Samsung has launched its flagship QN990C Neo QLED TV in the US and, at 98 inches, is the largest 8K TV the company has ever produced.
At $40,000, the new TV’s price is well above other 98-inch TVs on the market from the likes of TCL that use a mini-LED backlight, and it costs five times as much as Samsung’s own 98-inch Q80C QLED model.
Aside from its size, the big draw here is the TV’s 8K resolution Neo QLED display panel. Samsung’s top 8K TVs previously maxed out at 85 inches, a size that’s starting to seem small in the fast-growing world of large screen sets. To put that statement in context, the company will be showing the QN990C at CEDIA Expo 2023 this week alongside its The Wall All-In-One, a 4K MicroLED display available pre-assembled in 146 and 110-inch screen sizes.
The new QN990C uses the company’s Neural Quantum Processor to upscale 4K and HD footage to 8K using “AI-based formulas.” It also has 8K AI depth enhancement that boosts highlights in parts of images with strong visual focus, a process I found effective when I did a hands-on test of the Samsung QN900C, another 8K model.
Other image quality improvements in the new QN990C include an anti-glare screen for viewing in bright room lighting, and Samsung’s Ultra Viewing Angle technology, which makes images look uniformly clear from both on-axis and center seats. The TV’s four HDMI 2.1 ports support a 4K 120Hz input from next-generation gaming consoles, and it also has a Samsung Gaming Hub for playing cloud-based games from Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and more.
With an all-metal 360-degree design and an included kickstand, Samsung clearly wants the QN990C to look good from all angles, though the “impossibly slim profile” kit also comes with a slim-fit wall bracket. Audio also gets attention on the new TV, with a built-in 6.4.4 Dolby Atmos speaker system and Cinema Object Tracking Sound to enhance the presence of sound effects in movies.
Advice: 8K TVs have to be huge to make sense
8K TVs haven’t really made a dent in the TV market for two main reasons. The first is that there isn’t much 8K content to fill the ultra-high resolution screen of an 8K TV, aside from clips streaming from YouTube. The second, and more compelling reason, is that 4K TVs already look fantastically detailed, even if you’re watching with an ultra-large screen set.
Despite the market challenges 8K TVs face, Samsung has been advancing with the technology and releasing new 8K models year after year. The hands-on QN900C test I conducted earlier in 2023 was my first time spending quality time with an 8K TV, and I was ultimately very impressed with the detail enhancement Samsung’s Neural Quantum Processor brought to 4K sources. My previous experiences of upscaling video using “AI-based formulas” had been somewhat off-putting, but Samsung had clearly developed the processing to not only be transparent to the video source, but actually improve it.
Of course, anyone who ends up spending $40,000 on an 8K TV will expect to use it one day to watch actual 8K programming, and I’m pretty sure more of that will be available on streaming services in the future . But to fully appreciate the extremely high resolution that 8K offers, and to do so from a reasonable viewing distance, you need an ultra-large TV, which is where Samsung’s new 98-inch QN990C starts to make sense.
Will Samsung end up selling many of its new 98-inch 8K TVs? I can’t help but think this prospect is unlikely given the current high price. But compared to the company’s 110- and 148-inch MicroLEDs also on display at this year’s CEDIA Expo, which are so expensive there isn’t even a price on Samsung’s website, the 98-inch QN990C comes across as a relative bargain.