Industry Needs to Think of Devices as ‘Connected Platform,’ LG CTO Tells IFA
The COVID-19 pandemic brought “so many people into the online economy, from shopping to working to learning,” creating industry opportunities to innovate for the new shelter-in-place reality, I.P. Park, LG Electronics president-chief technology officer, told an IFA 2020 news conference Thursday. The conference was held before journalists assembled in person at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds. Park spoke via prerecorded holographic video and on a live videoconference feed from Seoul.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
To really make good use of the online opportunity created by the pandemic, “we need to start thinking of all our devices and appliances as a connected platform, where we can create new services, solutions and also new business models,” said Park. He introduced LG’s ThinQ Home smart home project, describing it as centralized in a “real, brick-and-mortar four-story house” built outside Seoul to be a “testbed for LG’s innovation in a real-life setting.” The house was built with technology “as an integral part of the living experience,” he said. ThinQ Home embodies LG’s “holistic approach to intelligent living, made possible by our uniquely diverse coverage” of the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets, he said.
Merlin Wulf, LG director-marketing, Western Europe, appeared live to welcome Park’s hologram “to the stage” with “our very own take of a live press conference.” Uncertainty is in the future, “more so than ever,” said Park. But the pandemic affords the consumer tech industry a “real opportunity for those we serve,” he said. “Lockdowns, for one, opened up a whole new potential for homes. Social distancing has pushed us to find new ways to get together.”
Other than the “obvious threat of massive infection” from the coronavirus, “another great enemy during the months of lockdown was boredom,” said Park. “With theaters and theme parks all shut down, there’s been a much greater demand on our homes as a place of entertainment.” LG has been “doubling down” on its home entertainment “offering,” and OLED TVs are the “centerpiece,” he said.
OLED is the “unrivaled medium of display, true to every detail,” said Park. LG’s introduction of a new Alpha 9 Gen 3 processor makes “our TVs even more adaptable, more faithful to a whole range of content we use TVs for,” he said. The processor uses “advanced deep-learning algorithms to boost picture and sound quality,” he said. Using Dolby Vision IQ and the UHD Alliance’s Filmmaker Mode enables viewing of “masterpiece” movies “exactly as the maestro intended,” he said.
IFA Notebook
“That we are meeting here today in Berlin gives us back at least a bit of normality -- much-needed normality,” IFA Executive Director Jens Heithecker told an opening news conference Thursday. “With IFA 2020 as a real live event, I see it as a big sign, a symbol, for all of us to show that we can look beyond. Beyond the pandemic, beyond the economic fallout, beyond all these uncertainties, there is a normal ahead.” Heithecker said he was asked many times why IFA wasn’t taken all-virtual. “It’s quite simple,” he said. “When it comes to doing business, nothing beats the personal connection.”
TV is at the “center of the connected home,” said Marek Maciejewski, TCL Europe director-product development. “For a much smoother, faster and more stable video and game streaming experience, some of our 8K products will come with 5G connections, and all 8K products will come with Wi-Fi 6,” he said. “This year, we have taken the next step” in display innovation, partnering with OLED R&D company JOLED on the next generation of quantum-dot OLED TVs using inkjet-printed screens, said Maciejewski. “These screens, I would say, are the holy grail in our industry because they can deliver top-notch picture quality for premium mid-screen and large-screen TVs."