The IDEA 2021 awards for Samsung include creative designs across multiple categories, showcasing Samsung’s excellence in consumer lifestyle design from product design to interactive and advanced concept design.

IDEA, hosted by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), has been held annually since 1980. Widely viewed as the most influential design awards program in North America, IDEA considers design innovation, benefit to user and benefit to society as part of its criteria for selecting its awardees.

Samsung attained seven Silver awards for its cutting-edge creations including:

• Samsung Neo QLED 8K (QN900A), which deploys the Infinity Screen design that maximizes immersion by minimizing the bezel.

• Bespoke Cube air purifier (AX9500N) with the innovative concept of letting consumers choose the purifier’s front panel design according to their lifestyle.

• Bespoke Slim (VS6800AL),¹ a vacuum cleaner, which offers a slim and customizable design that fits in a small space.

• SmartThings Cooking, enabling one-stop culinary experience powered by Whisk’s Food AI.

The following received Bronze awards:

• The Frame, a lifestyle TV that can be matched to any home décor and features ‘Art Mode’, which allows viewers to enjoy masterpieces from their homes.

• The Premiere, a lifestyle projector designed for those who want to create a theater-like environment in their homes.

• Bespoke 4-Door Flex refrigerator, which helps consumers achieve their desired lifestyles through flexible, personalized offerings.

“The pandemic affected consumers’ lifestyles in many ways, so it is more important than ever to keep an eye on how those change and to offer meaningful experiences to consumers accordingly,” said Dontae Lee, Executive Vice President and the Head of Corporate Design Center at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to provide optimized experiences for consumers based on a variety of lifestyles with the design that best resonates with them.”

The IDEA 2021 Ceremony was held virtually on September 21. The International Design Conference is also being held virtually for two days from September 22 to 23. Dontae Lee is scheduled to deliver a keynote titled ‘Design for a Better Tomorrow’ at the event.

The list of all 48 award-winning designs can be found here.

¹ The product is currently available in Korean market.

The immersive experience represents the continuation of Samsung’s commitment to celebrating the ever-moving crossroads of art and technology, with the visionary mind of Michael Murphy. On Murphy’s spiral installation, that stood almost twelve feet tall in a darkened room, audiences were teleported to Gorgon City’s exclusive performance, while Cercle’s sweeping camera and cinematography flaunted the rich landscapes of the rocky Biokovo Natural Park on Croatia’s rocky southern coast – all through the all-encompassing lens of the QN900A Neo QLED state-of-the-art 8K Infinity Screens. As Gorgon City’s set unfolded on the striking and complex architectural glass walkway, Murphy’s trademark perceptual deception revealed itself to show the nearly bezel-less, Anti-glare screens, with all eleven working in unison, spiraled to manipulate the eye.

Michael Murphy said: “I’m so proud of this installation. To think this is the first time I’ve ever worked with moving images in my art, so the challenge of integrating them onto not just one, but eleven screens – well, it looks and feels amazing. Of course, Cercle’s unbelievable cinematography and the breath-taking picture quality of the Neo QLED made my job easier, not to mention the fact they’re Samsung’s slimmest ever screens, but I’m beyond excited the installation has helped me push my art to the next level. That’s why I’m so glad Samsung and I got to work together for this piece – we’re both pushing for viewers to see the world in a new light. I do it with mind-blowing perceptual tricks, Samsung with their mind-blowing screens.”

As Croatia’s vivid blues, oranges and greens swept across the true-to-life picture and the richest, nearly bezel-less color ever seen, audiences weren’t just transported to a set on the Adriatic coast, but thanks to Murphy’s transformational installation, to a different world entirely.

“At Samsung, we’ve always tried to push boundaries, and there is no greater boundary to cross than to experience a new and fresh perspective,” said Nathan Sheffield, Samsung’s Head of TV & Audio. “That’s why we wanted to work with Michael, because his work has always transcended the boundaries between art and perception. Cercle has done the same with music, cinema and culture. At Samsung we aim to show our customers how expressive, inspiring and colorful the world can be. With Michael, Cercle and the remarkable visual power of the super Neo QLED we’ve made a big step towards our goal.”

“Just wow,” said Cercle founder, Derek Barbolla. “We’ve filmed some beautiful scenes worldwide, and we knew the Skywalk video with Gorgon City would be no exception. However, none of the performances we’ve filmed have looked just so true-to-life on screen. Then, when combined with Michael Murphy’s perceptual artistry –it reaches a whole new level. It goes to show – when you entwine music, cinema, art and the world’s best TV, you can create something truly special.”

Matt Robson-Scott of Gorgon City said: “It’s been an honor to work with the Samsung and Cercle team. It was such an amazing experience shooting in a such an epic location and we feel like it suits the track perfectly. We were blown away by the way they work and hope everyone loves the video as much as we do”.

Samsung’s new, flagship QN900A Neo QLED television, like the immersive experience, delivers a mesmerizing viewing experience with true-to-life picture, rich color and anti-glare technology in the comfort of your home. For superpowered visual technology, only available with the Neo QLED 8K TV, you can truly experience new perspectives.

Relive the exclusive performance and Experience New Perspectives first-hand at https://www.samsung.com/uk/explore/experiences/new-perspectives-neo-qled/.

The newly certified Wi-Fi 6E technology is designed to use 6GHz frequency in combination with the existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. Now, select Samsung Neo QLED 8K TVs can support larger bandwidth loads, process faster multi-gigabit data, enable low latency and provide reliable and secure connectivity. In addition, Wi-Fi 6E technology will be further implemented into existing and future TV portfolios, given the breadth and depth of the technology’s use cases today and in forthcoming applications.

As TVs and mobile devices continue to evolve into connectivity hubs for consumers across a variety of lifestyle routines, demand for handling high data capacity has increased. Whether streaming 4K and 8K high-definition videos or enjoying VR content and high-performance games, Samsung’s Neo QLED 8K TVs with Wi-Fi 6E support are for consumers looking for premium viewing experiences at home.

“As the global leader in the TV industry, Samsung is proud to have achieved the world’s first Wi-Fi 6E certification on our TVs,” said Younghun Choi, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “With a growing set of immersive content experiences and features across the home, the certification provides Neo QLED 8K TV owners with even better access to the things they love to do.”

¹ Versus Wi-Fi 5. Availability may vary by region and carrier

Earlier this year, Samsung Electronics debuted its 2021 Neo QLED lineup. Leading business and consumer technology publications have already awarded the lineup top honors, highlighting the televisions’ exceptional picture quality, sound innovations and design upgrades.

The Neo QLED portfolio – which includes 4K and 8K models – delivers an entirely new kind of display technology. The introduction of this technology emphasizes not only Samsung’s rich engineering and innovation heritage, but also its commitment to new advancements in accessibility and sustainability that are redefining how consumers use their TVs in their homes.

Complementing their vivid picture quality, Samsung’s Neo QLED TVs feature a premium Infinity One Design and Object Tracking Sound Pro that ensure that the TVs look and sound incredible from every angle. Neo QLEDs also carry Samsung’s award-winning Tizen operating system, which now offers new smart features like Samsung Smart Trainer to enhance the Samsung Health feature and new tools to optimize the gaming experience.

Here are some of the early reviews and reactions to the 2021 lineup:

Samsung’s flagship 4K Neo QLED TV, the QN90A, received top honors from Forbes in a review that highlighted how the TV’s processing capabilities offer almost three-dimensional detail and a top-of-the-line gaming experience. The outlet noted that “The 65QN90A’s upscaling is almost unfathomably good,” and praised, “the eye-popping beauty of the QN65QN90A’s gaming images.”

TechRadar also praised Samsung’s Neo QLED technology, awarding the QN95A a five-star review and the distinction of ‘Editor’s Choice’. The publication commented that, “Samsung’s first foray into Mini LED is a resounding success, with this Neo QLED TV.”

Techaeris applauded Samsung’s QN800A 8K Neo QLED TV for its “stunning picture quality” and smart features. The outlet noted that “Multi-View is especially useful for gamers” as it offers users new ways to play through difficult levels while taking advantage of top-notch picture quality and processing.

Video Magazin rated Samsung’s QN900A 8K Neo QLED, 966 out of 1,030 points in its review – the highest score the outlet has ever granted in the TV category. The outlet noted: “Samsung proves time and again that you can still achieve a lot of additional quality with technical refinements and elaborate innovations – now with mini-LEDs.” The QN900A was given three awards with distinction in the following categories: Reference, Innovation and Design Tip.

For more information on Samsung’s award-winning 2021 Neo QLED 8K and 4K TV lineups along with the company’s other leading TV and audio innovations, visit Samsung’s TV and Audio product page.