Samsung’s 85

Neo QLED comes to Samsung's outdoor Terrace TVs

Samsung has announced a new 85-inch addition to its Terrace outdoor TV lineup. The new 4K model is the largest outdoor TV the company has released yet and it’s also the first to use a “Neo QLED” display panel with a mini-LED backlight.

TVs that use mini-LED tech are capable of hitting high brightness levels, which is a key reason why mini-LED models rank high on our list of the best TVs. The added brightness that the tech brings will help the new Terrace carry out its duties as a “full sun” TV, which is one intended to be used in outdoor installations where sunlight is directly hitting the screen. Other features found in Samsung’s new 85-inch Terrace TV that should help in this respect include an anti-glare coating and a Wide Viewing Angle screen to enhance off-center viewing.

Samsung’s 85-inch model has an IP56 rating – a new category for Terrace TVs – to ensure the TV can be installed outside year-round fully protected from water and dust. Input options include a built-in HD Base-T receiver, which allows custom installers to run a single LAN cable to the TV for a neater and more streamlined connection from HDMI sources.

Similar to Samsung’s indoor TVs, the 85-inch Terrace supports HDR10+ high dynamic range and features the company’s Quantum Processor 4K for upscaling HD programs to 4K resolution. It also supports Multiview for showing multiple video sources onscreen at once and comes with a SolarCell remote with a built-in solar panel for battery-free charging.

Another first for Samsung Terrace TVs that can be found in the new 85-inch model is Samsung Gaming Hub. This feature lets viewers play from a list of 3,000-plus games available on cloud gaming services like Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, Utomik, and more. The Gaming Hub also supports a range of third-party Bluetooth wireless controllers, and selecting it triggers the TV’s low input latency Auto Game Mode.

The 85-inch Terrace is now available for pre-order at $19,999 (around £15,900 / AU$31,000) on Samsung.com.

TVs with a mini-LED backlight can provide strikingly high brightness, which is why they’re a great choice for daytime viewing or watching in rooms where you plan to have the lights on. They’re also great for capturing the full range of highlight detail in HDR programs, though the high peak light output they deliver can sometimes prove too much for viewing in dim or dark rooms.

Previous Samsung Terrace TVs used a regular QLED display panel. Now, with the introduction of mini-LED to the Terrace TV mix via the new 85-inch model’s Neo QLED display, viewers have an even brighter option for outdoor viewing, one that can more strongly compete with direct sunlight to create clear, glare-free pictures.

The new 85-inch model’s Gaming Hub feature is also a nice addition, and one that will allow for a greater range of outdoor uses beyond just watching movies, TV shows and sports. Beyond that, Samsung’s new Terrace has the same Tizen smart interface found on its indoor TVs, which will let viewers stream from a wide array of apps and also search for and select shows using voice commands.

At $20,000, the 85-inch Terrace is undoubtedly expensive, but this is a niche TV designed for a very specific application. At minimum, viewers can expect high brightness for their money, and that the TV’s picture will look clear and colorful from any angle, even when floating horizontally beneath it in a pool.

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Al Griffin has been writing about and reviewing A/V tech since the days LaserDiscs roamed the earth, and was previously the editor of Sound & Vision magazine.

When not reviewing the latest and greatest gear or watching movies at home, he can usually be found out and about on a bike.

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