Samsung, LG go all out to lure adult gamers to LED TVs

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., South Korea’s two largest TV makers, are striving to attract gamers to their large-size LED TVs as big-screen gaming gains popularity in the stay-at-home non-contact era.

According to the electronics industry on May 10, LG plans to launch a 42-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV in the second half of this year, when its display affiliate LG Display Co. is slated to mass produce 42-inch panels.

Currently, LG’s smallest OLED TV measures 48 inches, but the company will unveil a smaller 42-inch model to better appeal to gamers, emerging as key customers in the OLED TV segment that offers stunning picture quality.

“With the 42-inch model, we expect people to enjoy gaming on TV to the fullest in an immersive environment,” said an LG official.

LG’s OLED TV lineup launched this year will have a new “Game Optimizer” dashboard that provides quick access to settings like the variable refresh rate (VRR), he said. With the new function, users can pick between different game genres for the TV to automatically apply picture optimization.

CERTIFIED FOR GAMING TV PERFORMANCE

Samsung, Korea’s top TV maker, has also fortified the gaming functions in its 2021 Neo QLED or “quantum dot LED” TV lineup.

Samsun said all its Neo QLED TVs will be equipped with the AMD FreeSync Premium Pro to enable an exceptionally dynamic visual gaming experience.

Last month, the company said four models of its 2021 Neo QLED TV lineup received the industry’s first certification for gaming TV performance from Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker (VDE), a German-based electrical engineering certification institute.

The certification recognizes Samsung’s high dynamic range (HDR) technology with higher brightness and a lowered input lag during every scene of gameplay, it said.

Input lag refers to the period of time from when an electrical signal is sent from the gamepad to when it is displayed on the screen. A TV with a lower input lag will provide gamers with a more immersive gaming experience.

“In the past year, our customers’ use of gaming functions on QLED TVs has more than doubled, indicating that more people are using their TVs for gaming,” said a Samsung official.

AGE OF GAMERS EXPANDS UPWARDS

According to the Games Marketing Insight for 2021 announced by Facebook Inc., the US had seen 28 million new gamers in a year since March 2020, signifying their growing influence in the gaming TV market. South Korea had 9.4 million new gamers in the same period.

Market researcher Omdia forecasts shipments of TV panels with a 120Hz refresh rate will increase 7% this year from 2020 while total TV panel shipments are expected to decline 1% in the same period.

“We understand one in every 10 TVs sold in the market is a gaming TV. Gamers used to be teenagers. But now the age of the average gamer has increased to include a much older demographic, meaning increased purchasing power for gaming TVs,” said an industry official.

Write to Su-Bin Lee at lsb@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.