Samsung Releases New Smart TVs

  • Come with web browser
  • Some models with built-in wifi
  • TV screen has been redesigned

Samsung Electronics has today unveiled its new range of Smart TVs that are said to embody the latest innovations in four key areas; design, picture quality, next generation 3D technology and Samsung’s Smart Hub offering, claims the manufacturer.

Samsung Smart TV is a connected TV, offering web browsing, communication through social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype, plus on demand content delivered through the world's first HD TV apps store, Samsung Apps. To coincide with the range launch, new local content is also being released soon including BigPond AFL Game Analyser, ABC iView and BigPond Movies.

For 2011, Samsung Smart TVs will offer apps and connectivity options. All Smart TVs will offer Samsung’s new Smart Hub, which features:

  • Web Browser – Flash-supported web browsing right on your TV, and all while you continue to watch your show or movie.
  • Search All – making it easy to search for desired content on your TV and other DLNA-certified devices, networked PCs and mobile devices, plus Internet and video-on-demand services.
  • Your Video – which delivers movie recommendations based on a user‟s viewing history.

Select models of the range will also feature built in wifi connectivity. To enable text input onto the screen when tweeting or browsing the internet, Samsung has reinvented the remote control. The new remote offers traditional TV controls on one side, however when flipped over it reveals a QWERTY keyboard.

In 2011, Samsung has redesigned the TV screen by making the bezel, which until now had traditionally framed the TV, virtually disappear to provide a more immersive viewing experience for the user. Samsung’s new ultra-narrow bezel design, called One Design, has influenced its flagship LED televisions for 2011 – the Series 8 (D8000) and Series 7 (D7000) LED TVs both offering a bezel that is just 5mm wide.

The Samsung Series 8 Plasma TV (D8000) showcases Samsung’s Plasma+1 design that features a narrow bezel so consumers get more viewable screen size without increasing the outside dimensions of the TV. This means that a traditional 58-inch plasma now has 59-inches of viewable screen.

Most than half of the 2011 models will offer 3D technology, so more people can enjoy the 3D content. Samsung has also redesigned its 3D glasses, offering what it claims are the world’s lightest 3D active shutter glasses.

Select Samsung 3D Blu-ray players and Home Theatres will offer Samsung’s proprietary 3D convertor, which enables consumers to convert 2D content into 3D with the push of a button. Finally, Samsung’s next-generation home theatre system features 3D Sound that syncs audio and video to create an immersive experience in which the sound ‘moves’ with the 3D picture.

Both Samsung’s new Plasma and LED TVs offer advances across the board in delivering superior picture quality. Picture quality is driven by the three ‘C’s’ – colour, contrast and clarity.

In Plasma, Samsung has fine-tuned its panel technology to include a Real Black filter, which reduces the on-screen glare to produce darker blacks and sharper images, and Clear Image Panel which increases the viewing angle and improves the crispness of the image.

In LED, new Ultra Clear Panel technology is designed to increase the contrast ratio by absorbing external light and reducing reflection, providing real, natural colour and deep, dynamic detail. Wide Colour Enhancer Plus is an improvement of Samsung’s colour luminance technology. Natural colour reproduction is possible due to luminance levels being considered through 3D colour mapping. Wide Colour Enhancer Plus produces the colour as the broadcast intended, limits over-saturation and produces a natural looking image.

Finally, Digital Noise Filter is a feature designed to maximise picture quality by removing the digital „noise‟ that sometimes appears on screen. It is useful in areas of poor reception or when watching an analogue broadcast, where the digital noise filter will compensate to reduce the digital artifacts that are created. The result is clear analogue programming with sharp details that looks as if it is being broadcast digitally.

Samsung has also introduced a new standardised motion clarity measurement known as Clear Motion Rate (CMR). CMR is a combination of panel refresh rate, video processing chipset and the backlight technology which together controls how clear, or blur-free, a moving picture is on screen.

The Samsung 2011 audio visual range encompasses a wide range of home entertainment solutions including 41 TV models in total, offering the latest innovations in LED (25 models), Plasma (10 models) and LCD (6 models) screen technology. 24 models offer Full HD 3D technology while 22 are classified as SMART TVs.