We were eager to see what Samsung had up its sleeves in terms of TV tech at this year’s CES, and the Korean manufacturer didn’t disappoint. New models were launched in the LED, OLED, Plasma and Ultra HD categories, with all sets looking absolutely stunning.
F8000 LED
Perhaps the most anticipated of the lot; the F8000 is Samsung’s new flagship LED Smart TV and follows up from the popular ES8000 series from 2012. The new model rocks an even slimmer silver bezel, mounted webcam and a new stand design that somehow makes the TV look like it’s floating.
There’s also Samsung’s new Windows8-styled Smart Hub, improved voice and motion gesture controls and something called S Recommendation, which allows your TV to suggest stuff to watch based on what you like. It’s got voice integration too, so you can tell your TV what to put on. It’s also got a quad-core processor inside, which should make it even faster and better at playing games.
The F8000 is Full HD and 3D and will be available in 46, 55, 60, 65, and 75-inch sizes.
S9 UHD
4K and Ultra HD look set to be the next big progression in high definition TV from what we’ve seen at CES, and the S9 is one of Samsung’s first models to have the new tech. Sizes of up to a ridiculous 110-inches are available for this model, pictured above with the interesting stand. Like the F8000, the S9 will feature voice and gesture controls, apps and the new Smart Hub, but the difference is in picture quality.
Because there isn’t much 4K content available right now, Samsung has made the S9 capable of upscaling regular HD content to 4K, which is the equivalent of four times Full HD. It’s not all about the picture either, with an impressive three way 120 watt sound system built in, and a quad-core processor for multitasking, games and app usage.
F9500 OLED
OLED is also a big thing at the moment, with all the big names looking to produce thinner TVs with more vivid pictures. Samsung’s new F9500 makes use of OLED technology to remove the need for a backlight, making the TV very slim indeed. The screen tech also means you’ll get more much deeper and darker blacks and purer white colours.
The F9500 is Samsung’s first TV to use a new Multi-View feature, which as the name suggests, allows two people to watch different Full HD shows at the same time, with the TV filtering out two separate images to different people via special 3D glasses, which have their own speakers built in.
F8500 Plasma
Although LED and OLED seem to be the future, Plasma technology is refusing to die. The F8500 is set to become the next king of plasma, with Samsung claiming the set will offer blacks that are eight times as deep and “expressive” as a regular LCD TV. It’s also got support for HEVC, a video codec that will in time take over from H.264, so the TV is ready for the future of digital video.
Samsung’s design on the F8500 is as intriguing as the F8000, with the entire shell being crafted from a single piece of metal, with a wavy stand bowing out from the frame front and back to keep it upright. This model will come in 51, 60 and 64-inch sizes.
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