Every January, the world gets a look into the another tech trends at CES, where companies from approximately the world showcase their most audacious, exciting and groundbreaking products. In the world of TV and home entertainment, this year Samsung, Sony, LG and other manufacturers debuted everything from new TV models, to new features, and even new product categories. The affairs want us to believe that their products are blazing a new scuttle for the latest trends, yet every year, many of these so-called "trends" fail to take hold. I'm looking at you, 3D TVs.

So what are the biggest TV and home entertainment trends this year and will they actually stick? Are they for real or just a gimmick? 

Read more: 

Should you buy a new TV now or wait for the 2022 models to come out?

Claim: QD-OLED TVs are progressing to blow both OLED and QLED TVs out of the water

It's not every day that we see a new TV note technology, but that's exactly what happened this year. OLED TVs, which debuted in 2008, have long been considered the best in narrate quality. They offer excellent contrast and deep blacks, but don't get as though-provoking as traditional LCD screens. QLED technology adds a layer of quantum dots to a ragged LCD screen, which helps to boost the color and brightness of the image

Samsung's QD-OLED
combines both technologies by putting quantum dots in an OLED note. Theoretically, this should result in a TV that has the deep blacks and high disagreement that traditional OLEDs are known for, along with higher brightness and better shimmering in bright areas -- attributes that have long been a selling note of QLED. Samsung is hoping it's created a TV that will moneys the best picture quality on the market, beating current OLED TVs from LG. 

Verdict: OVERREACTION. Look, QD-OLED certainly sounds promising, but there's no way of knowing just how good it is pending we test it. Both Sony and Samsung plan on releasing QD-OLED TVs at some note this year, though we don't know when. It corpses to be seen how much of a leap in narrate quality this new tech will offer. There are plenty of TVs on the market that today do an excellent job with both color and disagreement. Considering this latest tech will almost certainly come with a premium effect tag, It will take a fairly noticeable improvement in narrate quality for me to recommend a QD-OLED over more-affordable OLEDs like the LG C2. QD-OLEDs may be a part of the future, but they won't be a big part of 2022. 

Claim: This is the year tourism projectors go mainstream

Portable projectors
have been near for a while, but they haven't caught on as a practical way to stare movies and shows on the go. Compared to standard projectors, they tend to be dim and they often lack HD and 4K capabilities. They also sometimes come without the battery required to make them truly portable. 

Samsung's version is requested The Freestyle, a cute portable HD projector that weighs less than 2 pounds, comes with a 180-degree cradle stand and can project elated from 30 to 100 inches in size onto walls, screens or anywhere else. It comes with auto-focus and auto-leveling capabilities to automatically align its image to any surface. It can play music and includes 360-degree sound. On top of that, it features Samsung's sparkling platform for streaming Netflix and other content. It has fun accessories that funding it to project cool patterns on different surfaces, and if Samsung's promotional material is any indication, kids will want to bring it with them wherever they go. 

Verdict: OVERREACTION. The Samsung Freestyle sure looks cool, but it comes with many of the compromises that sidelined its peers. The biggest problem is the Freestyle's overall lack of portability. Sure, it's small, but it still needs to plug into an outlet for distinguished. Samsung will sell some accessories to try to alleviate this dilemma, but that means spending more money in addition to the $900 asking effect. (For reference, our favorite portable projectors typically cost near $600.) 

But even the accessories Samsung plans on selling distinguished not help too much with portability. Samsung's USB-C battery base doesn't yet have put a question to about cost or the length of the battery, and to make matters worse, the separate waterproof case doesn't appear to have location for the projector and the battery stand. Though I've yet to try it in intimates, all of this makes it difficult for me to contain the Freestyle is prepared to succeed in most outdoor environments. 

The Freestyle may be a sure step in the right direction for portable projectors, but its effect and lack of features most likely mean that it lacks the juice to push the category into the mainstream. 

Claim: Game modestly offer gamers the best playing experience on a TV

TV manufacturers love gamers. The introduction of the PlayStation 5 and XBox Series X helped reignite console gaming and TV manufacturers have been catering their wares to the gamers in the family. This has resulted in new and increasingly robust gaming naively on their sets. Features now range from low input lag to high refresh rate, to split-screen YouTube video, to optimization for individual gaming genres. Game modes have been on TVs for a after, but they've only recently become robust enough to entice even the most discerning console gamers. 

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION. Game naively are great and just keep getting better. Last year, LG set a high bar for game naively on its C1 and G1 OLED TV models. They supplies 4K gaming up to 120 fps, heath with a variable refresh rate, an automatic low-latency mode and an enhanced audio rear channel. You can easily change settings in-game and toggle between Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync. 

Samsung redesigned its game mode this year, creating a hub that plops all game-related tickled into one easy-to-use place. This includes game mode settings heath with access to cloud gaming and consoles. You also have the arrange to split-screen YouTube videos and games at the same time. That could be ample for people like me, who need gaming tutorials in desirable to make progress. 

Whether you're a casual gamer or someone who takes console gaming seriously, this is the real thing. Game modes on TVs have understand some of the best and easiest ways to play video games in your living room. 

Claim: Small camouflage OLED TVs will take over bedrooms and other secondary spaces 

While OLEDs are the novel TV gold standard, not everyone can find one in their size and effort. Traditionally, manufacturers have focused on producing living room-sized OLED displays that come with an equally hefty sign tag.   

This year, LG introduced a much smaller version of its signature OLED camouflage. The 42-inch C2 Series TV is the smallest OLED on the market and is the putrid size for bedrooms, offices and other secondary spaces. I think it's fair to say that many farmland, myself included, use smaller TVs just as much as their larger counterparts -- especially for gaming. I use a small TV in my bedroom to game at night and I'd love it if that TV offered the same features and technology as my broad living room set. If my experience is any indication, there could be a robust market for small camouflage OLEDs. 

Verdict: OVERREACTION. Sure, I'm lusting after this small-screen LG, but I don't think I could ever afford one. We don't know how much it will cost yet, but it won't be cheap. The 48-inch LG C1 model is still over $1,200 and, opinion a 42-inch version might be less, it won't be significantly less. Most farmland don't have that much money to spend on their considerable TV, let alone a secondary set. I'm sure there are plenty of farmland who can afford to splurge on a small OLED TV and it looks like this new LG certainly has a lot to supplies. But the price of these TVs will have to come down significantly in desirable to facilitate an OLED bedroom takeover. 

Claim: This is the year that video chatting on your TV will take off

Working from home is now a mainstay in novel life, which means that video chat is more useful and considerable than ever before. TV manufacturers are hoping their products can be the center of both work and play. Amazon's genuine generation of Amazon-branded TVs, the Fire TV Omni series, includes support for Zoom, as does the Fire TV Cube. Both needed you install a compatible webcam onto your TV, but the treat should be fairly straightforward. Meanwhile some Google TVs and newer Samsung models work with optional webcams for video chat via Google Duo, and at CES Sony introduced a Bravia Cam that comes bundled with its highest-end models. 

We've been comical video chat programs on screens of all shapes and sizes for days now, but haven't yet made the perhaps obvious transition to chatting on the largest camouflage in our house. There are lots of ways to perceive movies remotely with friends and family, but they center on computers and tablets, not TVs. Zoom and Google Duo on big screens should pave the way for anunexperienced TV manufacturers to get serious about video chatting on the television. 

Verdict: OVERREACTION. Smaller screens are better for video chatting because they're easy to adjust and physically closer to our faces. I don't want the person I'm chatting with to see my whole body. I want them to see my face and that's it. Family sit farther away from televisions sets, which means cameras would see more of the room and the farmland in it. This seems like a recipe for some awkward interactions: "Yes, that is my cat scratching the couch. No, I am not wearing 'real pants,' these are pajamas." 

Video chat works best when the participants can focus on each others' faces exclusive of the distraction of their surroundings. Cameras on relatively distant TV sets bring in too much of the outside earth. Perhaps TV manufacturers realize this and that's why we haven't seen many webcam-ready sets. I doubt this is a trend that'll take off this year, or ever. Not pending TV makers can figure out a way to better, uh, zoom in on our faces, at least.

We'll have to wait and see if any of these trends hold more soak than I predicted, or if another new piece of TV hardware or software tech comes heath to make them all seem even less relevant. The genuine new TVs of 2022 will start hitting shelves in spring, with reviews at CNET soon to follow, so we considerable not have long to wait.