tv-and-home-cinema130.295 min read
Dream OLED: LG's FLiPP panel could brighten and cheapen giant TVs
9 days ago•Source: What Hi-Fi?
Tv And Home Cinema News
The latest tv and home cinema stories, summarized by AI
Featured Tv And Home Cinema Stories
View original source
151.7 min•23 days ago
Marantz Unveils Four AV Receivers with Upgraded Sound and Connectivity
Marantz expands its home‑cinema lineup with four new AV receivers—Cinema 50 Series 2, Cinema 60 Series 2, Cinema 60 DAB Series 2 and Cinema 70s Series 2—each packing a 32‑bit, eight‑channel DAC. The flagship Cinema 50 offers nine amplification channels and 11.4 processing channels (with a Dolby Atmos Channel Expander), while the 60 and 70s models use seven channels (the 60 at 100W per channel, the 70s at 50W). Optional Dirac Live Room Correction, HEOS multi‑room, Bluetooth, and a future LE Audio update accompany features like 1440p passthrough and HDMI 2.1. Availability begins in August (with regional variations for some models) and prices range from about £950 / $1,500 / AU$1,800 up to £1,850 / $3,000 / AU$3,500 for the flagship.
More Top Stories
2
Prime Day 2026: expert-picked cinema deals on TVs, soundbars and projectors
What Hi-Fi?•2 months ago
3
Monitor Audio Radius 4G debuts compact, high‑fidelity speakers for hi‑fi and home cinema
What Hi-Fi?•2 months ago
More Tv And Home Cinema Stories
WiiM Debuts Dolby Atmos Soundbar, Eyeing Sonos
WiiM has unveiled its first Dolby Atmos soundbar, the WiiM Bar, a 3.0.2-channel eight-driver setup with top-firing height speakers, RoomFit auto-calibration, HDMI eARC, and streaming via the WiiM Home app (Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz, Roon). It launches in gloss black in July for £449 / $479, aiming to disrupt the market and challenge Sonos Beam Gen 2.
Sony Bravia 7 II Hands-On: True RGB Mini LED Delivers Bright, Vibrant Color
What Hi‑Fi.’s hands‑on with the Sony Bravia 7 II highlights a bold RGB Mini LED implementation with a new ‘mirage’ stand that hides cables and a refreshed remote. The 65-inch sample shows bright, punchy pictures with strong color and good wide‑angle performance thanks to X Wide Pro and the RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro, plus Studio Calibrated streaming modes. HDR10+ is not supported, there are four HDMI ports (two full‑bandwidth HDMI 2.1), and the launch price rises across sizes (including 50‑inch and 98‑inch) as Sony competes with LG and others. A full verdict will come after thorough lab testing.
Sony Bravia 9 II: True RGB ambition meets OLED competition
The hands‑on with Sony’s Bravia 9 II praises the True RGB RGB Mini LED backlight for superb brightness and color accuracy, a striking Mirage Stand, and improved built‑in sound, but notes lingering bloom/tint issues on tricky content and only two HDMI 2.1 ports, meaning it isn’t a clear OLED killer yet.
Samsung's 2026 TV lineup centers on RGB Micro LED, with OLED options still in the mix
What Hi-Fi previews Samsung's 2026 TV lineup, which moves Neo QLED to mid-range and pushes RGB Micro LED to the foreground while expanding OLED options. In hands-on time, the RGB Micro LED R95H impressed with strong brightness and contrast on a 65-inch sample; the S90H mid-range model adds Glare Free for daytime viewing across sizes (42–83 inches) with a trade-off in blacks, and the top S99H OLED flagship uses QD-OLED for vivid color and brightness. Samsung remains tight-lipped on exact panel details, and full reviews are forthcoming.
LG’s 2026 OLED lineup adds Samsung-backed Eclipsa Audio alongside Atmos
LG’s 2026 TV lineup (including C6, G6 and W6 OLEDs plus RGB Mini LED models) will support Eclipsa Audio, Samsung and Google’s open-source 3D‑audio format, as an Atmos rival. Playback works through the TV’s built-in speakers or HDMI eARC devices, and the format is currently not supported by streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, or Apple TV+—it's aimed at YouTube content creators. This marks LG embracing a rival’s IAMF standard on its own TVs.
LG C6 OLED: premium tech, muddled lineup
LG’s C6 OLED introduces premium features for its large 77" and 83" sizes with a Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel and the Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor, effectively making these models feel like a “G5+.” Meanwhile, smaller 55" and 65" C6s stick with WOLED, leaving the C-series in a gray area between mid-range and flagship. LG has nudged the C6 toward top-tier tech, but the lineup overlap and mixed signals across generations make it a confusing buy without hands-on testing to separate genuine differences from marketing.
LG withdraws from the 8K OLED race as Samsung presses on
LG Display has paused development of 8K OLED panels, effectively pulling LG out of the 8K TV market for now. The company’s remaining 8K option is LCD-based QNED models, while Samsung remains active in flagship 8K sets. The move comes amid scarce native 8K content and high prices, with Sony also halting 8K production, underscoring the difficult outlook for 8K TVs.
HDR's Next Wave: Dolby Vision 2 and HDR10+ Advanced Set the Stage for 2026 TVs
At CES 2026, Dolby Vision 2 and HDR10+ Advanced demos showcased brighter, more detailed HDR with improved motion handling and creator-driven metadata, as brands like Samsung and Hisense/TCL/Philips prepare to bring the formats to mainstream TVs this year. HDR10+ Advanced will have Amazon Prime Video as an early content partner, while Dolby Vision 2 Max targets higher-end models. While the tech looks promising, real-world testing and content availability remain key questions for 2026.