Last year, both Samsung and LG trotted out bendable (flexible?) UHD TVs that morph from curved to flat with the push of a button. This year, LG plans to bring a 77-inch model to market, which is nice! But a little meek next to Samsung’s 105-inch display model. It will probably never be more than a mythical trade show apparition, but damn, it’s beautiful.
The new bendable TV is really impressive in person, and basically what you need to know is that, yes, it works. Watch it go from curvy to straight.
Ooooooh. These GIFs are a little sped up, but still: Ooooooh.
Of course, I should probably talk about all the TVs Samsung is actually going to make for your living room. Samsung’s creating a new top-of-the line series called SUHD.
The “S” doesn’t really mean anything, but Samsung will have you believe it stands for all matter of things like stunning or for the shirring rippled design on the back of the televisions.
The new TVs will come in sizes ranging from 48 inches to 88 inches. They’re all curved, and the panels are inset deeper behind the bezel giving the picture a more cinematic frame.
These are the first Samsung TVs to use nanocrystal and quantum dot technology. Though the tech has existed before, the company opted not to use it previously. From what I hear the hold-up was because you couldn’t ship the TVs to Europe with the old materials used in the technology.
Regardless, Samsung tells me the new panels have a wider colour gamut that borders on an HDR effect, which is what this side-by-side comparison is supposed to illustrate. (I never trust these company-orchestrated side-by-sides, and neither should you.)
As Samsung announced last week, its entire line of 2015 television run a Tizen-based smart TV platform. And from what was demoed for us, it looks snappy and attractive. The Smart Hub drawer of apps pops up from the bottom of the screen. In addition to some apps you can dive into right from there, the hub also has a couple of category folders. Generally, smart TV interfaces are a pain, and I’ll say this much: At least Samsung’s Tizen OS gets you to what you want without getting in your way.
My completely unscientific impression of the demo under which Samsung controlled all the conditions is that Samsung’s SUHD televisions look freaking amazing. I want 40. No word on pricing or availability, but expect that they will cost a bundle.