‘One Design’ (3) Designing the D8000 Series

When Kang Yunje, Vice President of Samsung’s TV Design Group, joined Samsung in 1994, he had a dream project in mind: to develop a “TV without a bezel”. Moving past just aesthetics, a slim bezel would merge the television with its environment, reducing the distraction caused by a bulky frame and allowing consumers to have an immersive viewing experience – a design with purpose.

Leading up to the slim bezel, Samsung had reduced the thickness of its TV bezels every year, first to 54 millimeters in 2008, to 42 millimeters in 2009, and finally to 28 millimeters in 2010.  Then in April 2010, Yoon BooKeun, president of Samsung’s Visual Display department, issued a special mission; to “create a bezel-less TV,” which became the first step towards making the slim bezel a reality.

That mission’s goal would finally come to fruition in 2011.  As the group leader for Samsung Electronics’ TV design, Mr. Kang spent nearly two years developing what is now known as the world’s slimmest TV bezel. Compared to the 2010 model, which featured a 28 millimeter bezel, Samsung’s new slim bezel was just 5 millimeters, a dramatic difference. Making the slim bezel a reality did not come without difficulty, and collaboration between the design and development teams proved to be invaluable.

“From the development side, we were told that minimizing the bezel to slimmer than 7 millimeters would be impossible, and that the image quality would be lost as the bezel became thinner,” Mr. Kang said. Similar concerns were echoed by Han JongHee, managing director of Samsung TV research, who reiterated that no element of the process came with ease.

Countless sleepless nights were spent tackling the seemingly impossible mission, but the team soon figured out a way to trim the bezel. Working in reverse, the team started with a bezel thickness of 1 millimeter, then added thickness from there. According to Principal Engineer Jeong SungSoo, the attempt seemed “reckless” and was “more difficult than creating the LED TV.” During development, the team constructed and deconstructed more than 10 pilot products.

After endless trial and error, the development team created a strategy that would break down the necessary steps involved in solving the slim bezel puzzle. By categorizing the developmental challenges into roughly 10 categories, the team systematically solved each problem one by one. Some of the challenges included rearranging the LED light source, applying a new mold technology that allowed for a lighter weight metal bezel, rearranged how the metal bezel was attached, and created a separate space for the company logo at the bottom of the bezel.

In 2011, these efforts resulted in the creation of the LED 8000. This new screen appears slimmer from the front, top and sides, all the while providing an enhanced viewing experience to consumers. The LED 8000 TV is an example of blending design and technology into a single harmonious product, a showcase of Samsung’s approach to One Design.

This is the final portion of the ‘One Design’ Series. We hope you enjoyed learning about the history and design process of Samsung Flat-screen TVs.
(1)    Design History of Samsung Flat-screen TVs
(2)    The Ultimate TV Design
(3)    Designing the D8000 Series