Samsung has developed a television that’s devoid of wires. A true wireless TV, if you will. There isn’t even a power cord. But it decided against taking it to CES 2020, which is now in full swing.
Why? The answer is twofold: 1) Because it would have to take a hammer to the walls and make some adjustments for the hardware to function at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and 2) the remote power-transfer feature span two meters, and it isn’t strong enough to penetrate walls and other structures found in a common home. So we have no choice but to take its word on it for now.
“We have developed one,” said Han Jong-hee, president of visual display at Samsung, at a showcase in Las Vegas ahead of CES 2020. “But to show that product here, we also have to do some construction work on the walls, he added.” We know what you’re thinking: Couldn’t it have purchased a portable building and decked it out with the required hardware? It has the budget, after all. Han doesn’t think so, noting that “wireless power transfer currently shows poor power efficiency to turn on the TV,” concluding that consumers would have to solve this issue themselves if they launch it now.
Han’s comments hint that Samsung is experimenting with a form of power transmission known as magnetic resonance. This allows compatible electronic to draw power without having to make contact with a charging pad — it’s sent wirelessly from a transmitter, which is drawn to the television by a magnetic force within. Of course, the main issues with this are range and strength. The system needs to function in such a way that walls and other devices in the vicinity do not interfere with the transfer. If it does, it could result in outages (i.e., the screen turning off in the middle of a show).
Sadly, there’s no word on when Samsung will introduce us to its wireless TV, but at least we know it’s in development. Until then, we’ll just have to gawk at the shiny new motorized 4K TV, which features a motor that rotates the screen to match the orientation of the material on a connected smartphone, be it vertical or horizontal, (as we explained in our in-depth coverage, watching a video on Instagram will send it into an upright position, while Netflix will keep it level — no human interaction needed) and bezel-less 8K TV it showcased at its press conference on January 5.
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