LAS VEGAS – Samsung is looking to take its 4K Ultra HD TV leadership position a step further this year, expanding its high-res assortment and providing customers multiple native content choices.
Central in that effort this year will be new lines of advanced 4K UHD LED LCD TVs enhanced with quantum- dot technology.
The technology, which expands the color gamut of 4K Ultra HD LED LCD displays to close to Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) standards, offers a more cost-effective alternative to the OLED TVs introduced two years ago.
Bill Lee, Samsung product marketing VP, said his company is “very bullish” that 2015 will bring about a “paradigm shift” in the collective consciousness toward Ultra HD and its benefits.
Samsung’s total TV SKU count – almost 70 models— is on par with last year, but the mix of 4K Ultra HD TVs to HD and FullHD displays will shift from one-quarter to one-half this year.
In addition, half of the 2015 4K UHD lines will have curved screens.
The aforementioned quantum-dot-based TV technology in top-end series will employ a number of Samsung proprietary components and approaches, as the company puts plans for RGB OLED TV on hold for the time being.
In addition to offering richer and more natural colors, Lee said Samsung’s approach will be environmentally friendly, omitting cadmium from the nano-crystal materials.
“These sets offer incredible color, incredible contrast and detail,” said Lee, explaining that the new step-up sets incorporate improved up-scaling technology for display of FullHD source material, as well as a new Auto Depth Enhancer providing a 3D-like effect.
“When we match these different technologies together we believe we can offer a picture that will take people’s breath away,” Lee said. “But despite all of this highly advanced technology, at the end of the day we are still building an LED TV and that to us is very important.”
Expected to hit retail by the end of March, the quantum- dot sets will be offered in three model series. Samsung will offer Ultra HD TVs this year in screen sizes ranging from 48 to 88 inches.
Exact SKU counts and pricing were still being determined as this went to press, Lee said, but the quantumdot model series include a line of flat screens, a line of curved screens and a step-up curved screen line, the latter targeting Samsung’s “premium TV” customers with an enhanced cosmetic design, built-in camera, powerful eight-core processor and top-end sound and image enhancement systems, Lee said.
Samsung is also looking to continue to build on its library of 4K Ultra HD content partners, which included inclusive launches with partners DirecTV, M-Go and Comcast in 2014.
