Samsung is turning its 2026 televisions into full-fledged computing platforms, with AI handling everything from picture tuning to health coaching and photo curation. Instead of treating the TV as a passive screen, the company is building an ecosystem where algorithms sit in the middle of how you watch, listen and interact at home. The result is a lineup that leans on Vision AI, smarter processing and tighter integration with services to make the screen feel more like a companion than a device.
The strategy is clear: use AI to differentiate every tier of the range, from flagship Micro RGB sets to mainstream OLED, Mini LED and UHD models, while tying them together with a common software layer. I see this as Samsung’s attempt to lock in living-room loyalty before rival platforms can turn the TV into just another dumb endpoint.
AI as the new TV operating system
Samsung is not just sprinkling machine learning on top of existing features, it is rebuilding the TV experience around AI. At its First Look showcase, the company framed the 2026 range as “Your Companion to AI Living,” positioning the screen as a hub that understands context, adapts to content and responds to natural language. The 2026 TV lineup supports HDR10+ ADVANCED for more precise brightness and genre-aware tuning, which gives the AI engine more headroom to adjust tone mapping and motion handling scene by scene rather than relying on blunt presets, a shift that is central to how Jan and Next are being marketed inside Samsung’s ecosystem.
Under the hood, Samsung is using that processing power to turn TVs into what it calls companions rather than simple screens, with AI managing recommendations, ambient modes and device control. The company has been explicit that it wants viewers to feel like they have entered the home of the future when they sit down in front of a 2026 set, and that means the interface needs to anticipate what you want to watch, surface relevant apps and even adjust sound profiles without constant menu-diving. In practice, that looks like a TV that can recognize different household members, remember their habits and quietly optimize the experience in the background, a direction that aligns with the broader push toward Samsung companions across categories.
Vision AI Companion moves from gimmick to core feature
The most visible expression of this strategy is Vision AI Companion, or VAC, which started as a niche add-on and is now moving to the center of Samsung’s pitch. VAC uses on-device intelligence and sensors to work alongside viewers, monitoring posture, screen distance and even activity levels to nudge people toward healthier habits while they watch. Samsung describes the feature as Elevating the next-level viewing experience, with Elevating and Vision AI Companion language that makes clear VAC is meant to be a persistent presence rather than a buried setting.
Earlier iterations of VAC felt experimental, but for 2026 it is spreading across more models and use cases. Samsung’s AI televisions now use Vision AI Companion technology on OLED, Mini LED and UHD TVs, so the same core assistant can guide workouts, suggest accessibility tweaks or dim the screen when kids get too close, regardless of price band. That ubiquity is important, because it turns VAC into a platform developers and partners can build around, instead of a one-off trick. I see this as Samsung betting that consumers will accept a more opinionated TV if the trade-off is tangible help with comfort and wellness, a bet underscored by how prominently Samsung Vision AI Companion features in the 2026 messaging.
Micro RGB and HDR10+ ADVANCED show AI’s visual upside
On the hardware side, Samsung is using its premium Micro RGB line to showcase what AI-tuned picture quality can look like when the panel itself is cutting edge. Micro RGB Technology relies on sub-100μm red, green and blue LEDs, a specification Samsung highlights under the banner “Micro RGB: Precision Engineered for Lifelike Colors,” which gives the processing pipeline extremely fine control over brightness and color volume. That density lets the AI engine push highlights harder, preserve shadow detail and correct color banding in real time, especially in challenging HDR scenes, something the company is leaning on as it expands its Micro RGB and Precision Engineered for Lifelike Colors lineup into more sizes.
The flagship expression of this approach is the world’s first 130-Inch Micro RGB TV, which Samsung is using as a halo product for the entire range. That 130-Inch set supports HDR10+ ADVANCED, so the AI processor can analyze each frame and adjust dynamic metadata for both brightness and color grading, rather than relying on static HDR curves. The result is a screen that can shift from a dimly lit drama to a bright sports broadcast without the usual compromises, while also integrating with multi-device controls and even optional Bluetooth remotes, all wrapped in what Samsung calls a bold new design for Samsung Unveils World and Inch Micro RGB TV Featuring Next Generation Color and Bold New Design.
From entertainment companion to personal archive
Samsung is also using AI to stretch what “watching TV” even means, particularly in the living room’s role as a family archive. The company plans to bring Google Photos to the Samsung AI TV Lineup, Helping Users Relive Their Favorite Memories on the Big screen, which turns the television into a curated gallery that can surface trips, events or people based on context. Instead of a static slideshow, the AI layer can group images, generate highlight reels and adapt transitions to the mood of the room, effectively making your photo library part of the ambient experience whenever the TV is idle, a direction spelled out in detail in the Samsung Plans To Bring Google Photos announcement.
That same philosophy shows up in how Samsung is framing its Entertainment Companion zones at events. At The First Look, The Entertainment Companion area was designed to show how TVs, soundbars and accessories can respond to what is on screen and who is in the room, with Micro RGB 130” displays used to demonstrate both exceptional picture quality and AI-driven sound features. The company is explicit that this is about more than raw specs, it is about making the TV feel like a responsive partner for movies, games and music, a narrative that runs through The Entertainment Companion showcase.
Strategy: AI everywhere, not just on the flagships
What ties all of this together is a long-term strategy to make AI the defining layer of Samsung’s TV business, not a premium add-on. During the company’s CES deep dive on the next era of television, executives emphasized a focus on expanding the TV’s capabilities through next-generation AI while designing interfaces that are more intuitive, conversational and personalized. The message was that the same core intelligence should scale from top-tier Micro RGB sets to mainstream models, so that features like natural language control, adaptive picture and cross-device orchestration feel consistent, a vision laid out when During the Samsung session on Vision AI.
There is also a clear commercial angle: Through this approach, Samsung aims to bring its advanced screen technologies to a wider consumer base while reinforcing brand loyalty and more meaningful user engagement. By standardizing AI capabilities across price points, the company can encourage upgrades within its own ecosystem rather than losing buyers to rival platforms, and it can use features like VAC, Google Photos integration and HDR10+ ADVANCED as reasons to stay in the family. That logic is spelled out in coverage of how Through Samsung is aligning its TV roadmap with broader AI ambitions.
OLED, gaming and the broader CES 2026 context
Samsung’s AI push is not limited to Micro RGB and wellness features, it is also reshaping its OLED and gaming story. The Samsung S95H OLED, highlighted as a standout at CES, is the company’s first OLED to feature a Frame TV-like art display mode, blending high-end picture quality with an always-on gallery aesthetic. Reviewer Ty Pendlebury pointed to how The Samsung panel can double as decor when idle, a use case that becomes more compelling when AI can automatically select artwork, adjust brightness to room conditions and coordinate with smart lighting, a direction hinted at in coverage of Ty Pendlebury and The Samsung OLED Frame TV.
On the gaming side, Samsung is using AI to refine motion, reduce latency and tailor sound, particularly on its Odyssey G8 monitors and high-refresh TVs. The company’s First Look materials tie the 2026 TV lineup and three new Odyssey G8 models into a single narrative about responsive displays that can shift between work, play and media, with HDR10+ ADVANCED and AI sound modes tuned for fast-paced content. That convergence is part of a broader CES story in which Samsung’s Micro RGB push is framed as an attempt to redefine what a premium screen can do, with AI and sound features baked in rather than bolted on, a theme that runs through Jan and ADVANCED materials and is echoed in analysis of Samsung Micro RGB at CES.
Samsung’s AI TVs as a preview of the ambient home
Ultimately, Samsung’s 2026 TVs are a test case for how far consumers are willing to let AI permeate the living room. The company’s broader CES presence, which included AI OLED bots and retro gear, was framed as a statement about being at the forefront of how technology interfaces with human experiences, not just in terms of raw performance but in how devices respond to people. That positioning suggests Samsung sees the TV as a gateway to a more ambient computing model, where screens, speakers and sensors collaborate quietly in the background, a stance captured in coverage that noted how Ultimately Samsung CES was about that interface.
I see this year’s lineup as a pivot point: if viewers embrace features like Vision AI Companion, HDR10+ ADVANCED tuning and Google Photos-powered galleries, it will validate Samsung’s decision to make AI the organizing principle of its TV business. If they push back on the idea of a screen that watches them as much as they watch it, the company will need to recalibrate how visible that intelligence should be. For now, though, the direction is unmistakable, and the 2026 range makes a strong case that the future of television will be defined as much by algorithms as by pixels.
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