LG Pushes Vudu's 30-Title Dolby Vision Support as It Nears Launch of Super UHD TVs
Pushing streaming video service Vudu support as the current source of Dolby Vision content, LG announced pricing and availability of its 2016 Super UHD TVs in a news release Thursday. Without an Ultra HD Blu-ray player to support the launch on the content side, LG focused on Vudu’s current roster of 30-plus Dolby Vision titles as a way for customers to experience Dolby Vision. It repeated Dolby’s estimate that 100 Dolby Vision titles will be on the market by year's end.
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LG also cited Amazon Video support of HDR10 on LG TVs and said it will “soon begin offering a Dolby Vision enhanced experience.” Netflix looks "forward to delivering the potential of HDR across a growing number of titles over the coming years,” said Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt in a statement. An LG spokeswoman told us dates weren’t available for HDR availability from Amazon or Netflix, other than “soon.” On an Ultra HD Blu-ray player with HDR, she said, “no announcement just yet.”
The nine LG Super UHD TVs rolling out this spring support Dolby Vision and HDR10 and “are the first to be compatible with all HDR formats,” said LG Vice President-Marketing David VanderWaal. Three series comprise the Super UHD line: UH9500, UH8500 and UH7700, said the company. Sizes range from 55 to 86 inches.
In the UH9500 series, available later this spring, the 86-inch model 86UH9500 is $9,999 and the 65-inch 65UH9500, $3,999. Models in the UH8500 series are due later this month, except for the 75-inch 75UH8500 due later this spring at $4,999. The other UH8500 TVs: the 65-inch 65UH8500, $2,999; 60-inch 60UH8500, $2,299; and 55-inch 55UH8500, $1,999. Rounding out the Super UHD line is the UH7700 series, available later this month: 65-inch 65UH7700, $2,799; 60-inch model 60UH7700, $2,099; and 55-inch 55UH7700, $1,799, LG said.
On the picture side, LG is promoting its IPS (in-plane switching) and 4K quantum-dot display technologies, “which enhance color reproduction," said the company. The sets use 10-bit processing, it said. Audio is supplied by Harman/Kardon.
Of LG’s 2016 HDR-capable TVs, the OLED line and Super UHD series incorporate Dolby Vision and HDR10, while the HDR Pro line -- comprising the UH7500, 6500 and 6100 series TVs -- are HDR10 only. Responding to our question on potential consumer confusion between HDR10 and Dolby Vision, the spokeswoman didn’t have an immediate answer but said LG is working with Dolby and retailers on a “training set” to answer the question. It’s an industry-wide concern, she said.
LG will differentiate its three series of HDR-capable TVs with special logos. The “OLED advantage,” in addition to picture quality, will be that the 2016 line will be UHD Alliance-certified as Ultra HD Premium, said the spokeswoman. LG will use several designations of LG marketing terms at retail to help delineate differences in HDR-capable TVs, she said. The three LG HDR TVs will be labeled with special logos: OLED HDR, which has Dolby Vision capability and the Ultra HD Premium designation; the Super UHD series will get the HDR Super label with the Dolby Vision logo and “messaging” around HDR10; and the UH7500, UH6500 and UH6100 TVs will be labeled HDR Pro and described as HDR10-compatible, she said.
The spokeswoman played down the possibility LG is concerned TV makers’ various flavors and brand designations for HDR could confuse consumers and turn them off from buying. “We’re not,” she said. She used the phrase Sony also used last month (see 1602160063) when it presented its 4K HDR Ultra HD strategy on a news-media tour in New York: “Seeing is believing,” she said. She also touted LG’s strategy of offering a “complete HDR solution for anyone looking for HDR. No matter what HDR you think you want, you’ll get it on our TVs,” because the top two lines have both Dolby Vision and HDR10, she said.
That leaves the HDR Pro line of HDR10-only TVs that don’t offer that complete solution. On concerns a consumer will get an HDR Pro TV home and be unhappy to find out it doesn’t have Dolby Vision, the spokeswoman said, “Our marketing will be fairly clear on that so we’re not concerned." She wasn’t able to provide additional marketing details yet.
Dealers at the ProSource Summit last week applauded Sony’s efforts to educate consumers on the latest Ultra HD TV technologies, including HDR, with interactive displays consumers can use to get more information on features. On whether LG will offer dealers similar tools to demystify features such as HDR10 and Dolby Vision, the spokeswoman said, “We are working on something,” but the company is “not quite ready to announce it.” The program will launch in “coming weeks,” she said. Demo material for dealers will largely be on USB drives, she said.