Samsung Electronics: "The Secret to Success of Ultra HD 8K TV is the No.1 Semiconductor"

Interview with Four Semiconductor Developers for Samsung Electronics Ultra High-Definition TVs

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] "As TV resolution evolves from 4K to 8K, the functions required of semiconductors are becoming increasingly diverse. Overcoming the rapidly rising development difficulties is the goal of our developers." (Song Yongju, Samsung Electronics System LSI Division Pro)

As high-definition TVs continue to evolve, the development speed of semiconductors, which are key components that deliver video signals to displays, is also accelerating. To realize clear high-definition TVs, three types of semiconductors are needed: ▲DTV SoC that decompresses digital data and processes it into video and audio for delivery ▲T-CON that converts and delivers processed video data in time and sequence ▲DDI that converts digital data into analog signals.

Samsung Electronics System LSI Division participants in semiconductor development for 8K TVs (from left) Sangdeok Kim, Hansoo Sung, Junghyun Lim, Yongju Song Pro / Photo by Samsung Electronics

On the 20th, Samsung Electronics Newsroom released an interview featuring four developers from the System LSI Division who developed the industry's first and fastest high-resolution TV support semiconductors.

First, Samsung Electronics devoted itself to finding solutions to support 8K resolution while lowering power consumption to elevate the functionality of the DTV SoC, which acts as the brain of the TV. By equipping an enhanced NPU (Neural Processing Unit), AI design technology was applied to improve image quality and audio processing, and previously separate semiconductor components were integrated into a single chip to achieve power efficiency.

Pro Seong Hansu said, "As NPU performance improves, TV performance gets better through enhanced AI learning, but semiconductor design becomes more complex and heat generation increases accordingly. To solve the heat issue, we found a compromise between performance and complexity and succeeded in optimization."

In the case of the T-CON that delivers video data, the amount of data increased significantly as resolution rose. The development team addressed heat generation caused by faster speeds by applying advanced processes and simplifying the chip. For the DDI semiconductor that expresses video data on the display, the biggest challenge was resolving heat issues while rapidly increasing voltage.

Pro Song Yongju said, "Increasing the speed of the driving buffer was a difficult task. To reduce input/output delay time of the circuit, we varied the circuit structure and layout and were able to develop a new driving circuit capable of high-speed operation."

Additionally, Samsung Electronics enhanced the completeness of the technology by using its own interface linked with semiconductor driving technology. Samsung’s unique strength lies in being able to develop all three semiconductors necessary for high-definition TV implementation. Pro Kim Sangdeok emphasized, "The interface includes not only speed but also semiconductor driving technology. Thanks to using our own interface, we were able to create the industry's fastest interface-based DDI for 8K TVs."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.