The average person today spends hours staring into their monitors, screens and phones, binging on Netflix and other such. This is not even a gender-specific trait, rather, a general infliction across our species.
I was recently privy to the launch of Samsung’s revolutionary new range of TVs, screens that were massive enough to replace load-bearing walls at homes, and yet, no thicker than an oil painting! Like any gadget-crazed freak should do, I immediately weighed in on just what I would have to sacrifice to own one of these. As it turned out, the compromise wasn’t all that hard to succumb to. Here then, is my rather androgynous reasoning for why investing in one of these mega-screens is better than coupling up.
- 75 inch (163 cm) at ₹10,99,900
- 82 inch (207 cm) at ₹16,99,900
- 98 inch (247 cm) at ₹59,99,900 (Made to order only)
8K Resolution: A thing of beauty is only a joy forever if it keeps evolving to stay in sync with your current desires. Nothing static can stay pure; not even water. While the reason you fell in love might fade, owning a flat screen that throws back impossibly immersive imagery day after day is not one to fall out of love of any time soon.
AI Chip: Any form of intelligence that your partner displayed during courtship will soon be replaced with a sense of complacency brought about due to comfort. Well, not so much with these QLEDs, because no matter the input provided, these sensors (artificial) intelligently manage to upscale it to 8K resolution, which is basically an enhancement almost 64 times over regular full-HD. As U2 sang, “Even better than the real thing” indeed.
One Connect Box: One trouble with relationships is all the connections one has endure and honour — dinners at jaded uncles and aunts, annoying cousins, pestering nieces and nephews, the never-ending saga of the family black sheep who just can’t seem to hold down a job…Well, the Samsung 8K QLED connects with just one wire to the Invisible Box which then takes in all the connections, dongles, gaming devices satellites, and other connections you can throw at it. It has more ports than the entire coastal India and can smoothly direct all incoming network traffic. A case in point for multi-tasking which is yet another desirable but deficient skill in most partners we’ll find.
One Remote: Voice-activated and intuitively intelligent, it’s a lot more than one can expect from the person you chose to annoy you for the rest of your life.
Bixby: Communication is the reason why most twosomes (or threesomes) break down. In today’s tech world, that translates to speaking Android to an iOS device. Thankfully, Samsung’s inherent operating environment ensures that no matter what platform you’re coming off, it understands you and allows you to meaningfully connect with your ultra-display. Coincidentally, meaningful connections is exactly what my therapist tells me I really need to work at.
Costs: The new QLEDs are definitely not cheap, but neither is an Indian wedding. At least you can have these ultra-premium TVs financed. They won’t fall behind the times for the next decade, which is more than one can say for most folks. With 16 models (across 4K and 8K) and multiple sizes to go for (starting at 43” and all the way up to a custom-made 98”) one has enough to choose and subsequently, upgrade. TVs don’t mind that, or when you come home with half an episode already streamed on your iPad and then watch the rest on the home screen.
Ambient Mode: The thing about many a partner is that they don’t understand personal space and don’t accord it often or enough. An ambient mode TV, the kind which blends into the background like, say the wall, on which it is flush-fitted, is the least intrusive piece of art you will ever hang at home. It’s there, and yet, isn’t. That’s the luxury of omnipresence at its most refined.
So, as with relationships, the question lurks: should one or shouldn’t one take the plunge with the 8K? Well, the doubt that most people will have is whether it truly manages to upgrade the content to 8K resolution or will one be stuck with a very expensive device and blurry images? From what I saw, I feel the AI is powerfully reliable and the upscales beautifully so. The price may be a deterrent, especially given how fast the tech world evolves, but for the moment this seems future-safe, and won’t go redundant while your EMIs are still fresh.
And in case you feel that 8K is too far a jump to make, given that the industry is still struggling to churn out 2K content, never mind the sluggish internet speeds that India currently “boasts”, the 4K is a good middle of the road — sensible — approach. The AI sensor upscales data here as well, and you might feel it’s less of a leap of faith to make. But 4K or 8K, these aren’t specs you need: it’s stuff you want. In which case, leave logic out of the final inner debate.
