LG might have shuttered its phones business but still has a range of home theater tech on the way, including both new soundbars and a multitude of OLED, OLED Evo and QNED with Mini LED TVs. Now the company has detailed some neat tricks you can use when pairing one of the upcoming soundbars with one of its 2021 TVs.
The LG soundbars will work with the company's new TVs’ AI Sound Pro feature to share audio processing duties across both devices. The soundbars will also share the TV’s sound modes, for greater consistency should you need to switch between the TV and soundbar speakers.
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The AI Sound Pro integration sounds more useful. Using a system called “TV Sound Mode Share” it aims to deliver the best of both worlds by using the TV’s superior audio processing capabilities but relying on the richer-sounding soundbar drivers (and subwoofers, where included) to pump out the processed sound.
As with recent LG soundbars like the LG SK10Y and SL8Y, the company’s 2021 soundbars will also include Meridian Audio tuning. This time, though, the British audio specialist is also contributing its new Median Horizon tech, which can supposedly convert two-channel stereo sound into multi-channel audio for enhanced performance with surround sound setups.
Even if you don’t match one of the new soundbars with an LG TV, they’re still set to be a relatively well-featured clutch of home speakers. All models, from the flagship 7.1.4-channel SP11RA to the 3.1.2 SPD7Y, will support HI-Res Audio — so lossless 24 bit/96 kHz music can play in its full quality. Dolby Atmos and DTS:X are also supported across the range, and HDMI eARC ports come as standard.
LG remains coy about exact pricing and availability for these soundbars, though the first of them — including the SP11RA — will go on sale in the U.S. and Europe later this month.
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