LG announces 2021 NEXTGEN TVs

Wednesday, January 13th, 2021
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As NEXTGEN TV Services Reach Majority of Viewers This Year, Co-Developer of ATSC 3.0 Standard Expands Consumer Receiver Options

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — LG Electronics, co-developer of the ATSC 3.0 next-generation television standard, announced its 2021 NEXTGEN TV lineup as American broadcasters prepare to launch services this year in 20 more cities with signals reaching the majority of TV viewers in America. Unveiled at Digital CES® 2021, the new 4K and 8K Ultra HD TVs – in 55-, 65-, 77- and 88-inch screen sizes – represent the powerful combination of LG OLED and NEXTGEN TV technologies.

LG’s 2021 NEXTGEN TV lineup features OLED “evo” technology, the next step in the OLED TV evolution of OLED TV that delivers better luminosity for higher brightness and punchy images. Earning a 2021 CES Innovation Award, this technology further enhances the NEXTGEN TV experience with amazing clarity, detail and realism.

In addition, to help grow the NEXTGEN TV market, LG has integrated the HD HomeRun app into the new webOS 6.0 smart TV platform being launched in dozens of 2021 LG OLED, QNED and Nanocell 4K and 8K TVs. This interfaces with the ATSC 3.0 receiver in the HD HomeRun Connect gateway device.

“The stars are aligning to make 2021 the tipping point for NEXTGEN TV powered by ATSC 3.0,” said Dr. Jong Kim, senior vice president, LG Electronics and president of LG’s Zenith R&D Lab. “Despite the pandemic, broadcasters kept the foot on the accelerator last year, and that sets the stage for NEXTGEN TV services being available to the majority of American viewers this year. With more ATSC 3.0 TV stations on the air and more ways for consumers to experience NEXTGEN TV, optimism and enthusiasm are watchwords for 2021.”

NEXTGEN TV powered by ATSC 3.0 – billed by broadcasters as “The Future of Television” – unlocks new features, additional content, more control and personalization for broadcast viewers. Key features of NEXTGEN TV include immersive video with brilliant color, sharper images and deeper contrast. Viewers will experience Voice+ audio clarity for better dialogue enhancement and interactive capabilities to get more out of live sports, news, events and more in real time. They’ll also have access to enriched content such as an on-demand video library, an innovative TV guide and AWARN advanced emergency alert notifications.

Along with LG’s proven fourth-generation ATSC 3.0 receiver/demodulator, 2021 LG OLED 4K NEXTGEN TVs include the α (Alpha) 9 Gen 4 AI (artificial intelligence) processor that leverages deep learning to enhance upscaling, which helps display picture-perfect content on the large, self-emissive displays. With its ability to detect content genre, the α9 Gen 4 processor further optimizes picture quality, amount of light in scenes and ambient conditions in various viewing environments.

LG 2021 NEXTGEN TVs offer an exceptionally intuitive user experience thanks to the company’s updated webOS 6.0 smart TV platform. With a completely redesigned home screen as well as performance and feature improvements, webOS 6.0 provides faster access to apps and simpler content discovery capability with even more personalized recommendations.

NEXTGEN TVs for the U.S. market follow LG’s early leadership in ATSC 3.0-enabled products in South Korea since 2017. The U.S. NEXTGEN TV launch also reflects LG’s key role in the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s suite of ATSC 3.0 standards that merges the capabilities of broadcast and broadband for the first time.

Core technologies developed by LG and its U.S. R&D lab Zenith are included in the majority of the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer Standard. With literally thousands of related patented inventions, LG contributed to all layers of the ATSC 3.0 standard. Noteworthy contributions include the A/322 transmission system standard and A/330 link-layer protocol standard, among others.

Development of ATSC 3.0 technologies over the past decade represents the latest LG/Zenith innovations in digital television. In addition to LG’s pioneering work on the ATSC 3.0 Standard, its Zenith subsidiary, which was a founding member of ATSC in 1982, invented the core transmission system at the heart of the ATSC A/53 Digital Television Standard, approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in 1996.