Samsung Home Entertainment CEO James Fishler talks TVs and making “screens for everyone”

I’m a relative latecomer to the HDTV game. I only experienced my first high-definition television six years ago, when my partner and I got a 65-inch model in our living room in 2018. Made by Samsung, this TV was a revelation in accessibility with its huge display and 4K resolution. At the time, I was particularly excited about the opportunity to watch countless sports in full fidelity; Again, not only was the viewable area significantly larger than anything I’d experienced before, but the sharpness of the image quality (and color saturation) also meant less eye strain and fatigue. For sports enthusiasts in particular, this combination of factors helps make the user experience easier when reading on-screen graphics such as score errors.

“Samsung is always thinking about harnessing the power of technology to create a more inclusive world,” said James Fishler, CEO of the Home Entertainment Division at Samsung Electronics America, in a recent interview via email.

Fishler explained that his responsibilities as head of his organization include “all aspects” of Samsung’s home entertainment business in the United States. This includes areas such as sales, marketing, product development and more. As a six-year employee of the company, Fishler told me that he had long been personally drawn to technology. He bragged that he was among the first of his friends to get into DVD and told me how exciting it was to share what he described as “the never-before-seen image quality” wins in comparison to the format’s predecessor in VHS. Years later, with the advent of Blu-ray, Fishler would feel a similar thrill.

A mantra for Fishler and his crew is a single thought: Don’t allow yourself to become complacent. Samsung has been the world’s leading television manufacturer for 18 years in a row. Such a phase, Fishler added, is not easy. He often reminds his charges of this fact and tells me that he likes to tell his teammates, “What got us here won’t get us there.” It’s critical to continue innovating new technologies in service of the user. This work, Fishler said, is driving the industry forward.

“This means we can’t just focus on developing the ‘coolest’ TV features and products – but we certainly do,” he said. “We need to ensure the viewing experience is inclusive and accessible to everyone.”

The mainstream tech media doesn’t see it that way, but accessibility and innovation are actually inextricably linked. As for Samsung, Fishler told me that accessibility is an important institutional value. The company, he said, is “very focused” on making its products as accessible as possible to everyone. According to Fishler, Samsung is working hard to “[provide] A meaningful innovation that ensures that no matter your space, setup, display preferences or accessibility needs, there is a great screen option for you, indoors, outdoors, at home and on the go.” He noted that Samsung is the first OLED It is a television that has so-called “glare-free technology”. Likewise, he pointed out that there are TVs in Samsung’s fleet ranging from small 32-inch sets to epic 98-inch sets.

“No two homes are the same. “No two people are the same,” Fishler said. “That’s why there are so many considerations that go into developing the right products, services and experiences that benefit everyone.”

Overall, Fishler told me that working on accessibility is the right thing to do in the interest of humanity, since more than a quarter of Americans struggle with some kind of disability every day. Therefore, according to Fishler, Samsung feels the moral urge to “provide a seamless viewing experience that everyone can enjoy.”

Everyone should have the right to enjoy television, regardless of their abilities. The TV is the “central hub” of the home, Fishler told me, and Samsung is always thinking about how to use TVs to create a more inclusive experience that everyone can benefit from. The million-dollar question is what an “inclusive experience” actually means in practice. In response, Fishler said that Samsung is “proactively engaging with the disability community as well as various stakeholders and other allies” so that the company can “truly understand their needs – and figure out what we can do to make their lives easier.” He pointed to last year’s introduction of Samsung’s Relumino mode, software that improves visual characteristics such as color, contrast and sharpness for people with visual impairments. To develop it, Samsung brought in a range of experts – including people with actual visual impairments – to do the proverbial brain picking and figure out what people want and can tolerate. Additionally, there has been extensive testing and user testing, with Fishler saying that the Relumino mode is still present in part because someone in the testing group complained that they couldn’t see the ball while watching soccer games.

With Relumino mode, that person (and others like them) can “see the ball as it zips across their screen,” Fishler said.

Beyond Relumino mode, Samsung TVs offer a number of other supporting technologies. These include Sign Language mode, which presents an ASL-speaking avatar to deaf and hard of hearing viewers, and SeeColors mode for people who suffer from color blindness. And of course there are the necessary subtitles, a screen reader and much more.

When asked about the feedback, Fishler said it was “positive” but acknowledged there is still work to be done. In addition to innovations on a technical level, there is always room and opportunity to challenge preconceived notions. Samsung, Fishler said, has big goals for itself. She – and Fishler personally – work tirelessly to advance accessibility. Fishler told me about a close friend and his autistic son who throws the remote at the screen. Fishler’s friend urges Samsung to make the display glass more shatterproof so that his son doesn’t irreparably damage the television.

“These are the things I want to think about and help solve — and I’m in a unique position to make an impact and make progress toward addressing these challenges,” Fishler said. “I am determined to do just that.”

He continued: “I think it’s so important to continue to get feedback from friends, colleagues, other leaders and the people who actually live with disabilities to get us there and to make sure we’re really on the right track are.”

As for the future, Fishler envisions a future where you no longer have to fiddle with countless settings to get your TV to work the way you need or want it to. The device should do all the heavy lifting and optimize itself for the user in the background, not the other way around. Accessibility should be no different. Fishler told me that there should be no difference between an accessible TV and a “normal” TV. (To be fair, most modern TVs have a number of accessibility features – but inclusion doesn’t always lead to equality. Samsung values ​​quality.)

“I say it again because it is such an important goal: people with disabilities should have the opportunity to choose a television based on its quality and not based on their disability,” Fishler said. “That is my goal, a goal of Samsung, and it should be the goal of the industry.”