Samsung trains AI to improve images due to overwhelming demand…

Somewhere along the line, someone told Samsung execs that 8K TVs were flying off the shelves. We’re hoping they didn’t invest in magic beans as well.

To answer the desperate cries of the countless consumers who are suffering through the traumatic experience of lowly standard definition video, Samsung has announced it has trained an AI application to improve the resolution of images. No longer will millennials have to agonize through an episode of Love Island in mere HD, now they will be able to see every drop of sweat in 8K definition.

Perhaps the Samsung execs are actually right and we are wrong. Maybe a lot of the TVs we see out and about are actually 4K/8K, but the content simply isn’t there so we don’t notice the difference. We are struggling to think of many occasions we have come across a 4K/8K TV outside of an exhibition or electronics store though.

Despite the pretty shaky justification for the AI, it does sound like a pretty good bit of kit. Using an extensive library of images and machine learning technology, the AI builds out an image into a higher resolution. There is a risk of making the images look fake, but from what we have seen so far, it doesn’t look half bad.

Perhaps this is a chicken/egg situation. 4K/8K content was not being created because there weren’t enough displays, and there was no point in wasting money on a 4K/8K screen when there was only standard-definition content out there. In these types of situations, one part of the industry has to take a leap of faith. Take the plunge and almost hope trends mean it isn’t a waste of money. With this AI, at least existing content can be upgraded as a halfway measure.

Alongside the launch of this AI application, the team is also doubling down on the hardware side as well. ‘The Wall’ is a consumer modular MicroLED 146-inch TV, which has also been launched at the CES event. Let’s hope the appetite is there for the 4K/8K experience, otherwise the Samsung team might be relying on those magic beans a lot more intently.