Vu Televisions on Thursday announced a further expansion of its television range in India with the launch of new UltraSmart, Pixelight, and Premium Android TVs. Stressing the ever-increasing demand for VOD content in India, Devita Saraf, chairman and CEO, touted the new VOD Upscaler technology on the new TVs that essentially combines multiple machine learning algorithms with a digital signal processor, also called DSP, to give “best” output for audio/video VOD content.
There are 11 TV models in total – The Vu UltraSmart range has three sizes – 32-inch HD Ready priced at Rs 14,500, 40-inch Full-HD at Rs 21,999, and 49-inch Full-HD at Rs 31,000. The Vu Pixelight 4K range has four models – 43-inch costs Rs 30,000, 50-inch is priced at Rs 39,000, 55-inch at Rs 42,000, and 65-inch at Rs 66,000.
The Vu Premium Android TV range is slightly costlier than the other two ranges. There are four models – 43-inch is priced at Rs 35,000, 50-inch at Rs 41,000, 55-inch at Rs 47,000, and finally the 65-inch model available at Rs 72,000. The new Vu TV ranges will go on sale on Flipkart and offline stores starting April 5.
Vu Premium Android 4K TV range is the most premium of the lot. The 4K display panel supports Dolby Vision and HDR 10 to offer high-quality video quality. The company demoed an 8K video on the panel at the event, which played without any hiccups. With the Vu VOD Upscaler, the content from OTT platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, Hotstar, and others will be rendered without the gateway compression, the company says.
The Premium Android TV range runs ‘official’ Android 8.0 Oreo, however, the company has not said anything on when Android 9 Pie-based Android TV software will be rolled out. But all the major apps from the Play store are supported. The company is even facilitating access to these apps by providing dedicated buttons on the remote control. The speakers on the TV range are tuned by Dolby Audio and DBx-tv.
Vu’s mid-tier Pixelight TV range that is aimed at buyers who do not compromise on the hardware to maximise their viewing experience while UltraSmart is the most affordable range. All the models in both the ranges are powered by the company’s VOD Upscaler feature to deliver ‘immersive’ experience. The models run Linux-based Vu Smart OS that has predefined OTT apps such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hotstar.
In fact, the company is claiming that the seven models from its Pixelight and UltraSmart ranges are the first to get in-built Amazon Prime Video app. The company says it has secured the official licenses from Amazon to provide the services on Linux platform. The official Android TV software does not list Amazon Prime Video app in the Play Store but a workaround is possible. There are ‘hotkeys’ on the remote control to open the VOD apps directly. The Pixelight supports Dolby Audio and DTS-HD while UltraSmart just has the speakers tuned by Dolby Audio.
