Last year saw the emergence of wireless TVs as a genuine thing, and now Samsung Electronics is expanding the concept to projectors. The newly announced The Premiere 8K Projector (pictured, below), on show at CES 2024, is said to be the world’s first wireless model of its kind.
Like some of Samsung’s premium TVs, it features a One Connect Box through which users can plug in all of their external devices, such as a games console, Blu-ray player or set-top box. Then, just as with LG’s wireless M4 OLED TV, the content from these devices is transmitted wirelessly to the projector over the air.
In some ways, a wireless projector might be more compelling than a wireless TV. Although the likes of LG’s M4 do help to keep things neat and tidy, a wireless projector is more practical as the lack of cables will make it easier to position. That should enable more flexibility and make projectors a more realistic option for those who might otherwise have to shift furniture around to accommodate one. When the user also needs to set up a second device next to the projector, it can quickly become very messy.
According to Samsung, the new The Premiere 8K Projector is an ultra-short throw model that can be positioned extremely close to the wall or projector screen, and still throw up an enormous picture. Image size spans up to 150 inches when positioned just 12 inches from a wall or screen, and brightness from the triple-laser DLP projector is specified at an impressive 4,000 lumens.
The model also incorporates Samsung’s Sound-on-Screen technology, which delivers cinematic surround sound. The device packs 100-watts of power and has 8.2.2. Channel audio capabilities that combine with Dolby Atmos.
There may be some debate over the need for an 8K projector, however, as native 8K content is not readily available outside of YouTube and a few other places. That means users will mostly be upscaling 4K or even lower resolution content to 8K. However, Samsung is one of the most experienced brands in the world in this regard, and has shown an ability to make 4K content on its 8K Neo QLED TVs look significantly better.
The Premiere 8K Projector was announced alongside updated versions of Samsung’s The Premiere LSP7T and The Premiere LSP9T, which come with a Quantum 4K processor for enhanced pictures and support Dolby Atmos sound. There’s also the all-new The Premiere 5 (below), which is said to be the most compact triple-laser ultra-short throw projector in the world, standing just 8-inches tall and 5.5-inches wide and deep, making it much more portable than the above models.
The Premiere 5 can throw up a 100-inch image when placed just 17 inches from the wall, and it comes with the usual functionality found on most premium models, such as auto-keystone, focus and colour balance tech.
All four of the new The Premiere projectors come with built in streaming capabilities thanks to Samsung’s Smart Hub, and they also gain Samsung’s Gaming Hub, which means they can now stream video games from services such as Xbox, Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Utomik. In addition, the projectors can all be used as smart speakers for streaming music.
Besides its projectors, Samsung also unveiled a new lineup of soundbars and wireless speakers for 2024, with the most interesting being the Music Frame (below). Similar to Samsung’s The Frame TV, Music Frame is a speaker that’s designed to look like a piece of art, though the fact it also serves as a speaker means its frame is a lot thicker than any normal picture. Unlike The Frame, it doesn’t display digital art, but rather physical paintings or photos. Music Frame can integrate into surround sound systems when paired with Samsung’s TVs, projectors and soundbars, thanks to its Q-Symphony technology, which allows the TV to work as the centre channel in such setups.
As for the actual soundbars, the most interesting is the high-end HW-Q990D that comes with an 11.1.4 channel configuration with Dolby Atmos and 4K 120Hz passthrough supported. AI is onboard to help optimise the audio based on the content genre.
Another interesting option is the HW-S800D, which is an ultra-thin soundbar that measures just 1.6-inches deep, about a third of the depth of the Sonos Arc. Yet inside, it packs 10 drivers with overhead speakers and a centre channel for vocals, plus a subwoofer and passive radiator, delivering “deep, distortion-free bass in a compact form factor,” the company said.
Samsung is yet to announce prices or availability for any of the above products, but we can expect that most will arrive by the summer, if not earlier.