It is rare these days that when purchasing a new TV, it is not a smart one. Over a decade TVs have been turned into the digital hubs of the home, designed not only for content consumption, but a central point where a smart home can be created.

As each new year brings smart TVs with improved visuals, better sound, and improved operating systems, now AI functionality has become a unique selling point from manufacturers.

One such smart TV maker is Samsung, which this week showcased its latest premium devices at an Unbox and Discover 2024 event at its Experience Store in Design Quarter, Johannesburg.

We were on hand at the event to not only take a closer look at the new massive Neo QLED 8K TVs (pictured above), but also gain a bit more insight into what makes a great smart TV experience these days. To that end, we sat down with VP of the Consumer Electronics at Samsung South Africa, Mike van Lier.

Focusing specifically on what defines a smart TV experience in 2024, here’s what he had to say.

Use case, use case, use case

To answer the question, van Lier imagines himself in a retail environment first, dealing with customers who asked the blanket question of which TV should I buy? While a salesperson could look to upsell the customer in order to get a commission, the first step they should take is in ascertaining what the customer will be using the TV for.

Ultimately it is the environment in which the smart TV is used that will determine the defining experience these days.

“You’d think it would be fairly simple task. Ask the customer what size TV they want, and then try to get them to buy a 65″ one, but in reality it is far more complex than that,” explains van Lier.

“We think about this at Samsung as well, we think about usage. Now for smart TVs today they need to be connected, they need to have an interface that supports multiple streaming services. We believe we have the fastest, most reliable operating system in Tizen, but frankly speaking I think TVs have moved a step further than just being smart,” he shares.

For the Samsung executive, the ability to stream a service like Netflix is fairly common these days, and a truly smart TV should be defined about what it can do in the moment.

Here he says that AI is starting play a key role.

“In the old days you’d go to the settings, you’d select movies, and it would then adjust the contrast of the picture. Now you have a chip built-in, much like a smartphone does, it’s on-device, it’s not in the cloud, it analyses your settings immediately, it understands that you’re watching movies, and it changes everything. From picture, to sound, to all of these settings without you even knowing, and this is the key, as you don’t even need to think about how the AI is helping you, it’s helping you already,” points out.

On-device AI the difference maker

“We really believe in that sort of power of technology, and that’s why we’re building this in not only into out TVs, not only our smartphones, but into our home appliances too like fridges, air-cons, and washing machines,” he continues.

When asked about whether on-device AI for TVs will start to filter down to lower and more affordable price points, van Lier notes that this is already happening.

“We do have AI technology at a more ‘affordable’ price point with our 4K TVs, so it’s in the mid to premium range. It is a slightly less powerful chip than what we’d get on our flagship QN900D, which is by far the best chip we have, but I guess it’s a matter of time,” van Lier notes.

“If I had to take a stab at it, we replace our TVs every year and our tech every year, so I suspect that what you see in an 8K TV today may very well be in the 4K next year,” he predicts.

With Samsung having been named the global TV market leader for 18 consecutive years, if it is betting on on-device AI being the defining factor of smart TVs moving forward, it will likely be the case for every other TV manufacturer too.

As such, great visuals, a clean UI, and support for all streaming platforms are stock standard these days. AI is therefore seen as the difference maker, at least as far as Samsung is concerned.