SAMSUNG LIFTS THE LIDS ON ITS 2015 TV LINEUP (eng)

SAMSUNG LIFTS THE LIDS ON ITS 2015 TV LINEUP

   Back in January, we brought you early news from the CES show floor about Samsung’s new SUHD TV technology—the company’s own unique brand of quantum dot nanocrystals. This week in New York, the company officially launched its SUHD lineup for 2015, along with a handful of curved and flat standard UHD TVs.

   All four of the new SUHD models promise to deliver stunning color, unparalleled brightness, and the deepest blacks of any LCD panel thanks to their local dimming technology. Along with Samsung’s standard UHD TV lineup, the SUHD displays will also ship with the company’s new Tizen Operating System, which improves on the user interface of previous Smart TVs in terms of not only aesthetics and usability, but also speed and interoperability with Samsung smartphones. Thanks to Tizen, your TV and mobile devices will become extensions of one another, allowing you to share movies—and eventually music and photos—directly from the palm of your hand to the most gorgeous screen in the home.

   Here, in descending order, is the breakdown of the new SUHD displays in Samsung’s 2015 catalog:

   The JS9500 Curved SUHD TV consists at present of one model—the 65-inch UN65JS9500FXZA. In addition to its nanocrystal tech and full array local dimming LED backlight, it sports Samsung’s PurColor and Auto Depth Enhancer features, and comes complete with the company’s proprietary One Connect Box, which keeps cables and interconnects tidy and out of sight, and allows for easier future upgrades. There is some discrepancy in the pricing of the JS9500, though. Materials distributed to the press peg the price at $6499.99, whereas Samsung’s website notes a list price of $7999.99 and a sale price of $5999.99.

   Not as much is known about the JS9100 Curved SUHD TV, except that it features Samsung’s Peak Illuminator Pro technology (for enhanced high dynamic range). There will also be one model in this series—a 78-incher—which is slated to sell for $9999.99 when it hits stores in May.

   The next tier down—the JS9000 Curved SUHD TV—is Samsung’s most populated SUHD series, with three different screen sizes available. All three are edge-lit with LEDs, but feature Precision Black to enhance black levels. All three are also available now, with the 48-inch model selling for $3499.99, the 55-incher selling for $3999.99, and the 65-inch model selling for $4999.99.

   If you’re into the idea of more lifelike, richer, vibrant colors and enhanced contrasts, but can’t abide the idea of buying a curved display, Samsung also unveiled its new JS8500 SUHD TV, a fully flat display that comes in two varieties: a 55-inch model for $2999.99 and a 65-inch model that sells for $3999.99. Both are shipping as we speak. A 48-inch model is expected to follow for $2499.99.

   In addition, Samsung’s 2015 TV lineup will also feature three UHD TVs of the non-SUHD variety.  TheJU7500 Series and JU7100 Series look to be pretty much identical, except for the fact that the former is a curved TV and the latter is flat. 40-inch models in both lines will sell for $1399.99, with 48-inch models selling for $1599.99, 55-inchers for $1999.99, and 65-inch models selling for $2999.99. The two series do split at the top end of the size range, though. The 78-inch curved JU7500 will sell for $5999.99, while the flat JU7100 tops out at 75 inches for $4999.99.

   Finally, the JU6700 Curved UHD TV will come in four models to be released sometime this spring, with the 40-inch model selling for a low $949.99, the 48-inch model selling for $1149.99, the 55-inch for $1499.99, and the 65-incher selling for $2699.99.

   “Combining breathtaking design with technology that provides dazzling color, stark contrasts and superb brightness, our radically new line of SUHD and UHD televisions set a new industry standard for the best picture quality available today,” said Dave Das, Senior Vice President, Samsung Electronics America. “In addition to featuring breakthrough display technology, our 2015 line is powered by our new Smart TV platform that not only brings consumers an intuitive user interface, but also makes it easy to share content between your Samsung mobile devices and 2015 Samsung televisions.”

sursa: hdliving.com si samsung.com

4K SUHD JS9000 Series Curved Smart TV - 65" Class (64.5" Diag.) (eng)

4K SUHD JS9000 Series Curved Smart TV - 65" Class 

ABOUT THIS PRODUCT

Experience a breakthrough in the home theater experience with the Samsung 4K SUHD TV. Get drawn into the action with an immersive curved screen that reveals up to 64X greater color expression than conventional HD/UHD TVs.* Access and play your favorite content seamlessly with Smart TV. 

SUHD

Introducing a new category of TVs. With SUHD 4K TVs, now you can experience stunning colors, deep contrast, incredible brightness, and 4K resolution that redefines your TV viewing experience.

Nano Crystal Color

Bring your entertainment to vivid life. Reveal a brighter, more true-to-life picture, and a wider range of colors made visible with breakthrough nano-crystal color technology.

Curved Panel

Get drawn into the action with our state-of-the-art curved screen that delivers an immersive picture experience with off-angle viewing, making any seat the best seat in the house.

Curved with Auto Depth Enhancer

Experience a greater sense of depth on a curved screen with optimized contrast across multiple zones of the picture.

Peak Illuminator Pro

See colors pop and enjoy greater detail in all your favorite movies, shows and games with increased LED illumination behind the brightest regions of the picture.

Precision Black

Feel the drama of every entertainment experience with improved black levels and contrast – while bright areas remain bright.

Motion Rate 240

Enjoy our best moving picture resolution at Motion Rate 240 with exceptional refresh rate, processing speed, and backlight technology.

Smart TV with Octa-Core Processor

Enjoy your media and entertainment at lightning speed with our highest grade processing chip.

One Connect Box

De-clutter the connections to your TV with a streamlined audio and video connection solution for all your TV components.

Smart View 2.0

Watch your TV entertainment on your mobile device – or your mobile media on your TV.*

Smart Remote Control

Take ultimate control of your Smart TV – use the touchpad to navigate quickly, perform voice commands with the built in microphone, or use the remote like a mouse and simply point and click.

sursa: samsung.com

I WAS WRONG: QUANTUM DOT TVS REALLY ARE THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION. HERE’S WHY. (eng)

   

   I’m not afraid to admit it when I make a booboo. And when it comes to quantum dot technology, I’ve made a pretty serious one and need to apologize. If you’ve been reading my coverage of quantum dot displays leading up to (and even since the start of) CES, you’ll know that I’ve described it as sort of a stop-gap until OLED TVs become more affordable to manufacturer. So despite the fact that I was excited about the enhanced color pallet of QD displays, not to mention their affordability compared with OLED, I can’t help but think that the impression I gave is that something better was just over the horizon.

   Even press day, in which I saw a number of quantum dot TVs, did little to change that opinion. But a private briefing with Samsung today, in which I saw every available TV technology in operation simultaneously, disabused me of that notion to a significant degree.

   Samsung had, in one spot, a plasma TV, an OLED display, a traditional LED/LCD TV, and its own SUHD TV (it’s name for quantum dot technology) set up side-by-side. The first thing I couldn’t help but notice is that the LED/LCD display couldn’t hold a candle to either plasma (RIP) or OLED, which I pretty much already knew. The second thing I noticed is just how vibrant and rich the colors were on the SUHD TV—colors absolutely popped off the screen, not only in terms of vibrancy, but also detail. Were the black levels as rock solid as the OLED? No, they weren’t. But that was offset by the fact that the overall image was simply richer, more immersive, and most importantly of all, much more dynamic.

   From top top to bottom, left to right, a quantum dot TV, standard LED/LCD, OLED, and plasma

   It was about the time I noticed this that a Samsung representative drew my attention to another SUHD display set up in another corner of the room—this one displaying some high-dynamic range clips of Life of Pi and Exodus: Gods and Kings prepared especially for this demonstration.

   And here it may be worth explaining what high-dynamic range means. You’ve probably noticed before that TVs and projection screens don’t display anywhere near the range of dark-to-light that your own eyes experience out in the real world. To see what I mean by that, put yourself in a dimly lit room with a bright light source somewhere, and take a picture with your smart phone. Then hold it up against reality. Details that you can see in the shadows in the real world are simply swallowed by darkness in the photo. Or depending on where the light is, they’re entirely washed out. Traditional screens simply can’t display the range of light-to-dark that your eyes can perceive all at once.

   But here’s the thing: Quantum Dot displays can get much, much closer to that reality. For example, the clip of Life of Pi included a scene in which the moon is reflected on the surface of the ocean, and the stars are shining overhead. Quite frankly, it looked so real that I got a little disoriented at first. There was a level of depth to the image that stereoscopic 3D simply can’t recreate. I felt like I could pass through the glass into a real world on the other side of the screen.

   “But wait,” I asked, “Couldn’t OLED do this, too, since its contrast ratio is theoretically infinite?”

   “Actually, no,” said Mike Wood, head of QA for Samsung. The thing is, he told me, even though OLED can display perfect blacks and the whitest whites, cranking out the sort of brightness that’s needed for this level of HDR would not only consume way too much energy in an OLED, but would also drastically reduce the panel’s lifespan.

   But Quantum Dot displays can handle this high dynamic range just fine. And thanks to the QD technology, Samsung’s SUHD TVs crank out better black levels than its LED/LCD TVs from past years.

   So yeah, needless to say, I’ve been a little unfair to Quantum Dots. I was impressed, sure, but unconvinced of the technology’s longevity. Now I’ve come away (rather sadly) thinking that OLED might actually be in trouble. Because once you see high dynamic range for yourself, you’re going to want it.

   And yes, I know there’s no source material available yet, but companies like Dolby are working hard to make it a reality.  In fact, Netflix has plans to start streaming high dynamic range content as early as later this year.

   What can I say? Seeing is believing. I wish I could show you pictures of what I saw,  but my camera simply wasn’t capable of capturing it. It’s like the Matrix: you simply have to experience it for yourself.

sursa: hdliving.com