Samsung revs up the picture quality of its high-fashion TVs for 2019

By Simon Cohen Published December 19, 2018

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Samsung Frame TV and its exclusive, high-fashion cousin, the Serif TV, are both getting significant updates to their picture quality for 2019. The announcement from Samsung comes just ahead of January’s CES trade show, which will be home to these TVs and many others.

Not wanting to give too much information away, Samsung hasn’t disclosed TV sizes or pricing for the 2019 models, but it did offer up some product shots, and the following fact: Both the Frame and the Serif TV are getting the company’s flagship QLED display technology.

It’s an update that makes a lot of sense. Buyers of these TVs put a heavy emphasis on how their homes look, and they do not want aesthetics compromised by the need to have their flat screen TVs placed prominently in their living areas. Most importantly, they’re willing to pay a premium for a TV that can blend in. The better the display, the better able a TV is to offer that tough compromise.

QLED displays, with their deeper blacks and highly accurate colors, are the perfect canvas for the art and photography that Samsung’s lifestyle TVs show when not in use, and it’s unlikely that the higher price of these panels will be a deal breaker for those who value this feature.

Speaking of art, Samsung said its Art Store now has a collection of over 1,000 pieces to choose from, including items from the Uffizi
Galleries in Italy, the Van Gogh Museum in The Netherlands, and Te Papa in New Zealand.

The Frame TV is also getting a little smarter, too. While it has always had a voice-capable remote, the new model for 2019 will be equipped with Samsung’s Bixby A.I., proving that the company is determined not to cede the A.I. space to competitors like Amazon and Google. Given that the Frame TV is designed to occupy more conspicuous parts of the home, we can see why having Bixby on-board is important to Samsung, though users may not necessarily appreciate Bixby’s abilities.

If you’ve been keen to get up close and personal with the Serif TV, but can’t seem to find a store that carries it, that’s about to change. Samsung said the high-style model will now be sold in electronics stores, in addition to the previously exclusive arrangement it had with furniture shops and department stores.

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Contributing Editor, A/V

Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…

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