Amazon is updating its Prime Video app to include a new feature: the ability to play episodes of a show on shuffle (via Android Central). This feature could make it easier for people who just want to watch a sitcom without having to actually pick an episode. Clicking the button should just start playing episodes in a random order.
The feature seems to initially be somewhat limited though — according to Android Police, it doesn’t let you shuffle through the entire show, only one particular season. At the moment, it’s only been spotted on Android.
Amazon may be trying to race Netflix to rolling out a shuffle function: according to Variety, Netflix has announced that it will be rolling out a a shuffle button to users sometime in the first half of 2021. Finally, I’ll be able to be even more confused trying to watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
It’s unclear whether (or if) this feature will be coming to the iOS or web versions of the app — Amazon did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Perhaps inevitably, Netflix has begun testing new tools to prevent account sharing, the BBC reports.
In the trial, which currently affects a small sample of accounts, viewers are shown a screen saying: ‘If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching’.
Users are then asked to provide confirmation that they share the same household by entering a verification code sent to the owner.
A spokesperson for Netflix told the BBC: “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so.”
This may sound rather officious for the typically laid-back Netflix, but never fear; it has been reported that there’s an option to ‘verify later’, banishing the warning screen from reappearing. For now, anyway. The company has not yet decided whether the feature will roll out across its whole network.
While sharing passwords outside of a household violates Netflix’s terms of service, it’s long been a common practice that the company has acknowledged as one of its strongest marketing tools, with CEO Reed Hastings having called it “a positive thing” back in 2016.
That may have been the case when we were first introduced to the delights of streaming, but with users becoming savvier and increasing the number of digital services they are willing to subscribe to, Netflix’s attitude could be shifting.
Streaming subscription numbers saw a record increase in 2020 thanks to the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and new services like Disney Plus and HBO Max. Netflix is still the clear leader with over 203 million accounts, but as competitors have started to eat up its market share, could password control be the company’s way of fighting back?
MORE
Check out the 36 best TV shows to watch on Netflix right now
Here are 25 Netflix tips, tricks and features
Find out: Amazon Prime Video vs Netflix – which is better?
(Pocket-lint) – There are countless TVs out there that might have amazing picture quality and resolution, but a bad software experience – whether it’s slow and annoying, or missing key apps.
Best UK streaming services: Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV, BritBox and more
Media streaming sticks are the easiest and generally most affordable way around problems like these. They’re one-stop shops for your streaming needs, packing in your favourite apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video into a small package that generally plugs into an HDMI slot behind your TV. They don’t need space for a set-top box, and are quick and easy to set up – but which ones are the best? Read on to find out.
Which is the best streaming stick for you?
Pocket-lint
Amazon Fire TV 4K
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Amazon’s 4K stick is a marvel that boasts all the major streaming apps in one place, and is quick and responsive to use.
Its 4K output is reliable and also speedy, and the stick itself is unobtrusive enough, while the remote is similarly intuitive. The inclusion of Alexa means that you can use voice search if you’re so inclined, although we’re not always convinced by its results.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K review: Superbly priced Prime streamer
Pocket-lint
Chromecast with Google TV
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Google’s recent return to the world of streaming has produced the new Chromecast with Google TV – it’s not technically a stick, but it’s small and hangs off your TV, so in every way that matters, it counts.
The software experience is great, and being able to cast to it is super helpful, although there are a couple of services that haven’t quite made it to the new Google TV yet, which is the only thing holding it back.
Google Chromecast with Google TV review: Welcome to the party, Google
Pocket-lint
Roku Streaming Stick+
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Roku’s been making good in-roads in the last few years by making really low-cost streaming devices that are easy to use, and this stick is no exception.
It’s well-priced, and the UI is really easy to use, plus it’s got all the major apps accounted for to make sure that you can watch whatever you want – in 4K.
Roku Streaming Stick+ review: First-class streaming
Pocket-lint
Amazon Fire TV Stick (2020)
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If you fancy the Amazon experience for your streaming (and that’s sensible – it’s great), but you don’t have a 4K TV or don’t think you want to spend that much, this is a great alternative.
It’s basically Amazon’s full package, just without 4K capability, and it works great as just that. You’ll save a bit of cash, although if you think you’ll go 4K soon we’d probably splash out for the pricier, future-proofed version. For an even bigger saving, check out the Fire TV Stick Lite.
Pocket-lint
Now TV Smart Stick
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You might notice the similarities between the remotes on Roku’s stick and this Now TV-branded one – they’re near identical, and the experiences are similarly close.
For those in the UK, Now TV has a range of good options available that make it a great place to start with streaming, and while it’s not quite as adaptable as some of the others on this list, and is missing some key services, it’s a good pick if you want a simple solution. It maxes out at 1080p, though.
Now TV Smart Stick review: Flexible passes, now in Full HD
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Dan Grabham.
(Pocket-lint) – Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs employ a revolutionary new LED backlight that’s significantly smaller and more efficient than previous generations. This enables the manufacturer to squeeze extra LEDs behind the panel, allowing for increased dimmable zones and greater precision.
This approach is generally referred to as Mini LED, and should not be confused with Micro LED, which is a completely different self-emissive display technology. However, Mini LED does promise to significantly improve local dimming and reduce unwanted blooming – all at an affordable price.
The QN95A is the flagship 4K TV from Samsung for 2021, and not only incorporates this Mini LED backlight but, in a change from last year, also includes the majority of features found on the high-end 8K models. So you’re not forced to buy the higher resolution TVs to get all the latest gizmos.
So just how jaw-dropping is Mini LED in the Samsung QN95A (which is the QN90A in other territories)? Spoiler alert: it’s very impressive indeed.
Design, connections and control: Slimmed down minimalism
Slimmer One Connect Box
Single fibre optic cable that includes power
4x HDMI inputs with eARC, 3x USB; Ethernet
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2
Along with those increased number of dimming zones, the QN95A includes a slimmed down One Connect box (where the connections go – it’s not on the TV’s frame as a result), comprehensive smart platform, AI processing, extensive gaming features, and Object Tracking Sound.
Plus, the QN95A is a gorgeous piece of industrial design, with a minimalist appearance, nearly bezel-less screen, and speakers cleverly hidden in the edges of the panel. The stand is well-made, providing solid support, and can be installed on a narrow surface.
It’s a testament to the smaller LEDs used that Samsung is able to cram a full-array backlight into a chassis only 15mm deep. It also means the QN95A looks great wall-mounted (using the optional ‘No Gap’ bracket), and the single cable from the One Connect box makes installation tidier.
The new slimmed-down One Connect box is sleeker and more elegant. Its reduced size is also discreeter, making it easier to hide away. The textured matte finish is also preferable, because the earlier glossy black boxes tended to attract fingerprints and smudges.
The box houses four HDMI inputs, one of which (HDMI 3) supports eARC. All of the HDMI inputs are capable of handling 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, making this TV a great choice for next-gen gamers who want to take full advantage of their new consoles.
What is HDMI eARC? Why is it different to HDMI ARC?
There are also two USB 2.0 inputs, twin tuners for terrestrial and satellite broadcasts, a CI slot, an optical digital output, and an Ethernet port. In terms of wireless connections, there’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and support for Apple AirPlay 2.
The sleek metal Solar Cell remote is ergonomically-shaped, making it comfortable to hold and easy to use with one hand. While essentially the same as last year, the new zapper sports a solar panel on the back that recharges the batteries – making it eco-friendly and economic.
Features: Mini LED and multi-intelligent processing
Processing engine: Neo Quantum 4K Processor with AI
100% of DCI-P3 colour, 2000nits of peak brightness
Anti-reflection screen and Ultra Viewing Angle
HDR Support: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive
The Samsung QN95A’s main selling point is its use of a Mini LED backlight, made possible by a newly-designed micro layer that contains LEDs significantly smaller than previous generations. This is possible due to the elimination of the protective packaging and lens around the diode, allowing for thinner panels, more LEDs, and an increased number of dimmable zones.
There are 792 zones in the QN95A – a big increase on the 480 zones used previously – but upping the number of zones also requires more processing power, so a new local dimming algorithm redirects power from darker areas to improve efficiency and peak brightness. All while the Quantum Matrix system coordinates all the zones, and the Black Detail Boost feature increases shadow detail.
The new Neo Quantum Processor increases the processing power by employing multi-intelligence deep learning. Instead of a single neural network, this processor combines up 16 to create a neural analyser specialised for upscaling and processing video. All this added power is designed to deliver the best possible experience, regardless of what you’re watching.
The QN95A supports high dynamic range (HDR) in the form of HDR10, HLG (hybrid log-gamma), and HDR10+ Adaptive. The last of which uses dynamic metadata designed to adapt the tone-mapping on a scene-by-scene basis, and now employs a sensor to customise the performance based on the ambient lighting conditions in your room.
The combination of Mini LED and Quantum Dot tech ensures brightness levels and a colour gamut that’s tailor-made for HDR. Samsung claims a peak luminance of 2,000 nits. In our measurements the QN95A topped 2,800 nits in Dynamic Mode, although the more accurate Filmmaker Mode maxed out at 1,700 nits.
What is QLED and Quantum Dot?
In terms of the colour gamut, this reached 94 per cent of DCI-P3 – not quite the claimed 100 per cent but still impressive given the overall brightness. It’s the combination of very bright peak highlights combined with saturated colours at increased luminance levels that gives QLED an inherent advantage over OLED when it comes to delivering impactful HDR.
The Filmmaker Mode was introduced in 2020, and is designed to deliver an image that represents the content creator’s original intentions. It uses brightness and colour settings to match the industry standards, and turns off any unnecessary processing or frame interpolation.
What is Filmmaker Mode and why does it matter?
Other features introduced previously and continued into 2021 include the anti-reflection screen and Ultra Viewing Angle technology. The former is designed to reduce reflections from ambient light in the room, and works well, making this an effective TV for daytime viewing. The latter reduces the colour and contrast drop-off experienced when viewing LCD TVs at extreme angles.
The processor doesn’t just improve the picture quality, it also analyses the audio signal and optimises the sonic performance based on the TV’s location in your room. Other acoustic features include Adaptive Sound+, with Active Voice Amplifier for clearer dialogue, and Adaptive Volume that adjusts the volume based on content.
Samsung
The QN95A supports Object Tracking Sound Plus (OTS+), which uses eight speakers and 70W of amplification to produce a more immersive audio experience. There are four speakers along the bottom for the left, right and centre channels, along with a pair of woofers and two speakers at the top for greater immersion.
This particular model also supports Q Symphony, so when combined with a compatible Samsung soundbar, the system employs the TV’s top speakers to give the overall soundstage a greater sense of height and immersion.
Finally there’s the new Tap View feature, which allows owners of compatible Samsung smartphones to instantaneously connect by simply tapping the phone against the TV’s chassis.
Picture quality: Impressive local dimming
The Samsung QN95A certainly delivers when it comes to picture performance, with all those extra zones put to good use. It’s relatively easy to add lots of zones behind an LCD panel, what’s considerably more difficult is orchestrating them in a way that delivers the deepest blacks and the brightest highlights without causing blooming or losing details in the shadows.
Samsung has always employed a highly effective local dimming algorithm in its TVs, and the latest iteration continues that tradition. The results are genuinely impressive, with the blacks appearing deep and inky, while the highlights are free of blooming. This is best demonstrated by the scene in First Man where the Apollo command module orbits into the shadow of the moon.
Samsung
In this sequence the screen goes completely black and then the surface of the brightly-lit Moon gradually appears through the spaceship’s window. This scene is incredibly difficult for any display that uses local dimming, but the QN95A does an excellent job of highlighting the details in the moon’s surface through the window without introducing haloing or other artefacts.
The QN95A also handles bright colourful HDR images with skill, allowing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 to take full advantage of the wider gamut offered by the format. The scenes on Ego’s planet are a riot of Day-Glo colours that pop with comic book vibrancy.
The same is true of Pan, where the Samsung delivers the film’s exaggerated colour scheme correctly, and reproduces the arriving-in-Neverland sequence with no clipping and a clearly defined sun setting over the mountain. This proves the QN95A is correctly tone-mapping HDR10 content, and retaining the original creative intent.
The film Overlord mainly takes place at night, and is often a very dark, but the Samsung handles this difficult material very well, delivering deep blacks, excellent shadow detail, and highlights where necessary. The TV also renders all the subtle differences in the film’s primarily green and brown colour design very effectively.
The QN95A is equally impressive when it comes to motion handling, with 24p content looking smooth, and free of judder or unwanted artefacts. The Picture Clarity motion settings apply frame interpolation, resulting in smoothing, which can be useful with sport, while the LED Clear Motion setting uses black frame insertion, darkening the image, but improving the motion.
Samsung
The built-in apps deliver excellent 4K and HDR images, and in the case of Amazon Prime there’s the added enhancement of HDR10+. The levels of detail and contrast are equally as impressive when watching Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney+, despite the lack of Dolby Vision support.
What is Dolby Vision? Dolby’s own HDR tech explained
Since the QN95A uses an LCD panel, there’s no danger of screen burn. It also offers a host of features aimed at next-gen gamers, including VRR (variable refresh rate) for syncing the TV’s refresh rate with the console’s frame rate, thus reducing tearing. There’s also support for 4K at 120Hz, along with AMD Freesync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync.
There’s ALLM for automatically detecting a console and selecting the Game mode, which results in a class-leading input lag of 9.2ms. The Game Motion Plus is designed to smooth out motion, but in doing so it does increase the lag to 14ms – although that’s still very respectable. If all that isn’t enough, the QN95A even supports the 21:9 and 32:9 ultra-wide aspect ratio options offered by a number of PC games.
What is ALLM and VRR? TV gaming tech explained
Samsung has realised that with so many different gaming options and features now available, it’s easy to lose track of what exactly you’ve selected. The solution is the new Game Bar, which pops up when a game source is detected to provide at-a-glance key information. This includes HDR, frame rate, VRR, and key gaming picture adjustments.
Pocket-lint
Finally there’s a multi-view mode that allows users to watch two different sources simultaneously. You can adjust the size of the two picture-in-picture screens, change their relative position and choose which has audio priority. While this feature isn’t necessarily game-specific, it is useful for gaming while watching YouTube tutorials.
Smart features: Comprehensive platform
Tizen OS
SmartThings app
Alexa/Bixby built-in
The Samsung QN95A uses the same Tizen-powered smart platform as previous generations, which remains a responsive, intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface. There’s a launcher bar along the bottom and a second layer that provides faster access to the video streaming services.
In terms of those streaming services, the choice is fairly comprehensive and includes Netflix, Amazon, Now TV, Disney+, Apple TV+, Rakuten, YouTube, and all the UK TV catch-up services. The only problem with all this choice is it’s hard to keep track, but Samsung has a solution.
The Universal Guide helps you find the content you want by presenting it all via a user-friendly interface. It then uses AI machine learning to analyse your viewing habits and create a single ‘For You’ page with personalised content to suit your tastes.
The Digital Butler was introduced in 2020, allowing for quick and easy connection by automatically scanning for nearby devices, detecting them and then representing all of them in an easy-to-understand graphical fashion.
Finally there’s a brace of built-in smart assistants – Samsung’s own Bixby, and Amazon Alexa. You can also access Siri via Apple’s AirPlay 2, while the Samsung SmartThings app allows for quick and easy setup, plus a degree of control if you don’t fancy using the provided remote or your voice.
Sound quality: Object tracking sound
Object Tracking Sound Plus (OTS+)
4.2.2 speakers and 70W of amplification
Adaptive Sound+
Q Symphony
The QN95A sports Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound Plus (OTS+), which integrates eight speakers in a seamless fashion, hiding them in the outer edge of the TV cabinet. The audio performance is genuinely impressive, with an open soundstage, additional height, plenty of bass, clear dialogue and powerful amplification.
Samsung
Object Tracking Sound doesn’t just involve more speakers, it also analyses the audio signal and uses sophisticated processing to align sounds with the location of specific images on the screen. It really works, creating an engaging experience with improved directionality and immersion. There’s also an optimisation feature to fine-tune the audio based on the acoustic environment.
While there’s no on-board Dolby Atmos decoding, the QN95A can send the object-based audio format back via ARC from its internal apps to a supporting soundbar or AV receiver. Since it also supports eARC, the Samsung can even pass lossless audio back via HDMI to a supporting soundbar or AV receiver.
Anything missing?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it really is time Samsung added support for Dolby Vision. The company is the only TV manufacturer not to embrace the dynamic metadata format, and while HDR10+ is similar, there’s significantly more content available in Dolby Vision.
While we’re on the subject of Dolby, the QN95A also doesn’t include on-board Atmos decoding. This is a shame because with all those extra built-in speakers, the Samsung could really take advantage of the additional height channels the format offers.
Samsung’s smart platform is undeniably comprehensive, but it doesn’t include Freeview Play. This isn’t really an issue because all the UK TV catch-up services are present and correct, but it does mean these aren’t integrated within the EPG (electronic programme guide).
Verdict
The Samsung QN95A makes an excellent case for embracing Mini LED as an alternative to OLED. While it remains an evolution of existing LCD backlight technology, rather than something completely new like Micro LED, it does offer an impressive picture performance.
The added precision of nearly 800 dimming zones results in deeper blacks, brighter highlights, improved shadow detail and almost no blooming. Add in the superior colour performance of Quantum Dot and upgraded processing, and you have a highly capable 4K HDR TV. Its pictures truly sing.
The QN95A is also a seriously specified model with a comprehensive smart platform, every necessary streaming app, the One Connect box, excellent audio quality thanks to OTS+, and a shed-load of features for next-gen gamers.
Also consider
Philips
Philips OLED+935
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Not fussed about Mini LED and OLED more up your street? Philips’ top-end 2020 telly integrates Ambilight – edge lighting that goes beyond the screen, for extra immersion and dynamism – plus a B&W soundbar for top notch sound quality. It’s a very different offering to the Samsung, but a very elegant alternative indeed.
Samsung’s first Neo QLED is a force to be reckoned with, and the greatest threat yet to the dominance of OLED
For
Superbly bright, punchy and sharp
Exhaustive feature set
Lovely design
Against
Artificial boost to dark detail
Reticence with extreme contrast
Still no Dolby Vision
This year looks very much like the year of Mini LED. The technology, which sees the traditional LEDs of a TV backlight miniaturised in order to increase contrast, is a feature of the 2021 line-ups of most major TV brands, including LG and Philips.
For those brands, Mini LED TVs sit below their OLED models, but for Samsung, Mini LED is its flagship technology (assuming you discount its eye-wateringly expensive new Micro LED sets). The company has developed its own Mini LEDs, which it says are even smaller and more efficient than those of its rivals, and combined them with its existing Quantum Dot tech to create a range of premium TVs that it calls Neo QLEDs.
The QE65QN95A is the first Neo QLED we’ve tested. It’s the top 4K model in Samsung’s 2021 range, and it purports to offer a huge upgrade on last year’s equivalent without any increase in price.
This is the model that Samsung is pitching against LG’s incredibly popular C-class OLED, the 2021 version of which (the C1) we have yet to review. When it does appear, the C1 is going to have its work cut out because the Samsung QN95A is the best QLED there’s ever been, and that makes it a serious challenger to even the best OLEDs.
Pricing
The Samsung QE65QN95A is priced at £2999 – exactly the same price its predecessor, the QE65Q95T, launched at, despite this new model representing what appears to be a serious technological upgrade.
The QN95A is exclusive to Europe. US buyers instead get the QN90A, which does without the QN95A’s One Connect box and has just one HDMI 2.1 socket (the QN95A has four). Confusingly, the US QN90A is different to the European QN90A, which is more heavily downgraded. Apparently, Europe will in fact get an as-yet-unannounced model called the QN94A, which will be the same as the US’s QN90A.
If you’ve completely lost track, it’s no surprise. It feels as though Samsung has gone out of its way to make its model structure even less coherent than it was in 2020. Sony, meanwhile, is putting a concerted effort into unifying its model numbers across all regions, and LG has been doing that for years, at least in terms of its OLEDs.
Build
(Image credit: Future)
Besides the benefits in terms of contrast, a Mini LED backlight is much slimmer than one consisting of standard LEDs. Samsung has also worked hard to reduce the distance between the backlight and the Quantum Dot panel, making the whole display section slimmer.
Samsung QE65QN95A tech specs
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
Screen type QLED
Backlight Mini LED
Resolution 4K
Operating system Samsung Tizen
HDR formats HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
HDMI x4
USB x3
Optical x1
Of course, a TV also needs to pack in processing hardware and speakers, but Samsung has still managed to reduce the thickness of the QN95A to just 2.6cm, down from the 3.5cm of last year’s Q95T.
That doesn’t make the QN95A as thin as an OLED is at its thinnest point (the LG CX is under 4mm thick here) but its uniform depth measurement means it is much thinner than most OLEDs are at their thickest points (the CX is 4.7cm here) and arguably makes for a more stylish, picture frame-like proposition when wall mounted.
The QN95A also gets the new, redesigned version of Samsung’s One Connect box. The concept is the same – all connections, including power, go into a separate unit that’s connected to the TV via a single cable – but the chunky brick design has been replaced by one reminiscent of a stack of five or six placemats. While this One Connect can be mounted to the rear of the stand of Samsung’s 2021 8K models, it can’t be mounted to the QN95A at all.
Also slightly disappointing is that the cable that runs between the One Connect box and display is significantly thicker and less flexible than that of previous versions. Samsung says the cable has changed in the name of “performance stability and durability”, but we weren’t aware of any issues with the previous design.
While the move to a thicker wire is a bit of a shame, having just one cable running to the display rather than multiple HDMIs and power is still undeniably neater. And, if your set-up means that the One Connect box will be visible in your TV rack, this new version is significantly easier on the eye than its predecessor.
Features
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
The One Connect box also gives the QN95A a more advanced set of connections than other 2021 Samsung models such as the QN90A. It’s all down to the HDMIs: all four of the QN95A’s HDMI sockets are 2.1-spec, while its siblings get just one HDMI 2.1 socket. That probably won’t make a huge difference right now, but anyone planning to buy both the PS5 and Xbox Series X will need more than one HDMI 2.1 socket to take full advantage of both consoles, and there will only be more HDMI 2.1 sources in the future.
Of course, simply having HDMI 2.1 sockets isn’t enough to guarantee support for all of those fancy next-gen HDMI features, but the QN95A offers support for eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), 4K@120Hz (aka High Frame Rate) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). VRR is supported in all three of the formats currently available: standard HDMI VRR, Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync (this is the first TV to be FreeSync Premium Pro-certified, in fact).
As is probably already clear, Samsung is even more committed to courting gamers than before, going as far as creating the ‘Game Bar’ – a pop-up menu that gives you quick access to various game-related features and delivers live information on the signal being received, including the VRR format and frame rate. Input lag, meanwhile, has been reduced to under 10ms, which is entirely imperceptible. If you don’t mind sacrificing a little of that speed, you can enable some gaming-specific motion smoothing, although we don’t find that necessary during testing.
Finally, on the gaming front, the HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) setting that was added to Samsung’s 2020 QLEDs via a software update late last year is also present on the QN95A. This is well worth using in conjunction with your console’s HDR calibration settings as it results in a more accurate picture with deeper blacks and more detailed highlights.
Samsung has also long been the market leader when it comes to integrated streaming apps, and the QN95A is just as well-appointed as its predecessors in that regard. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, Google Play Movies & TV and Rakuten are all present in 4K and HDR; BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and My5 complete the set of catch-up apps; Now TV and BT Sport are also here; and Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, BBC Sounds and TuneIn mean every major music and radio app is on board, too. In short, there’s no app of significance that’s missing here, and there are loads of niche apps in there too.
There is, though, an HDR format of significance that’s missing – Dolby Vision. While Samsung’s rival HDR10+ has made undeniable in-roads in recent years, Dolby Vision is clearly the more dominant format and it’s very hard indeed to see the power balance shifting. Even if Samsung truly believes HDR10+ is better, it should by now be offering Dolby Vision support as well.
(Image credit: Future)
The operating system is more or less unchanged from last year, which is no bad thing. It’s still the best in the business, slickly getting you to the content you’re after quicker than any rival. One new feature that has the potential to be great is Multi View, which allows you to split the screen in two and watch an HDMI source in one window while you access an app via the other. We could see this could be useful for watching two football games at once, for example, one via your Sky Q box and the other the BT Sport app, but currently the only apps supported in Multi View are YouTube and a wellness app called Calm, rendering it almost useless.
The QN95A’s new remote has a useful new feature, though: on the bottom is a light panel that allows it to be charged via sunlight and even house lights. It works really well – during testing, the remote’s battery level doesn’t drop below about 95 per cent as it constantly tops itself up. That said, the remote does also have a USB-C socket that can be used as a backup charging method.
Under the TV’s skin is a new version of Samsung Quantum Processor, called the Neo Quantum Processor 4K. The big new feature here is referred to as Ultra Precision Light Driving, which involves more precise dimming and a local power distribution feature that sends power to the brightest areas of the picture and away from the darker parts. It also works in conjunction with a sensor integrated into the TV’s frame to adjust brightness and contrast in response to ambient lighting conditions. There’s a new level of ‘deep learning’ applied to contrast enhancement, too.
Of course, the biggest new feature of the QN95A is its Mini LED backlight. Samsung explains that the majority of a typical LED’s size is made up of its protective packaging and light-guiding lens, both of which it has done away with for its so-called ‘New LEDs’. Not only that, but it has also miniaturised the LEDs themselves, to astonishing effect: the new LEDs, packaging and all, are a fortieth the size of their traditional counterparts and look like little more than sparkly grains of sand.
Instead of a lens, this New LED backlight works with a new ‘micro layer’ that guides the light through the quantum dots (which provide the set’s colours). The result is apparently no light leakage or blooming.
Crucially, because the New LEDs are so much smaller, significantly more of them can be packed in, creating more individual dimming zones in the process. While Samsung doesn’t quote official figures for these dimming zones, we understand that the QN95A has just under 800 of them. Last year’s Q95T and Q90T are thought to have had around 120 dimming zones each so, on paper at least, this appears to be a massive upgrade that should have a startling impact on contrast.
Picture
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
Kicking off with the 4K Blu-ray of John Wick: Chapter 3, it quickly becomes clear that this is a massive upgrade in real terms, too. Not only does the QN95A go vastly brighter than the OLED competition, in most conditions it combines bright and dark picture elements unlike any commercially available TV before it. As John cuts through the chandelier shop near the start of the film, the warm, piercing light contrasts brilliantly with the rain-soaked streets in the background, with the bulbs and the glass sections of the chandeliers sparkling to a degree that makes the Award-winning Philips 65OLED805 look decidedly dull.
Crucially, this brightness doesn’t come at the expense of black depth, which is close to OLED-quality. If you look closely at a still image, you can see that the top black bar loses a bit of purity as one of the shining bulbs lingers at its edge, but in action, this isn’t noticeable. What’s more, there’s no obvious haloing around bright objects on dark backgrounds, or any other real hint that this is a backlit telly. It’s not totally perfect, but it could be argued that it’s close enough to not matter.
That said, the QN95A is, like its predecessor, a little cautious when confronted by small bright objects in otherwise overwhelmingly black images. During the opening scene of It, Pennywise’s eyes should glow menacingly bright out of the gloom of the basement, but they’re barely noticeable here. As the camera heads through the tunnel towards daylight for the start of the film, it’s clear that the TV is holding back, presumably for fear of introducing blooming, and it makes the image less exciting than it should be.
The same trait is clear in the company logos and intro text at the start of Blade Runner 2049. It could be that Samsung is playing things just a little too safe here, but crucially, these ultra-high contrast images are relatively uncommon, and in isolation, the Samsung’s delivery rarely looks wrong. It’s only in a side-by-side comparison with one of the punchier 2020 OLEDs that this reticence becomes clear.
The only other slight flaw in the QN95A’s delivery is regarding the balance of dark detail and black depth. Not that the TV isn’t capable of both, but we struggle to find the perfect balance. There’s a dedicated Shadow Detail setting that does exactly that but it also somewhat washes out the image. Switching the Contrast Enhancer to High, meanwhile, reveals so much dark detail that it feels as though artificial light is being added to some dark scenes.
We’ve always appreciated Samsung’s bold and straightforward picture settings, but for this TV, a Contrast Enhancer setting between Low and High might have proved perfect. As it is, you have to trade just a bit of dark detail to get inky blacks, or have slightly artificially boosted shadow detail.
Ultimately, though, the QN95A is a stunning performer overall. It’s so dynamic and vibrant that it makes its rivals look flat and boring. Whites, in particular, are incredibly pure and punchy, from John Wick’s shirt to the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling of the first-floor armoury above the chandelier shop.
(Image credit: Future / Escape From Pretoria, Amazon Prime)
Colours are incredibly lush, too, but also natural and controlled – as long as you tone down the Colour setting just a bit. It’s the perfect foil for the comic book-style exaggeration of John Wick 3, pumping up the pink of the shirts of the call centre staff and bringing the Marrakesh market to life with its varied and vibrant hues.
Switch to 1917 and the vibrancy is tempered by a slightly unexpected degree of naturalism. Some TVs we’ve reviewed have, in their quest for vibrancy, pushed the green fields at the film’s start from verdant to lurid, but the QN95A doesn’t fall into this trap and the film is delivered with both punch and poise.
The same effortless balance is applied in regards to detail and sharpness, too. Where some TVs, including previous Samsung models, can over-sharpen edges and details, giving everything an artificially etched look, the QN95A ensures that everything is crisp and clearly defined without any of that exaggeration. The detail is all there, but it isn’t rammed down your throat, and that’s the way it should be.
In 2020, Samsung took a big step forward in terms of motion processing, and it’s good to see that that balance of smoothness and naturalism continues into 2021. Again, you need to select the right setting: the default Auto setting is forced and unpleasant, but switching to Custom and setting Blur Reduction and Judder Reduction to 10 and 3 respectively keeps motion controlled without adding fizz around fast movement or any of the dreaded soap opera effect.
Switching from 4K to 1080p with the Looper Blu-ray, it becomes clear that this Samsung takes a surprisingly subtle approach to SDR content. While many TVs attempt to give SDR content an HDR sheen, the QN95A opts instead for subtlety. Compared with the Philips OLED805, the Samsung’s image is less dynamic and instantly exciting, but also more nuanced in its shading and a fair bit more detailed. Both approaches have their merits, but Samsung’s feels more authentic.
The same relative characteristics are present as we switch to our trusty Dirty Harry DVD. While the Samsung is once again less punchy in its delivery, it’s subtler and cleaner, too.
Sound
(Image credit: Future)
Considering the QN95A’s sound system is essentially invisible, it packs in a large number of drivers – eight of them, in fact – in a 4.2.2 arrangement that Samsung refers to as OTS+ and is rated to 70W. ‘OTS’ stands for ‘Object Tracking Sound’ and refers to the fact that the system is designed to create a sense of three-dimensionality akin to Dolby Atmos. All of which makes it slightly baffling that the QN95A can’t natively play Dolby Atmos soundtracks, although it can pass them out to a connected speaker system (even a Samsung soundbar).
Regardless of the tech involved (or not), the QN95A puts in a solid audio performance that’s clear, direct and punchy but with good weight and openness. It delivers a strong sense of space and atmosphere while ensuring that dialogue and effects are presented clearly. Detail levels are high by the standards of an integrated sound system, too.
That said, the QN95A’s speakers struggle with the super-deep bass at the start of chapter 2 of Blade Runner 2049, with its woofers flapping uncomfortably. This is far from the only TV to have problems here – LG’s CX OLEDs suffer at least as badly – but it’s a shame all the same. Still, we would always recommend partnering a TV as impressive as this with a dedicated sound system, and this flaw only reinforces that message.
If you are determined to stick with the Samsung’s integrated speakers, Adaptive Volume is best switched off as it tends to sound quite forced and hard, but Adaptive Sound+ is worth using as it adds spaciousness and a slight sense of cinematic envelopment. Amplify is worth trying, too: it sacrifices a bit of low-level dynamic subtlety for bigger overall dynamics and more punch, making it useful for action films. Standard is probably better if you want to use one setting for all content, though.
Verdict
While Mini LED might not quite be the revolution that Samsung is pitching it as, it’s still a substantial upgrade to an already excellent range of TVs. The overall contrast offered is staggering, and the QN95A combines near-OLED black levels with awesomely crisp white highlights and fabulously vibrant colours, all while retaining an effortless sense of naturalism.
Throw in the best, most app-packed operating system in the business, a delightfully slim design and a full set of next-gen HDMI sockets and this is (a lack of Dolby Vision support aside) as complete a package as can be imagined.
It’s early days for 2021 TVs, but Samsung has thrown down the gauntlet in emphatic style and it will be fascinating to see how its rivals respond.
Hulu has fully reenabled picture-in-picture support (PiP) on iOS, MacRumors reports, which means half-watching network TV is once again possible for Hulu subscribers on iPhone and iPad devices. Hulu joins a collection of major streaming services that support the feature on iOS, leaving YouTube as the major exception.
PiP for iPhones was enabled for Hulu around iOS 14’s original release, but it was later disabled to “work on a few updates to provide the best experience for our viewers,” Hulu said. Now that the feature is back, users can enable PiP mode by starting a show or movie and touching the PiP button to pop the video into a resizable, floating player.
The picture-in-picture button inside Hulu’s app.Image: Hulu
Hulu joins services like Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Max in supporting PiP. All of those services now either feature a dedicated PiP button like Hulu or default to picture-in-picture if you swipe to the home screen while a video is playing.
YouTube remains the odd one out. Picture-in-picture is not allowed in Google’s official YouTube app for iOS. Paying for YouTube Premium enables background play, but that only extends to audio on iOS. Google has also periodically disabled and reenabled PiP support for the web version of YouTube on iOS. As of October 2020, PiP was possible again, though it doesn’t appear to work as of today. Right now, only iPhones running the iOS 14.5 beta can do PiP on the web version of YouTube, according to MacRumors.
If you’re curious how to get PiP set up on your own device, check out The Verge’s guide.
Walmart is dropping its $35 minimum order requirement to qualify for its Express two-hour delivery service, the retailer announced on Monday. The move puts Walmart’s e-commerce platform on better footing to compete with Amazon Prime, which has offered customers same-day delivery for certain items in specific markets through its Prime Now service since 2016.
Walmart’s Express service promises two-hour delivery of “Walmart’s food, consumables and general merchandise assortment,” which includes produce, pantry items, household essentials, and other products. It typically costs $10 on top of a standard delivery fee ranging from $7.95 or $9.95, but Walmart waives the delivery fee if you subscribe to its Prime-like Walmart Plus subscription.
Walmart Express first launched in April of last year, and the company says it’s now available in close to 3,000 locations that reach 70 percent of the US population. Following today’s announcement, Express delivery may actually be a more attractive option than Amazon’s Prime Now, which still has a $35 order limit and is restricted to certain markets. It should, however, be noted that Prime Now is free for Prime members and only $4.99 per order if you don’t meet the order minimum, making it less expensive in the long run.
“Many customers use Express delivery for when they’re in a pinch, whether it be a missing ingredient for a weeknight dinner or a pack of diapers,” Tom Ward, Walmart’s senior vice president of customer product, said in a statement. “Customers told us sometimes the items they needed in a hurry didn’t meet the minimum, so we’re removing it, making it even easier for customers to get what they need when they need it.”
Walmart is slowly but surely catching up to the extreme convenience offered by its rival Amazon. Walmart last December dropped a similar $35 minimum order requirement for its Walmart Plus free next-day and two-day shipping perk, which put Walmart Plus on par with Amazon Prime in that regard. The retailer has also been expanding its grocery delivery options to better compete with Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods, both of which have been Amazon’s footholds into real-world commerce.
(Pocket-lint) – Despite the overall TV trend being towards ever bigger screens, when it comes to OLED technology there’s actually been a growing clamour for something smaller. Not everyone can fit a 55-inch screen in their living room – yet that size has traditionally been as small as OLED TVs get.
Happily there are finally no less than three 48-inch options out there for people who want the contrast-rich picture quality OLED is renowned for but in a more manageable package: the LG OLED48CX, the Philips 48OLED+935, and on review here, the Sony KD-48A9.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Design
4x HDMI inputs, 3x USB ports
LAN & Wi-Fi multimedia options
From the front, the 48-inch Sony A9 is gorgeously minimalistic. The frame around the screen is both exceptionally narrow and sits in the same plane as the image, so it all looks like one immaculate sheet of glass.
The screen sits so low on its heavy duty, centrally mounted desktop plate stand, too, that from any regular viewing distance the screen appears to be holding itself upright using some sort of magic.
Sony
The outer edges of the screen are less than a centimetre deep, too. This outer trimness does contrast starkly, it has to be said, with a central section of the rear that actually sticks out more than the backsides of most modern tellies. Unless the set is going to be hung on a wall, though, the A9’s chunky bits don’t detract much at all from the overall supremely elegant look.
The 48-inch A9’s design doesn’t appear to include any forward-facing speakers. Except that actually, it does. For despite being Sony’s smallest ever OLED TV, the A9 still uses the brand’s unique Acoustic Screen technology, where precisely positioned actuators are used to turn the screen itself into a speaker.
The 48-inch A9 isn’t short of connections either. Four HDMIs, three USBs, and support for both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity are all present and correct.
Disappointingly, though, none of the HDMIs can handle enough data to support 4K streams at 120Hz, or variable refresh rates (VRR). In other words, this A9 can’t support the two most important new features of the latest games consoles and PC graphics cards. Despite Sony actually making one of those games consoles.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Picture Features
HDR Support: HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG
Processing engine: X1 Ultimate
While this A9 might be smaller than other Sony OLED TVs, it’s certainly no less clever. It gets the same premium X1 Ultimate processor that all of its bigger OLED siblings also get, complete with all of its proven benefits.
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For starters, it converts sub-4K sources to 4K using a vast dual database of picture analysis to give more effective results in real-time. There’s also a Super Bitmap system for refining striping out of HDR (high dynamic range) colour blends, and a Triluminos colour system that uses precision colour mapping to deliver an enhanced range of colour tones more accurately.
Sony’s Pixel Booster technology is on hand, meanwhile, to deliver enhanced contrast by better sharing power around between the individual pixels in the A9’s self-emissive OLED screen, while Sony’s renowned MotionFlow processing contributes to improved motion handling. There’s even a new option that inserts partial black frames into the image to create a more authentic looking 24 frames per second (24p) cinematic experience, but without the same degree of brightness reduction that black frame insertion usually causes.
The X1 Ultimate processor also powers a standard dynamic range (SDR) to HDR conversion system that’s sophisticated enough to treat various objects in the image differently, rather than just applying a conversion algorithm to the image as a whole. Sony is so confident about this system that it’s applied by default and undefeatably to most of the A9’s picture presets.
Unlike Sony’s A8 OLED TV range, the A9 is designated as one of Sony’s Master Series OLED TVs. This means that each set has been individually checked over and fine tuned in Sony’s factories before being released for sale.
As an OLED TV, of course, the 48-inch A9 gives you the technology’s key advantage of every single pixel in its 4K screen producing its own light source and colour, so that the darkest pixel in any image can appear right next to the brightest – without either compromising the other.
Sony
Being self-emissive also means the A9 can be watched from pretty much any angle without any loss of contrast or colour – something which the vast majority of LCD TVs cannot compete with.
In the interests of fairness, it needs to be stressed that OLED TVs can’t achieve the sort of brightness levels that LCD sets can. The highest brightness the 48-inch A9 can achieve is 665 nits in its Standard preset, dropping to 590 nits in Cinema mode. For comparison: premium LCD TVs can routinely hit more than 1,000 nits. In fact, Sony itself has managed almost 4,000 nits from its ultra expensive ZG9 8K LCD TVs.
The A9 supports three high dynamic range (HDR) formats: the standard HDR10 system; the HLG format typically used for live HDR broadcasts; and the premium Dolby Vision format, which adds extra scene-by-scene picture information so that compatible TVs can deliver more accurate images. There’s no support for the Dolby Vision-rivalling HDR10+ system – but that’s much less commonly found in the content world than Dolby Vision.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Smart Features
Smart System: Android TV plus YouView
Happily, after a buggy and cumbersome past life, the Android TV interface is finally improving to the point where you can actually start to appreciate the platform’s main strength: the amount of content it carries.
Sony’s implementation even includes Apple TV alongside the usual Netflix, Google Play, Amazon Prime, Rakuten, and other suspects, while Android TV’s remaining blind spots when it comes to the streaming services of the main UK broadcasters are covered by the inclusion on the A9 of the excellent YouView app. This brings all the UK streaming services together into one attractively presented, easy to browse umbrella app.
Pocket-lint
Android TV on the A9 proves to be significantly less buggy than previous generations, and integrates smoothly with the TV’s setup menus. There’s none of the excessive menu sluggishness Android has sometimes caused in the past, either.
There’s still something a little dated about its full screen presentation, and it still doesn’t feel quite as well adapted to TV (as opposed to smartphone or tablet) usage as some rival TV smart systems. But it’s now something that isn’t actually a chore to use, and that’s a definite step in the right direction!
It’s worth adding, too, that Android TV supports Chromecast out of the box, while voice recognition/control support is on hand courtesy of Google Assistant.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Picture Quality
While the 48-inch A9 isn’t the only 48-inch OLED TV on the market, its picture quality ensures that it’s a unique proposition.
The best way to start developing an impression of just how lovely the A9 is to watch is to say that it’s the closest Sony has got yet to matching the renowned picture quality of its legendary BVM-X300 professional OLED mastering monitor (a screen that cost tens of thousands).
Sony
The A9’s handling of dark scenes and black tones isn’t just great, as would be expected of any OLED TV, it’s pretty much perfect. It’s completely consistent, for instance, with no hint of the sort of sudden shifts in the overall black tone that you see with some OLED rivals.
There’s no sign of noise, either, be it fizzing or blocking, in areas of near-black detail. Yet at the same time the amount of subtle shadow detail the A9 brings out of even the darkest parts of the image is exceptional.
In other words, the screen doesn’t just take the easy route to clean, dark areas by sneakily crushing subtle details out of dark areas.
Colours, too, are exceptionally handled. Not a tone looks out of place or unnatural, no particular shades end up getting too much emphasis, potential colour banding is handily suppressed by the Super Bitmapping system, and the sheer range of tones the screen can produce does justice to even the most aggressive HDR/wide colour gamut sources.
Thanks in part to the finesse of its colour management and light control, the A9 delivers native 4K images with excellent sharpness and texture. So much so that you’re never in doubt that you’re watching a 4K screen despite the A9 being relatively small by today’s standards.
Pocket-lint
Just as importantly, though, the sharpness doesn’t feel forced. The set just looks like it’s bringing out every subtlety that’s present in a 4K image, rather than using processing to artificially sharpen things up.
The natural clarity continues during action scenes and sports events, too, thanks to Sony’s excellent motion processing system. The new black frame insertion system is pretty effective – motion looks less juddery without sliding into the ‘soap opera effect’, and the image doesn’t lose as much brightness as you’d expect with a BFI-based system. Sony’s regular MotionFlow True Cinema option, though, is so effective that most users likely won’t feel the need to trade even a little brightness for the BFI option’s slightly more authentic cinematic flicker.
It’s not just native 4K images that look detailed and clean on the A9. The upscaling prowess of Sony’s X1 Ultimate processor adds detail while removing source noise pretty much flawlessly, achieving remarkably convincing results with all but the most heavily compressed sources. Even Sony’s (sensibly restrained) SDR-to-HDR conversion system delivers results so natural and believable that even the most die-hard picture accuracy obsessives will likely find the system hard to resist.
While it’s useful to break the A9’s pictures down into their different elements, the really key point about them is that they are almost free of distracting shortcomings, errors or inconsistencies. Which means, of course, that they’re phenomenally immersive and satisfying.
Sony
If there’s an issue with the 48-inch A9’s pictures, it’s just that they’re not very bright. The measured brightness figures quoted earlier are around a fifth lower than the numbers measured in the same circumstances from many rival OLED sets. Something to consider for people looking for a TV to go into a typically bright room, perhaps.
It’s important to add, though, that the local contrast impact achieved by the Pixel Booster feature is good enough to ensure the A9’s picture still feels startlingly punchy in a dark room, and certainly doesn’t completely fade into the background when the lights are on.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Sound Quality
Concerns that the 48-inch A9’s smaller screen size might lead to a diminished performance from Sony’s Acoustic Surface technology prove unfounded. The sound still projects forward into with pleasing directness, and swells out nicely to create a sound stage that spreads far beyond the outer edges of the screen.
There’s a lovely open, rounded feel to the sound’s tone, too, that even holds up in very loud, dense film moments. In fact, the sound expands really nicely to embrace raucous action scenes; there’s no levelling off too early or thinning out with the heaviest content like you get with many TV sound systems.
Sony
Also impressive is how detailed the A9 sounds. This includes some startlingly accurate positioning of specific sounds – voices, gunfire, moving vehicles – on the screen, and lots of general detailing.
The soundstage’s precision slips once it expands far beyond the screen, though, limiting the effectiveness of its Dolby Atmos support. Bass, too, while clean and lively, doesn’t sound particularly meaty, denying big soundtrack moments the foundation of rumbles they need to deliver their full sense of scale and impact.
Verdict
The Sony KD-48A9’s pictures are as good as it gets. Close to the sort of thing typically only seen on pro-grade monitors, in fact. Especially if you’re prepared to darken your room for serious viewing.
It sounds good for its size too, and even its Android smart system is finally turning into a reasonably friendly place to hang out.
But the 48-inch A9 doesn’t quite bag a full five-star score for two main reasons: first, its puzzling lack of support for the latest cutting-edge gaming features (120/4K and VRR). Second, its asking price is pretty steep when a very similar 55-inch Sony KD-55A8 is available for hundreds less.
Alternatives to consider
LG OLED48CX
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LG’s 48-inch OLED telly is brighter and slightly cheaper than the Sony. It also, crucially, supports all the latest 4K/120Hz and VRR gaming features across all four of its HDMI inputs. Its picture quality isn’t quite as overall refined as that of the 48A9, though, and its more conventional speaker system is not quite as effective as the Sony’s Acoustic Surface approach.
Read our review
Sony KD-55A8
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Aside from sporting a less premium design and not having each set individually optimised in Sony’s factories before shipping, the A8 OLED range is a very close sibling indeed to the 48A9. And this 55-inch mode can be yours for less cash than the A9 too – if you’re ok with it being a bigger set.
A well-stocked, easy-to-navigate catalogue of new and original content that Disney fans are bound to enjoy
For
Huge, intuitive catalogue
4K, HDR10 and Dolby Atmos/Vision
Vast device support
Against
Poor 4K HDR discovery
Once upon a time, a man called Walt Disney founded Walt Disney Studios with his brother and became one of the best-known motion-picture animators in the world. Fast forward nearly 100 years, over 400 movies and more than 60 Academy Award wins and, thanks to the Disney Plus video streaming service, nearly every Disney title ever committed to celluloid is now available to stream in one place.
Disney Plus (Disney+) is a natural rival to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+, available in loads of countries – US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and several European countries. It offers a rich catalogue of films and TV shows from Disney and its subsidiaries – Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic, as well as a slate of new Disney+ Originals. As of more recently, Disney Plus subscribers in Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the UK also have access to Star, a channel that offers “grown up” content from ABC and 20th Century Fox back-catalogues, plus originals that already live on US service Hulu (which Disney has a majority stake in).
Many titles are presented in the best video and audio technologies available today – 4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos (technologies also adopted by its rivals) – and Disney has really gone the distance where device support is concerned.
Less than a year after it launched, Disney has attracted around 95 million subscribers – not far off half of Netflix’s headcount at the time of writing. So should Disney Plus be part of your world or should you let it go? Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to Disney’s service we go…
Disney Plus: price, films, shows and all the details
14 of the best Disney Plus movies and shows to watch right now
Price
Disney Plus launched in the States in November 2019, rolling out to other territories (including Europe and the UK) the following March. The monthly fee was £5.99 ($6.99, AU$8.99, €6.99), making it a very tempting proposition indeed.
But, partly in light of the arrival of Star in several markets, that price has now gone northwards. Since 23rd February 2021, the monthly cost of Disney Plus is £7.99 ($7.99, AU$11.99, €8.99). In the US, the Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus bundle will also get a $1 increase to $13.99 per month. Subscribers who signed up to Disney Plus before that February date will pay the original monthly price up until August 2021, when it will change to the pricier one.
Note that an annual subscription works out cheaper – £79.90 ($70, AU$120, €89.90) – if you’re willing to pay that upfront sum.
Features
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s catalogue comprises over 700 films and more than 400 TV series, from all-time classics to family favourites, including three of the four most profitable films ever made: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
One of the service’s biggest selling points is its slate of original shows, such as The Mandalorian, The World According To Jeff Goldblum, Clone Wars, The Imagineering Story and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (yes, that is its real title). Disney seems willing to splash the cash, announcing it plans to spend $8bn to $9bn on Disney Plus content alone in fiscal 2024, by which it hopes to have attracted over 230 million subscribers.
That title-dropping expands to more than 30 films and 50 series from the Marvel universe, including Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Disney Plus is the only place to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Captain Marvel and all future releases from both Lucasfilm and Marvel, and is the exclusive streaming hub for every Disney theatrical release from 2019 and beyond. And yes, the service also has over 600 episodes (30 seasons) of The Simpsons, too.
The catalogue features plenty of 4K HDR content (some originally mastered, some remastered), which isn’t surprising considering Disney has been in the Ultra HD Blu-ray game for three years. When we first reviewed the service upon launch, we counted just over 100 titles in 4K HDR – including Frozen, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Lion King (2019), Aladdin (2019), Toy Story 4, Moana and all five of Disney’s new Original movies. But thanks in part to the Star expansion, that figure has grown considerably.
In Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, Star has matured the service offering, appealing more to adults and sensibly introducing parent controls (which means parents can set limits on access for specific profiles based on content age ratings and introduce PIN locks on profiles with access to mature content). Star arrived in February 2021 as a 270-film, 75-show proposition, including four originals and plans for future premieres. Highlights include – deep breath – Modern Family, The X-Files, Deadpool 2, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Favourite, 24, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, Scrubs,The Killing, How I Met Your Mother and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
(Image credit: Disney)
4K support isn’t limited to just new titles, either. Toy Story is in 4K HDR, as are the original Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King. Classics such as Alice In Wonderland, Pinocchio, Cinderella, The Jungle Book and Sleeping Beauty are presented in Full HD with 5.1 audio.
The fact you can download these titles in full 4K onto a compatible tablet or smartphone is arguably one of the best-value features of Disney+, considering the cost of individual 4K movies to rent or buy.
Downloads are unlimited, don’t expire, and can be downloaded on up to 10 devices. The same treatment isn’t so abundant with TV shows, with 4K HDR material limited to a handful of new Disney Originals series.
The service not only has plenty of content in 5.1 audio, it also supports Dolby Atmos, which was probably to be expected, given Disney’s commitment to the – the very first theatrical Atmos release was Disney’s Brave, after all.
Atmos content on Disney Plus spans over 100 titles – all movies, shorts and the odd Disney Original – including The Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, The Mandalorian, WALL-E, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2, Big Hero 6 and the Captain Americas. Those same titles are also available in Dolby Vision HDR.
Amazon Prime Video vs Netflix – which is better?
Ease of use
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s interface is similar to Netflix’s – and just as easy to use. It hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel with its layout, and the result is a service most people will feel comfortable navigating.
A banner of featured content heads up the home page, with titles grouped into categories such as ‘Recommended for You’, ‘Originals’, ‘Musicals’ and ‘Mickey Mouse Through The Years’. There is also a ‘Nostalgic Movies’ tab for those who wish to revisit Bedknobs And Broomsticks, Pete’s Dragon and Herbie Goes Bananas.
Above these categories – sandwiched between the featured content banner and title categories – are five blocks for Disney, National Geographic, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar (or six in those regions that also have Star). These allow subscribers to dive right into the offerings of each of those specific Disney-owned brands.
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s ‘Collections’ group similar content together – for example, films within the Spiderman universe or films featuring princesses. In the ‘Winnie the Pooh Collection’ you’ll find everything from The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh TV series (1988-1991) to 2001’s The Tigger Movie and the recent Christopher Robin feature.
A pull-out sidebar lets you view only movies, only TV series or Disney Originals, search for specific content using the search bar, and access your watchlist (titles you’ve pinned for easy access at a later date). Up to seven profiles for each family member can be made on one account too.
A nice touch is that each user can pick a character for their profile, which can be made child-friendly with bolder icons, and a more colourful, less dense interface populated with more kids’ content.
We previewed a Netherlands version of Disney Plus (launched in November 2019) prior to the European launch, and noted how useful the ‘Ultra HD and HDR’ category was for finding and accessing such content. Sadly, that category appears to be missing in the UK version.
A search for ‘4K’ doesn’t bring up any results, so it appears impossible to see what is available in 4K without going into the description for each individual title.
Logos for 4K, HDR (HDR10 or Dolby Vision) and Dolby Atmos are neatly flagged within the synopsis, alongside those for age appropriateness, year of release, genre, season count and audio format. But you will only see these badges if your device supports the technology.
Disney Plus streaming service: everything you need to know
Performance
(Image credit: Disney)
Unsurprisingly, Disney Plus has launched with exhaustive hardware support.
The service works across web browsers; iOS (iOS 11.0 and later) and Android (OS 5.0 Lollipop and later) phones and tablets; Google Chromecast, including devices with Chromecast built-in, such as select Vizio Smart TVs; Apple TV (4th gen or later) and Apple TV 4K (running tvOS 11.0 and later) streamers; Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles; Samsung (2016 and later), LG (2016 and later) and Android-based Sony and Sharp TVs; a wide range of Roku streaming players; Android TV set-top boxes such as Nvidia Shield TV and Mi Box; all of Amazon’s Fire TV streamers, Fire TV Edition smart TVs, and Fire Tablets (Fire OS 5.0 and later); and Sky Q.
Disney Plus’s catalogue can be streamed from an iOS device over AirPlay to Apple TV (including the 3rd- and 4th-generation boxes) as well as any TV compatible with AirPlay 2.
A note on Sky Q support, though: while you might reasonably expect Sky Q to support 4K streaming on Disney Plus, as it does on Netflix, sadly the service’s 4K titles appear only playable in HD and 5.1 audio. We hope Sky rights this in the near future.
Up to four screens can stream simultaneously on one account, which is on a par with Netflix’s pricier Premium tier and better than Apple TV+’s and Amazon Prime Video’s three-screen limit.
Here’s how to watch Disney Plus on Sky Q
Disney reduced the service’s streaming bandwidth by “at least 25 per cent” in order to ease pressure on internet service providers during the current coronavirus pandemic. Disney said: “We have instituted measures to lower bandwidth utilization, and in some circumstances streaming content in HD and UHD formats, including Dolby Atmos audio, will be limited or unavailable.”
With this in mind, our final judgment of Disney Plus’ picture quality compared to that of its rivals, which have also committed to lowering bandwidth, will be better reached at a later date. But we’re happy to report, for those considering subscribing to the service straight away, that the material is perfectly watchable right now.
We find ourselves drawn to the technically wonderful The Lion King live-action remake (a 4K HDR10 title) and are met with appropriately lush landscapes, tangible textures of lion fur, baboon skin and bird feathers, and a clean, crisp picture.
In the much darker opening scene of The Mandalorian (a 4K, HDR10 title) that crispness reveals itself again, complete with punch to lights and shine off helmets. There is enough gleam and sharpness to do justice to the series’ high production values.
Even older titles that have been remastered in Full HD, such as Pete’s Dragon (1977) and The Aristocrats (1970) display a surprising amount of clarity, coherence and richness on our 55in Samsung QLED TV.
(Image credit: Disney)
Verdict
Despite the understandable restrictions around streaming quality, we are very impressed with the Disney Plus streaming service.
As you’d expect from one that’s already been up and running for several months in some countries, this is a polished and personal streaming service that fans of Disney’s output are bound to enjoy.
With its rich, appealing catalogue, vast picture and audio quality support, intuitive usability and reasonable subscription price, Disney Plus is hoping to establish itself as a serious rival to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.
It isn’t perfect, though – the UK service currently overlooks the importance of 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos content discovery – and it is restricted to Disney content, of course, meaning that, for many, it is likely to be a second subscription alongside a more general streaming service.
But with quality Disney Originals and plenty of theatrical releases, Disney Plus seems to have found its own particular niche and be living happily ever after in the competitive streaming world.
ViacomCBS has announced a new studio based entirely around Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.
Avatar Studios will create “original content spanning animated series and movies,” according to a press release. Avatar and Korra original creators, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, are joining Nickelodeon as co-chief creative officers of Avatar Studios. The first project is an animated theatrical title set to begin production soon. More information will be announced soon, according to the company.
Having exclusive Avatar and Korra content is pretty key for Nickelodeon and ViacomCBS’ new streaming service, Paramount Plus. While the company’s business strategy is to license out a number of its shows and films on a non-exclusive basis, by the time Avatar and The Legend of Korra returned to Netflix, subscribers may have associated the show specifically with the streaming platform. The show became the most watched title on Netflix around May 22nd, when it returned to Netflix. The serieswas also previously available on Amazon Prime Video.
Having those licensing agreements is financially beneficial to ViacomCBS right now, according to comments CEO Bob Bakish has made on previous earnings calls. Some of Netflix’s most watched shows in the US remain ViacomCBS titles, including Criminal Minds, Shameless, NCIS,and Schitt’s Creek. In order to bring people in and get them to subscribe, however, Paramount Plus needs its own exclusives. This is where having a new Avatar series could ultimately be very beneficial.
Paramount Plus is ViacomCBS’s rebranded entry into the streaming space. It will launch on March 4th. After Viacom and CBS merged again in 2019, the unified company set out to find a way to use its entire breadth of programming and franchises to make a true competitor to Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, and Disney’s empire (Disney Plus and Hulu). The new streaming service will have more than 30,000 TV episodes and films from across its various brands, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures, alongside some aspect of live sports and news.
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Looking for a new TV gadget to stream all of your favorite entertainment? Buying an excellent streaming device is easier in 2021 than ever before — and the prices only continue to drop and get more appealing: $50 is the sweet spot if you want a streaming stick or set-top box that can do crisp 4K resolution, Dolby Vision / HDR, and immersive Dolby Atmos surround sound. Each of the picks below has its own strengths, whether it’s a snazzier interface, better voice controls, or a more comprehensive universal search for digging through all of your services. Depending on your wants, there are several good contenders, but the Chromecast with Google TV stands out as the best streaming device for most people.
Pretty much any 4K TV you buy today will come with a batch of built-in streaming apps. But they won’t always have everything. (For example, my LG OLED doesn’t have HBO Max.) So a dedicated streaming device is the best way to guarantee you’ll be able to watch that show or movie everyone’s been talking about. You can spend less money on entry-level Roku or Amazon streaming players, but you’ll be better off with one of our recommendations if you want your purchase to last.
The features and fantastic price of the Chromecast with Google TV make it the best streaming stick for most people.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
1. Chromecast with Google TV
The best streaming stick for most people
Google has done the best job figuring out what the home screen on a streaming stick should look like. That’s really the long and short of why the Chromecast with Google TV has taken the crown of best streaming player. With its new Google TV software, the company has taken a content-first approach that feels more focused and refined than what Amazon and Apple have managed in their own attempts to aggregate popular shows and movies.
On a Roku or Fire TV, my instinct is always to head right for the app where I want to watch something. But with the Chromecast, I’m equally happy browsing through Google’s rows of recommendations. The Google TV software always clearly shows where content is coming from — you can pick which streaming apps get factored into these recs — and it also provides helpful information (like Rotten Tomatoes ratings) at the surface level when you’re hunting for that night’s entertainment.
When you actually hit play, you’re punted over to Netflix or Prime Video or HBO Max just like always, but there’s no avoiding that. In terms of app selection, Google’s got all of the main players covered. You can still cast content to the Chromecast from your phone or laptop, and Google Assistant voice searches consistently work well and showcase Google’s accurate voice recognition.
Everything about Google TV feels tasteful, from the fonts to the way the background color subtly shifts to match the artwork of whatever content is highlighted. And the universal Watchlist, which lets you put together a list of stuff you’re interested in from various streaming services, is super convenient — especially since you can add to it from the web or your phone.
But not everything about the Chromecast with Google TV is perfect. The software can slow down from time to time, and some customers have encountered significant bugs that Google has tried to iron out with software updates. More annoyingly, despite the hardware supporting both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, there are still very popular apps like Disney Plus — which delivers both on other platforms — that aren’t doing so on the Chromecast. HBO Max says it does Atmos, but that hasn’t been my experience. Why? Who knows, but these inconsistencies are a mark against Google. And as for the Watchlist, some services like Netflix have already started removing their shows from it. Again, that’s something Google has no control over, but it does lessen the feature’s usefulness.
With its easy-to-use software, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is the best streaming device for people looking for a good, simple option.Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
2. Roku Streaming Stick Plus
The best streaming device for people who want to keep it simple
It’s hard to really complain about a Roku. The company’s streaming devices are about as simple and straightforward as they come. All of your apps are laid out in a big grid, which can make the experience feel a bit siloed — but there’s no beating that ease of use. And Roku has tried to touch up and modernize the home screen a bit with new sections like “Featured Free” to highlight content you can stream without any subscriptions.
Despite some occasional spats with content companies, Roku now has pretty much all of the entertainment you could want, including (most recently) HBO Max and Peacock. And the wonderfully neutral universal search remains one of the best aspects of the platform, favoring your existing subscriptions and free-to-stream options over making you pay money to rent or buy. And the company’s Roku Channel has grown into a legitimate streaming app of its own, offering a mix of ad-sponsored movies, TV shows, and live news for those days when you’re burned out on combing through Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
The $50 Streaming Stick Plus remains the best overall pick among Roku’s hardware when you weigh price and performance. It gives you HDR, Dolby Atmos, and speedy performance. The main thing you’ll miss out on is Dolby Vision. If that’s a must, you should look at the $100 Roku Ultra set-top box instead, which also includes an Ethernet port for optional wired connectivity and a helpful remote finder feature. Plus, the Ultra’s remote has customizable shortcut buttons and a headphone jack so you can listen privately to whatever’s on-screen if you’re trying to keep quiet at night. (Other Rokus let you do the latter with the company’s mobile app.)
If there’s one area where Roku falls flat, it’s probably voice search. Your voice queries for specific shows or movies should work well enough, but Roku lags Amazon and Google when it comes to natural language interactions. (And forget about using your voice to control smart home gadgets or look up entertainment-related facts.) Still, the company is adding other perks to offset that weakness. Late last year, it added support for Apple’s AirPlay, letting you easily send content from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the TV screen. Speaking of Apple…
It’s more pricey than the competition, but the Apple TV 4K offers a top-notch user experience.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
3. Apple TV 4K
The best streaming device overall experience (for a steep price)
The Apple TV 4K is laughably overpriced compared to its competitors, but Apple’s set-top box still has its own set of appealing qualities. The interface is fantastic. It supports Dolby Vision and Atmos across a wide variety of services, has all of the important apps checked off, and also gives you add-ons like Apple Arcade and Apple Fitness Plus (if you pay for them) that you won’t find on other streaming devices.
Apps sometimes have a higher level of polish on Apple TV and are generally better about taking advantage of everything it can do. Another benefit of the Apple TV is privacy — to some extent. Apple itself isn’t obsessed with tracking your viewing data in the same way that a company like Roku is, but the streaming apps can still see what you’re doing. I generally think consumers aren’t particularly averse to sharing their streaming habits, but Apple’s privacy practices might matter to you.
Even with AirPlay now on Roku, the Apple TV still wins out for people deeply invested in Apple’s ecosystem. You can use HomePods as its speakers or connect two sets of AirPods for private listening with audio sharing. You can view the feed from HomeKit security cameras or see who is at the door if you have a HomeKit video doorbell. The Apple TV still makes it easy to tap into content on a Mac in your home, and services like Apple Music and iCloud Photo Library are right there in easy reach on the TV screen.
But there’s no forgiving the infamous remote, which is cumbersome to use and too easy to lose. And it’s more difficult than ever to recommend that you spend $180 on hardware that’s now several years old. Doing so isn’t wrong; you’ve just got to know why the Apple TV 4K is right for you.
The Fire TV Stick 4K checks off all the boxes for HDR support and costs just $50, making it the best streaming stick for people in Amazon’s ecosystem.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
4. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
The best streaming stick if you’re in Amazon’s ecosystem
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K is yet another popular pick in that $50 range of streaming gadgets. The latest model added support for Dolby Vision, which made it the only product to offer everything HDR (Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR10+, HDR10) for such little money — until the new Chromecast came along.
The Fire TV Stick 4K’s software is similar to the Chromecast in that the home screen takes a content-focused approach instead of just throwing a grid of apps at you. Amazon tends to showcase its own Prime Video content more prominently than shows and movies from other services, but the newly revamped software goes a long way in improving the look and feel of the Fire TV. Alexa voice commands with the remote also work reliably, whether you’re saying “open Netflix” or asking to dim the smart lights in your living room.
Amazon offers most major streaming apps, but there are some frustrating omissions: Vudu — a good source of Dolby Vision movies — and Peacock are both still absent from the Fire TV platform.
There’s also the $120 Fire TV Cube to consider. It essentially doubles as a streaming device and small smart speaker. Rather than make you press and hold a button to speak to Alexa like with the Stick 4K, the Cube takes a hands-free approach and has beamforming mics that respond to “Alexa” prompts just like an Echo speaker would. It also features something Amazon calls Local Voice Control, which allows it to understand more spoken commands without needing help from the cloud. The Fire TV Cube has a more powerful processor than the Fire TV Stick 4K, making it the fastest of the Fire TV bunch, but the difference isn’t very noticeable.
When it comes to their streaming capabilities, the Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Cube are on equal footing. And you could always put the money you save by going with the Stick toward one of those new sphere-shaped Echo Dots, which will sound far better than the Cube’s tinny built-in speaker.
Nvidia’s Shield TV is a powerful Android TV streaming box that’s popular with home theater enthusiasts.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
5. Nvidia Shield TV
Best streaming device for home theater enthusiasts and gamers
Home theater enthusiasts, gamers, and people who like to tinker with their streaming devices have loyally stuck with Nvidia’s Shield TV and Shield TV Pro for a reason. They can serve as excellent players like any of our other picks, but you can also go more advanced and use them for cloud gaming or set up a Plex media library (in the case of the Pro). GeForce Now and Steam Link probably do more to sell gamers on the Shield lineup versus something like Apple Arcade on the Apple TV.
The Nvidia Shields currently run Android TV with Google Assistant built in, but it’s expected they’ll eventually get the same Google TV experience that’s on the Chromecast. Nvidia’s AI-powered upscaling can eke out some extra detail from the shows and movies you stream, and I’d rate the included remote control (with backlit buttons, even) as the most ergonomic of them all.
But like with the Apple TV, the main hurdle here is the price. The Nvidia Shield TV costs $150, so you’re looking at spending $100 more than devices that offer most of the same functionality. You get Ethernet and a very powerful streaming device for the added premium, and you can push the Shield TV farther and make it do more than just about any of its competitors.
Dolby Vision IQ aims to solve a problem with which we’re probably all familiar. How many times have you watched a TV drama and found it was too dark for you to make out all the details? The Game of Thrones finale was marred for many by being too gloomy for viewers to see what was going on, while Netflix’s Ozark has also come under fire for leaving far too much to the imagination. And they’re not alone.
So why is so much new TV so dark? In part, because filmmakers are making the most of the expanded contrast that HDR (High Dynamic Range) allows, grading content with the dark depth they see fit. However, that grading often assumes that the content is being watched in a pitch black room. Add even a little bit of ambient lighting and a lot of dark detail can get lost. Simply turning up the screen’s brightness may appear to improve things but in reality you condense the contrast and lose dark depth – even on the latest OLED TVs.
Dolby Vision IQ, which launched in 2020 and is steadily becoming more widespread, aims to address this issue for Dolby Vision HDR content.
What is Dolby Vision IQ?
“Beyond HDR” is how we heard Dolby Vision IQ being described when the technology was launched at CES 2020.
It’s essentially an updated version of Dolby Vision, one of a number of HDR formats alongside HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma). It’s designed to optimise Dolby Vision content on your TV according to the brightness of the room.
To do this, Dolby Vision IQ uses the dynamic metadata from Dolby Vision, as well as light sensors inside your TV, to dynamically adjust the HDR picture based on the content and ambient light conditions in your room.
If you switch from bright live sport to a darker TV show, the TV will adjust accordingly for the optimum picture. The idea is that you don’t have to do anything – the picture will simply look correct regardless of how much light is in the room.
Which TVs support Dolby Vision IQ?
(Image credit: LG / Bosch, Amazon Prime)
LG and Panasonic were the first TV manufacturers to board the Dolby Vision IQ train, with Panasonic offering the feature on all of its 2020 OLED models and LG including it with all of its 2020 OLEDs and a number of its Nanocell and LCD models.
Both brands will continue to support Dolby Vision IQ in 2021. Panasonic has confirmed that its flagship JZ2000 model will have it and we’d expect its other 2021 OLEDs to follow suit when they’re announced. LG, meanwhile, has confirmed that Dolby Vision IQ will be available across a large portion of its TV lineup again in 2021.
TCL recently announced its first Dolby Vision IQ TV, too – the C825 Mini-LED model.
Interestingly, while Sony and Philips both support Dolby Vision across many of their TVs, neither brand has so far launched or even announced a Dolby Vision IQ model. Both claim that their own ambient light sensors work with Dolby Vision content to create a similar effect, but we suspect that they will eventually adopt the official format, perhaps on models that launch in the second half of 2021 or start of 2022.
Less surprising is that Samsung doesn’t offer any Dolby Vision IQ TVs because it still doesn’t support even standard Dolby Vision. Instead, the company pushes its own HDR10+ format, which now has a rival to Dolby Vision IQ in the form of HDR10+ Adaptive.
In terms of content, any Dolby Vision movie or TV show can be given the IQ treatment – it’s not a separate format in that regard.
Does Dolby Vision IQ actually work?
(Image credit: Future)
Now, a TV’s light sensor being used to affect picture performance is nothing new. For years TV manufacturers have been using this technique to produce optional ‘eco’ (or similar) modes that work to adjust picture performance according to room conditions. And, in truth, we often recommend turning it off, finding that it detrimentally affects picture quality, usually by dulling the image.
Dolby Vision IQ is an altogether different and better beast, though. Rather than artificially dulling the picture in a dark room, it brightens it in a light room, and it does so while maintaining naturalness.
Playing It on an LG GX in a bright room, much of the detail in the sewers beneath Derry is lost when Dolby Vision IQ is disabled. At one point, as one of the bullies goes looking for Ben, the entire image is more or less black, with just one point of light on the screen. It’s simply impossible to figure out what’s going on. Enable Dolby Vision IQ (which on a 2020 LG OLED involves selecting the Dolby Vision Cinema Home preset and switching on AI Brightness) and the tunnel walls and dirty water are revealed, and it becomes clear that the camera is giving us the bully’s eye view as he peers through the darkness.
Crucially, in a dim or pitch black room, the image isn’t messed about with and you get the standard Dolby Vision picture quality. In short, Dolby Vision IQ delivers on its promise of delivering the correct picture in all lighting conditions, at least when tested on an LG OLED – the core Dolby Vision performance varies from TV to TV more than you might expect, so there’s actually no guarantee that all models from all brands will deliver Dolby Vision IQ in exactly the same way. Of course, this is something that we test as part of our reviewing process.
You might think that this is much more about the TV’s light sensor and adaptive processing than it is about Dolby Vision, but there’s little doubt in our minds that it’s the combination of Dolby Vision and the TV’s own technologies that’s makes Dolby Vision IQ so successful. We wouldn’t recommend using LG’s AI Brightness feature with standard HDR10 content, for example, as it has a tendency to exaggerate brightness and contrast in a way that doesn’t look natural.
In summary, is Dolby Vision IQ any good? Yes, it is, and we’d recommend enabling it if your TV supports it. There’s no downside when viewing in optimal, dark conditions, and a considerable upside when watching movies and TV shows with the lights on or curtains open.
Roku appears to be expanding into original TV and movie content, as a recent (but now closed) company job listing suggests. The Californian firm is looking for a “lead production attorney to work on its expanding slate of original content”, indicating it could soon create its own “original episodic and feature-length productions”.
Roku doesn’t currently produce any in-house content of its own, although it recently acquired Quibi’s content library of 75 shows to appear on the free, ad-supported Roku Channel.
The job listing is the most conclusive evidence yet that Roku is looking to follow in the footsteps of its hardware competitors, such as Amazon and Apple, who rival Roku with their Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV video streaming devices respectively and have already expanded into original content production via their own streaming services.
Roku offering its own shows will also give future buyers of video streaming devices good reason to look more closely to Roku devices, such as the Roku Streambar.
Roku’s possible slate of new shows and movies will compete against a huge selection of originals from other streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. As Roku currently sells devices that bring such services together, however, it’s starting from a strong vantage point.
So, how long before we can binge our way through a new Roku Original (as they may or may not be called) docuseries? Well, if the company is hiring production attorneys now, the project is likely in its infancy.
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Read our pick of the best media streamers 2021: The best TV streaming devices
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48-inch OLED TVs must be flying off the shelves, as LG is upping production of the screens they use by nearly fivefold.
According to Chosun (viaOLED-info), LG Display will increase production to one million 48-inch OLED TV screens this year, up from 220,000 in 2020.
Previously, the smallest OLED TV widely available was 55 inches in size. But then LG (and later Sony) launched a 48-inch model. LG Display is the industry’s key supplier of OLED screens.
The report says demand for gaming TVs has particularly driven sales of 48-inch OLEDs. It has been in such high demand that some retailers have started discounting the 55-inch model, leading to the rather illogical scenario where a bigger TV actually costs less than its smaller sibling.
Last year, LG launched one 48-inch OLED, the LG OLED48CX, and a fine set it is too (though it has since been bettered by the slightly pricier Sony KD-48A9). This year it’s launching more 48-inch models: we know it will launch another 48-inch C1, as well as a more wallet-friendly 48-inch A1.
LG’s 2021 TV range is starting to roll out globally, so if you’re looking for a new OLED TV, keep an ear out at your retailer of choice.
MORE:
Take a deep dive: LG 2021 TV lineup: everything you need to know
Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Donald Glover will star in a new Amazon Prime Video series based on the 2005 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The movie starred Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as a pair of married killers-for-hire who are assigned to assassinate each other.
I am trying to envision what Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag character would make of this news and whether her Mrs. Smith will make the asides to the camera that Fleabag was known for (please do). And! This not the first time the two stars have been in the same production; both were in the 2018 Disney movie Solo: A Star Wars Story, he as a young becaped Lando Calrissian and she as snarky droid L3-37.
Glover made the announcement via a story on his Childish Gambino Instagram page, which was shared by Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke. She called the pair a “dream team” for the studio in a statement.
Glover and Waller-Bridge will executive-produce Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Variety reported, and Francesca Sloane will serve as showrunner for the series, which is due in 2022.
Waller-Bridge created and wrote for the hit series Killing Eve based on the novels by Luke Jennings, and is also a writer on the delayed James Bond film No Time to Die. Glover has won raves for his FX series Atlanta, which he created and co-starred in (its latest season has also been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic).
Both stars have done other projects with Amazon Studios; it distributed Fleabag in the US, and Glover’s musical Guava Island was an Amazon Original production.
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