Samsung Electronics America, the leader in home entertainment for over 10 years, announced the availability and pricing for its 2016 line up, including an entirely new Flagship model series – the KS9800, bringing a new meaning to Smart TV.

“Samsung has always been about the ultimate experience in Picture Quality. This year is no different. Our new SUHD models provide the brightest, most realistic color and clarity for every viewing environment,” said Dave Das, Senior Vice President, Samsung Electronics America. “What is new this year is our redefined Smart TV experience. We listened to our customers and made enjoying content the easiest it’s ever been.”

Experience the Excellence

Whether it’s SUHD, UHD or LED, Samsung delivers the brightest, most stunning picture quality, with richer colors and more dynamic audio than ever before.

Samsung’s SUHD TVs feature the world’s only cadmium-free 10 bit Quantum Dot Display, setting the quality standard of 1,000-nit HDR with the best and most vibrant color and contrast available for true-to-life picture and experience. The Ultra Black feature reduces reflections by absorbing light to help provide for deeper, richer blacks. This year’s Samsung SUHD line up meets the UHD-A’s Premium UHD certification program, which ensures consumers are getting the most premium experience from their UHD TV.

2016 SUHD TV – KS9500

Breathtaking Design

From curved and slim to the new boundless design edge, Samsung offers stunning design with optimum viewing. The new KS9500 features an immersive ‘360’ design that is elegant and looks beautiful from every angle.

Smart Just Got a Whole Lot Smarter

Samsung’s 2016 Smart Hub Interface takes simplicity to the next level.  The new Smart Hub Interface eliminates a lengthy setup process by automatically integrating set top boxes from cable providers like Time Warner, Comcast (coming soon), and satellite services such as DIRECTV (coming in June), as well as game consoles. Users can simply plug the STB into any HDMI port, and the TV will recognize the box and provider, as well as automatically set up the remote control to access and control the STB features – not just channel up and down, but DVR controls and other commonly used controls – without the user ever having to program or “teach” the remote. It’s the ultimate in simplicity.

It doesn’t end there. Now users can see and access their favorite content along the Smart Hub menu bar – not just the content provider’s logo, but actual programming. Scrolling across will bring up customized sources including streaming, Blu Ray, gaming, cable, and more, allowing users to “surf content” as though they were channel surfing. In most cases it doesn’t even require a log-in. If a user pauses a streaming program and exits to check the news, when they go back, the program is still right where they left off – no need to log-in and go deep into the app anymore.

It’s smart and seamless.

The purest UHD content with HDR available today

Samsung is the leader in providing customers with access to the most premium content. Whether it’s via streaming services, download services or over the air, it’s content at its best. Now Samsung is uniquely positioned to offer UHD HDR content in its purest form – Ultra HD Blu Ray. Customers can connect the K8500 Ultra HD Blu Ray to any SUHD via HDMI and enjoy the latest UHD HDR content from Hollywood Studios such as Fox and Warner Brothers.

The UBD-K8500 supports backward compatibility, upscaling existing 3D Blu Ray, Blu Ray to near-UHD quality. The player can also handle the next generation of home audio formats, including immersive, object-based sound formats like Dolby Atmos and multi-channel systems.

The 2016 Line

For 2016, Samsung offers breathtaking design and unparalleled excellence with its new line of TVs, including a series of five Curved SUHD TVs and a series of five UHD TVs that vary in display size from 49” to 88”. Ranging from the popular curved form to the traditional flat-panel, Samsung provides consumers with sleek appeal, the most exceptional picture quality and smartest TVs.

Samsung’s KS9800 SUHD TV – Delivers unparalleled and improved picture quality, spectacular color, as well as increased brightness and contrast. With the world’s only cadmium-free, 10-bit Quantum Dot display, the new SUHD TV can serve up to one billion colors in detail, delivering the most incredible color expression for the ultimate viewing experience. The smart experience just got smarter with the KS9800 – featuring Samsung’s new Smart Hub, discovering content has become easier and more intuitive than ever with a new simple and fast interface to quickly access everything from live TV to online video, all in one place. The new 2016 Smart Hub allows users to see their favorite content options at a glance by integrating set-top-box and VOD content experiences directly into the TV user interface. The Samsung KS9800 SUHD TV will be available in early June in a 65” model for $4,499, and an 88” model for $19,999. A 78” model will be available in early May for $9,999.

Samsung’s KS9500 Curved SUHD TV – Featuring a modern 360-degree design that is stunning from every angle, the KS9500 is the world’s first bezel-less curved SUHD TV offering an unparalleled blend of form and function. Its Quantum Dot Color and Supreme UHD Dimming dramatically improve color and contrast, enveloping the viewer as its Supreme Motion Rate 240 captures action. The 4K SUHD unlocks up to a billion colors with Quantum Dot technology, so every image appears stunningly authentic for the ultimate viewing experience. Additionally, its revolutionary HDR1000 High Dynamic Range combines vibrant color, powerful brightness, and wider contrast in both the foreground and background to unveil never-before visible details. The smartest of the Smart TVs makes switching from cable to streaming to any other input as easy as changing the channel. Its universal remote can also control your other devices, and with its built-in IoT Hub connected to the SmartThings platform, consumers can control everything from living room lighting to home security without ever leaving the couch. The Samsung KS9500 Curved SUHD TV is available now in a 55” model for $2,499 and a 65” model for $3,699. A 78” model will be available in early June for $7,999.

Samsung’s KS9000 SUHD Flat TV – Discover a viewing experience as breathtaking as it is exhilarating with Quantum Dot Color offering the most lifelike picture yet. The KS9000 SUHD TV’s Supreme UHD Dimming elevates color and contrast, while its Supreme Motion Rate 240 captures action that will leave your heart pounding. And, it’s more than just the Smartest TV with the most innovative and easy-to-use seamless capabilities – its sleek 360 design looks beautiful from back to front, making it a true work of art. Samsung’s KS9000 4K SUHD TV is available now in a 55” model for $2,299, and a 65” model for $3,499. A 75” model will be available in early June for $6,499.

Samsung’s KS8500 SUHD Curved TV – At the summit of television technology is the KS8500 4K SUHD Curved TV with Quantum Dot Color, creating our best picture yet. Its breakthrough HDR1000 High Dynamic Range reveals details the viewer has never before seen, while its Peak Illuminator Pro makes every scene come alive by making shades of color pop. This 4K SUHD has a curved screen with an ultra-slim, minimum bezel, and sleek 360 design that impresses from back to front. Plus, its enhanced seamless Smart TV capabilities make it easy to use as it is beautiful to admire. Samsung’s KS8500 4K SUHD Curved TV is now available now in a 55” model for $1,999 and 65” model for $2,999. A 49” model will be available in May for $1,699.

Samsung’s KS8000 SUHD Flat TV

Samsung’s KS8000 SUHD Flat TV– Smart never looked so good. The Samsung KS8000 features Quantum Dot Color, HDR1000 High Dynamic Range and Peak Illuminator Pro to provide the best home entertainment viewing experience. Plus, its Motion Rate 240 puts the viewer on the pulse of every action sequence, while its flat, virtually bezel-less 360 design exudes elegance from every angle. Its smart capabilities are enhanced with the latest innovations and auto-sensing universal control, so its insides are as extraordinary as its outsides. The Samsung KS8000 is now available in a 55” model for $1, 799, and in a 65” model for $2,799. Starting in May, it will be available in a 49” model for $1,499, and a 60” model for $2,299.

Such explosive market response is largely due to the fact that UHD TVs deliver more life-like images with magnificent detail – a level of precision only comparable to what we can see with the naked eye.

The resolution of UHD TV’s is four-times greater than that of conventional full HD TVs of equal size – hence the name “4K” TVs. The industry regards the creation of UHD as the most revolutionary leap forward in visual technology since the development of full HD nearly a decade ago. However, with such picture quality at stake, it is important to understand the kind of ‘4K’ to look for in “UHD TVs.”

Pixel structure can impact native resolution

A display is comprised of pixels as the smallest unit. Every pixel needs to have all red, green and blue lights for each of them to produce accurate colors. (Red, green and blue lights on together make white; having all of them off makes black)

When these pixels add up, they look something like this:

RGBW is a modified version in which parts of RGB are transformed into white lights. However, not only do the whites in RGBW become holes when representing colors, they also distort the pixel structure, making it very difficult to define the sharp lines that are crucial to UHD. In other words, these white pixels restrict and limit the color palate a TV is capable of showing on its display panel, while diluting the overall picture quality by affecting clarity, brightness and sharpness.

This is what happens:

Because of this phenomenon, Nemko, the Norwegian Board for testing and approval of electrical equipment, concluded that “the resolution of RGBW is inferior to UHD resolution, and has some issues displaying UHD vertical color lines.”

Reproducibility with test patterns (Nemko)

VDE Testing and Certification Institute, a European technical-scientific association, also conducted an independent quality verification test. The results revealed that “with RGBW, there’s a loss of 25 percent clarity with horizontal resolution” and that when conducting a black and white dot test, “RGBW wasn’t capable of displaying the pattern accurately.”

Stricter standards to ensure true UHD images

Industry organizations, including The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and The Digital Europe (DE), recently established clear industry standards and UHD certification programs. Both DE and CEA have clearly defined UHD standards that a pixel must be able to independently reproduce a full range of colors. This means that a pixel is only considered a real pixel if the three primary colors of light – red, green, blue – are included, regardless of additional non-RGB sub pixels.

CEA, which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is made up of members from more than 2,000 companies from the consumer technology industry throughout the U.S. The organization is a trusted source within the consumer electronics industry. DE – which represents the digital technology industry in Europe – is made up of members from some of the world’s largest IT, telecoms and consumer electronics companies and national associations from across Europe. As the #1 TV maker 9 years running, Samsung has acquired UHD certification marks from both DE and CEA for all of its 2015 UHD TV models.

Samsung has been making TVs since the 70s and have strived to offer the best to customers. As a part of this endeavor, Samsung Electronics encourages leaders in the TV industry to commit to an industry-wide effort to deliver the most accurate product information to consumers.

For more information on DE’s UHD certification program, please visit:

http://www.digitaleurope.org/Services/Highdefinitionlogos/UHD.aspx

For more information on CEA’s UHD certification program, please visit:

https://www.ce.org/News/News-Releases/Press-Releases/2014/CEA-Updates-Characteristics-for-Ultra-High-Definit.aspx