always align, making TV streaming platforms without third-party ads, such as Apple TV, increasingly scarce gems.

LG has been expanding its business for selling and tracking ads shown on LG TVs. It has a partnership with Nielsen that sends automatic content-recognition data gathered from LG TVs to Nielsen, for example. Additionally, LG has boasted of plans to evolve from a hardware business into a “media and entertainment platform,” which includes selling ads. The South Korean company has also expressed strong interest in shopable TV ads.

For its part, LG’s growing ad interests have led it to launch a new LG Ad Solutions division this month that’s focused on developing new ways to show ads to and track smart TV users. In a statement, Rudnick said Innovation Labs is seeking to “push the boundaries” of smart-TV advertising and drive “next-generation advertising,” including interactive ads, on smart TVs.

LG is adapting to a changing market

LG claims to have done its homework before deciding to inject ads into its TVs’ screensavers. LG Ad Solutions-commissioned research, which was reportedly conducted and measured by Lucid, a consumer market research firm, found that screensaver ads increase brand awareness, especially among adults 45 and up and women with a household income greater than $80,000 (assumedly annually).

LG’s ads push comes as it’s challenged to continue finding revenue and growth from its TV business while TVs get more advanced and reliable and are able to get new features via software updates. Meanwhile, advertisers are challenged to find ways to continue reaching TV viewers in a world shifting from linear TV to streaming and web-based entertainment that’s often sold with the option of being commercial-free. Although lower-priced TVs, like those running Roku OS, may have a reputation for more ads, they’re also doing well in the market.

Market conditions and changing TV users’ habits are forcing LG to adapt the way it makes money from TVs. Unfortunately for those adverse to ads, that means pushing more commercials and finding better ways to track viewers.

LG TVs start showing ads on screensavers Read More »

Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse.

ads, Amazon, Features, fire tv, lg, Roku, samsung, Tech, TVs / Paul Patrick / August 19, 2024

The TV business isn’t just about selling TVs anymore. Companies are increasingly seeing viewers, not TV sets, as their most lucrative asset.

Over the past few years, TV makers have seen rising financial success from TV operating systems that can show viewers ads and analyze their responses. Rather than selling as many TVs as possible, brands like LG, Samsung, Roku, and Vizio are increasingly, if not primarily, seeking recurring revenue from already-sold TVs via ad sales and tracking.

How did we get here? And what implications does an ad- and data-obsessed industry have for the future of TVs and the people watching them?

The value of software

Success in the TV industry used to mean selling as many TV sets as possible. But with smart TVs becoming mainstream and hardware margins falling, OEMs have sought new ways to make money. TV OS providers can access a more frequent revenue source at higher margins, which has led to a viewing experience loaded with ads. They can be served from the moment you pick up your remote, which may feature streaming service ads in the form of physical buttons.

Some TV brands already prioritize data collection and the ability to sell ads, and most are trying to boost their appeal to advertisers. Smart TV OSes have become the cash cow of the TV business, with providers generating revenue by licensing the software and through revenue sharing of in-app purchases and subscriptions.

A huge part of TV OS revenue comes from selling ads, including on the OS’s home screen and screensaver and through free, ad-supported streaming television channels. GroupM, the world’s largest media investment company, reported that smart TV ad revenue grew 20 percent from 2023 to 2024 and will grow another 20 percent to reach $46 billion next year. In September 2023, Patrick Horner, practice leader of consumer electronics at analyst Omdia, reported that “each new connected TV platform user generates around $5 per quarter in data and advertising revenue.”

Automatic content recognition (ACR) tech is at the heart of the smart TV ads business. Most TV brands say users can opt out of ACR, but we’ve already seen Vizio take advantage of the feature without user permission. ACR is also sometimes turned on by default, and the off switch is often buried in a settings menu. Including ACR on a TV at all says a lot about a TV maker’s priorities. Most users have almost nothing to gain from ACR and face privacy concerns by sharing information—sometimes in real time—about what they do with their TVs.

At this point, consumers have come to expect ads and tracking on budget TVs from names like Vizio or Roku. But the biggest companies in TV are working on turning their sets into data-prolific billboards, too.

When TVs watch you back, so do corporations

In recent years, we’ve seen companies like LG and Samsung increase their TVs’ ad capabilities as advertisers become more eager to access tracking data from TVs.

LG, for example, started sharing data gathered from its TVs with Nielsen, giving the data and market measurement firm “the largest ACR data footprint in the industry,” according to an October announcement. The deal gives Nielsen streaming and linear TV data from LG TVs and provides firms buying ads on LG TVs with “‘Always On’ streaming measurement and big data from LG Ad Solutions” via Nielsen’s ONE Ads dashboard.

LG, which recently unveiled a goal of evolving its hardware business into an ad-pushing “media and entertainment platform company,” expects there to be 300 million webOS TVs in homes by 2026. That represents a huge data-collection and recurring-revenue opportunity. In September, LG said it would invest 1 trillion KRW (about $737.7 million) through 2028 into its “webOS business,” or the business behind its smart TV OS. The company said updates will include improving webOS’s UI, AI-based recommendations, and search capabilities.

Similarly, Samsung recently updated its ACR tech to track exposure to ads viewed on its TVs via streaming services instead of just from linear TV. Samsung is also trying to make its ACR data more valuable for ad targeting, including through a deal signed in December with analytics firm Experian.

Representatives for LG and Samsung declined to comment to Ars Technica about how much of their respective company’s business is ad sales. But the deals they’ve made with data-collection firms signal big interest in turning their products into lucrative smart TVs. In this case, “smart” isn’t about Internet connectivity but rather how well the TV understands its viewer.

Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse. Read More »

Thousands of LG TVs are vulnerable to takeover—here’s how to ensure yours isn’t one

Biz & IT, hacking, Internet of things, lg, Security, TVs / Kris Guyer / April 9, 2024

As many as 91,000 LG TVs face the risk of being commandeered unless they receive a just-released security update patching four critical vulnerabilities discovered late last year.

The vulnerabilities are found in four LG TV models that collectively comprise slightly more than 88,000 units around the world, according to results returned by the Shodan search engine for Internet-connected devices. The vast majority of those units are located in South Korea, followed by Hong Kong, the US, Sweden, and Finland. The models are:

LG43UM7000PLA running webOS 4.9.7 – 5.30.40
OLED55CXPUA running webOS 5.5.0 – 04.50.51
OLED48C1PUB running webOS 6.3.3-442 (kisscurl-kinglake) – 03.36.50
OLED55A23LA running webOS 7.3.1-43 (mullet-mebin) – 03.33.85

Starting Wednesday, updates are available through these devices’ settings menu.

Got root?

According to Bitdefender—the security firm that discovered the vulnerabilities—malicious hackers can exploit them to gain root access to the devices and inject commands that run at the OS level. The vulnerabilities, which affect internal services that allow users to control their sets using their phones, make it possible for attackers to bypass authentication measures designed to ensure only authorized devices can make use of the capabilities.

“These vulnerabilities let us gain root access on the TV after bypassing the authorization mechanism,” Bitdefender researchers wrote Tuesday. “Although the vulnerable service is intended for LAN access only, Shodan, the search engine for Internet-connected devices, identified over 91,000 devices that expose this service to the Internet.”

The key vulnerability making these threats possible resides in a service that allows TVs to be controlled using LG’s ThinkQ smartphone app when it’s connected to the same local network. The service is designed to require the user to enter a PIN code to prove authorization, but an error allows someone to skip this verification step and become a privileged user. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2023-6317.

Once attackers have gained this level of control, they can go on to exploit three other vulnerabilities, specifically:

CVE-2023-6318, which allows the attackers to elevate their access to root
CVE-2023-6319, which allows for the injection of OS commands by manipulating a library for showing music lyrics
CVE-2023-6320, which lets an attacker inject authenticated commands by manipulating the com.webos.service.connectionmanager/tv/setVlanStaticAddress application interface.

Thousands of LG TVs are vulnerable to takeover—here’s how to ensure yours isn’t one Read More »

The 5 most interesting PC monitors from CES 2024

ASUS, CES, dell, Features, lg, Monitors, msi, oled, Tech / Mike M. / January 14, 2024

Dell UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U4025QW) — Enlarge / Dell’s upcoming UltraSharp U4025QW.

Scharon Harding

Each year, the Consumer Electronics show brings a ton of new computer monitor announcements, and it’s often difficult to figure out what’s worth paying attention to. When it comes to the most interesting models this year, there were two noteworthy themes.

First of all, my complaint in 2022 about there not being enough OLED monitors was largely addressed this year. CES revealed many plans for OLED monitors in 2024, with a good number of those screens set to be appropriately sized for desktops. That includes the introduction of 32-inch, non-curved QD-OLED options and other smaller screens for people who have been waiting for OLED monitors in more varied form factors.

Secondly, with more people blending their work and home lives these days, CES brought hints that the line between gaming monitors and premium monitors used for general or even professional purposes will be blurring more in the future. We’re not at the point where the best productivity monitor and ideal gaming monitor perfectly align in a single product. But this week’s announcements have me imagining ways that future monitors could better serve users with serious work and play interests.

For now, here are the most intriguing monitors from CES 2024.

Dell UltraSharps hit 120 Hz

Dell started adding 120 Hz models to its UltraSharp series.

Scharon Harding
This monitor is VESA DisplayHDR 600-certified.

Dell
Ports include Thunderbolt 4 with 140 W power delivery. There’s also a pop-out box of ports by the monitor’s chin.

Dell

Dell UltraSharp monitors have long attracted workers and creatives and, with their USB-C connectivity, even Mac users. The last few CES shows have shown Dell attempting to improve its lineup, with the most landmark innovation being the introduction of IPS Black. With CES 2024, though, Dell focused on improved video resolution.

Dell’s UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U4025QW), pictured above, is a 39.7-inch ultrawide with a 5120×2160 resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. As most monitors are aimed at workers still using 60 Hz, this is a big step up for people with systems capable of supporting 11,059,200 pixels at 120 frames per second. Such speeds have been relegated to gaming monitors for a while, but with TVs moving to higher refresh rates (with encouragement from gaming consoles), more people are becoming accustomed to faster screens. And with other attributes, like a 2500R curve, we wouldn’t blame workers for doing some light gaming on the U4025QW, too.

But Dell says the refresh rate boost is about increasing eye comfort. The UltraSharp U4025QW is one of two monitors with 5-star certification from TÜV Rheinland’s new Eye Comfort program, which Dell helped create, a Dell spokesperson told me last month at a press event.

According to TÜV, the certification program “is no longer limited to the old low-blue-light or flicker-free labels” and now “covers a broader range of safety indicators, such as ambient brightness, color temperature adjustment and regulation, and brightness.” New requirements include brightness and color temperature control for different ambient lighting. Dell’s ultrawide covers this with an integrated ambient light sensor.

The certification also requires a minimum 120 Hz refresh rate, which is probably where Dell got the number from. A Dell spokesperson confirmed to Ars that the use of IPS Black didn’t impact the monitor’s ability to get TÜV certifications and that it could have theoretically earned five stars with another panel type, like VA.

Dell announced bringing 120 Hz to the UltraSharp lineup in November when it debuted two 24-inch and two 27-inch UltraSharp monitors with 120 Hz refresh rates. At CES, Dell proved this upgrade wasn’t a fluke relegated to its smaller UltraSharps and went all in, bringing the refresh rate to a top-line ultrawide 5K Thunderbolt 4 monitor.

The U4025QW has an updated version of ComfortView Plus, which uses hardware to lower blue light levels. I’ve seen it function without making colors turn yellowish, as some other blue-light-fighting techniques do. After not significantly updating ComfortView Plus since its 2020 release, Dell now says it’s using a “more advanced LED backlight” to reduce blue light exposure from 50 percent to under 35 percent.

The effects are minimal, though. Dell-provided numbers claim the reduced blue light exposure could reduce eye fatigue by 8 percent after 50 minutes, but we should take that with a grain of salt. It’s nearly impossible to quantify how well blue light reduction techniques work from person to person.

The UltraSharp U4025QW releases on February 27, starting at $2,400.

The 5 most interesting PC monitors from CES 2024 Read More »

Meta is Reportedly Partnering with LG to Create Apple Vision Pro Competitor

apple vision pro, lg, lg electronics, Meta, meta lg partnership, Mixed Reality, News, vision pro / Paul Patrick / September 4, 2023

Meta is reportedly teaming up with South Korean tech giant LG Electronics to offer up competition to the Apple’s forthcoming Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which is slated to arrive sometime in 2024.

South Korea’s Maekyung (Korean) is reporting on two new Meta headsets: a low-cost Quest model that will be priced at “less than $200” coming in 2024, and a high-priced model in a joint venture with LG in 2025, which is supposedly set to take on Apple Vision Pro.

The report maintains the name of the Meta/LG headset will be ‘Meta Quest 4 Pro’.

Mass production of the so-called Quest 4 Pro is allegedly being handled by LG Electronics, and LG Display, with LG Innotek and LG Energy Solution supplying parts.

Provided the report is true, it seems some very distinct battle lines are being drawn. Samsung announced earlier this year that it was working with Qualcomm and Google to develop an Android-powered XR device, which may also be positioned to compete against Apple and Meta.

Meta is Reportedly Partnering with LG to Create Apple Vision Pro Competitor Read More »