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What comes after OLED?

With OLED-equipped TVs, monitors, and other gadgets slowly becoming more readily available at lower prices, attention is turning to what the next landmark consumer display tech will be.

Micro LED often features in such discussions, but the tech is not expected to start hitting consumer devices until the 2030s . Display makers are also playing with other futuristic ideas, like transparent and foldable screens. But when it comes to technology that could seriously address top user concerns—like image quality , price , and longevity—quantum dots seem the most pertinent at the moment.

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As many as 91,000 LG TVs face the risk of being commandeered unless they receive a just-released security update patching four critical vulnerabilities discovered late last year.

The vulnerabilities are found in four LG TV models that collectively comprise slightly more than 88,000 units around the world, according to results returned by the Shodan search engine for Internet-connected devices. The vast majority of those units are located in South Korea, followed by Hong Kong, the US, Sweden, and Finland. The models are:

• LG43UM7000PLA running webOS 4.9.7 - 5.30.40
• OLED55CXPUA running webOS 5.5.0 - 04.50.51
• OLED48C1PUB running webOS 6.3.3-442 (kisscurl-kinglake) - 03.36.50
• OLED55A23LA running webOS 7.3.1-43 (mullet-mebin) - 03.33.85

Starting Wednesday, updates are available through these devices’ settings menu.

Enlarge / AMD's depiction of a game playing without FreeSync (left) and with FreeSync (right). (credit: AMD )

AMD announced this week that it has ceased FreeSync certification for monitors or TVs whose maximum refresh rates are under 144 Hz. Previously, FreeSync monitors and TVs could have refresh rates as low as 60 Hz, allowing for screens with lower price tags and ones not targeted at serious gaming to carry the variable refresh-rate technology.

AMD also boosted the refresh-rate requirements for its higher AdaptiveSync tiers, FreeSync Premium and FreeSync Premium Pro, from 120 Hz to 200 Hz.

Here are the new minimum refresh-rate requirements for FreeSync, which haven't changed for laptops.

Enlarge / A promotional image for a Roku TV. (credit: Roku )

Roku customers are threatening to stop using, or to even dispose of, their low-priced TVs and streaming gadgets after the company appears to be locking devices for people who don't conform to the recently updated terms of service ( ToS ).

This month, users on Roku's support forums reported suddenly seeing a message when turning on their Roku TV or streaming device reading: "We've made an important update: We’ve updated our Dispute Resolution Terms. Select ‘Agree’ to agree to these updated Terms and to continue enjoying our products and services. Press * to view these updated Terms." A large button reading "Agree" follows. The pop-up doesn't offer a way to disagree, and users are unable to use their device unless they hit agree.

Customers have left pages of complaints on Roku's forum. One user going by "rickstanford" said they were "FURIOUS!!!!" and expressed interest in sending their reported six Roku devices back to the company since "apparently I don't own them despite spending hundreds of dollars on them."

Enlarge / A marketing image for Samsung's 83-inch S90C, its first OLED TV to quietly use an LG Display WOLED panel. (credit: Samsung)

Samsung rejuvenated the OLED TV market when its display manufacturing subsidiary, Samsung Display, announced QD-OLED two years ago. Quantum dot-infused OLED panels brought the promise of richer color compared to LG Display's white OLED panels (WOLED) and represented a viable competitor to what had become OLED TVs' only option. Various OEMs, from Samsung Electronics to Sony, bragged about the purported advantages QD-OLED brought over WOLED. Samsung is not so boastful these days.

Samsung's 2024 OLED TV lineup will feature TVs that use both QD-OLED and WOLED panels. Samsung started doing this last year with the 83-inch S90C . But this year, it will reportedly be even harder to tell if a new Samsung OLED TV has quantum dots.

Samsung announced the entry-level S85D, the S90D, and the flagship S95D in January, without specifying the type of OLED panel tech(s) involved. But it was still apparent that the S90D would include WOLED options since Samsung said it would come in 42, 48, 55, 65, 77, and 83-inch sizes. QD-OLED doesn't come in 42, 48, or 83 inches.

Enlarge / The Fire OS home screen advertising Ford. (credit: Bodhi Wire/YouTube )

Amazon has issued an update to Fire TV streaming devices and televisions that has broken apps that let users bypass the Fire OS home screen. The tech giant claims that its latest Fire OS update is about security but has refused to detail any potential security concerns.

Users and app developers have reported that numerous apps that used to work with Fire TV devices for years have suddenly stopped working. As first reported by AFTVnews , the update has made apps unable to establish local Android Debug Bridge (ADB) connections and, therefore, execute ADB commands with Fire TV devices. The update, Fire OS 7.6.6.9, affects several Fire OS-based TVs, including models from TCL, Toshiba, Hisense, and Amazon’s own Fire TV Omni QLED Series . Other devices running the update include Amazon’s first Fire TV Stick 4K Max, the 3rd-gen Fire TV Stick, as well as the 3rd and 2nd-generation Fire TV Cubes and the Fire TV Stick Lite.

A code excerpt shared with AFTVnews by what the publication described as an “affected app developer," which you can view here , shows a line of code indicating that Fire TVs would not be allowed to make ADB connections with a local device or app. As pointed out by AFTVnews, such apps have been used by Fire TV modders for abilities like clearing installed apps’ cache and using a different home screen than the Fire OS default. Other uses include advanced tweaks, like console emulators, as How-To Geek noted.

Enlarge (credit: Vizio )

Walmart announced an agreement to buy Vizio today. Irvine, California-based Vizio is best known for lower-priced TVs, but its real value to Walmart is its advertising business and access to user data.

Walmart said it's buying Vizio for approximately $2.3 billion, pending regulatory clearance and additional closing conditions. Vizio can also terminate the transaction over the next 45 days if it accepts a better offer, per the announcement.

Walmart will keep selling non-Vizio TVs should the merger close, Seth Dallaire, Walmart US' EVP and CRO who would manage Vizio post-acquisition, told The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ).

Enlarge / LG's OLED T TV with its contrast film rolled down partially, enabling you to see what's behind the TV's upper area. (credit: LG전자 뉴스룸 LiVE LG/YouTube )

LG today announced plans to sell a TV with transparent-display technology that has almost exclusively been relegated to commercial applications and demonstrations at tech shows.

LG is showing off the Signature OLED T at CES 2024 (which officially starts tomorrow). LG says the see-through TV will be available this year but hasn't shared pricing. Still, it's remarkable to see transparent tech make its way into a consumer TV, even if it is expected to be extremely expensive. Other groundbreaking, Signauture-branded OLED designs from LG have cost six figures .

During a press event today, LG executives discussed the OLED T as a way to satisfy customer demand for bigger TVs without those mammoth displays always dominating the living room.

Enlarge / A marketing image for Vizio's P-series Q9 TV. (credit: Vizio )

Vizio has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company misled customers about the refresh rates of its TVs.

In 2018, a lawsuit [ PDF ], which was later certified as a class action, was filed against Vizio for advertising its 60 Hz and 120 Hz LCD TVs as having an "effective" refresh rate of 120 Hz and 240 Hz, respectively. Vizio was referring to the backlight scanning (or black frame insertion) ability, which it claimed made the TVs look like they were operating at a refresh rate that was twice as fast as they are capable of. Vizio's claims failed to address the drawbacks that can come from backlight scanning, which include less brightness and the potential for noticeable flickering. The lawsuit complained about Vizio's language in marketing materials and user manuals.

The lawsuit read: