Sunday Times 2
Samsung launches TV with curved screen
Samsung has officially launched its first super-thin curved TV screen with a price tag of £8,500 ($13,000) – five times more than its flat-screen equivalents.
The 55-inch model has a high-resolution OLED display and its design means the screen is an equal distance from the viewer at all times.
It is now on sale in South Korea but Samsung told Reuters the set will be made available in other countries from July – the first time a curved TV of its kind has been sold outside of Asia.
The Korean company announced the television during the Consumer Electronics Show in January this year.
Models pose with Samsung's 55-inch curved OLED TV during a press conference at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. The Korean company announced the television during the Consumer Electronics Show in January this year but delays meant it is only now available to buy
At the time, Samsung’s curved screen was the world’s first yet delays in the manufacturing process meant that rival LG beat the company to selling the device.
Speaking at the launch event Kim Hyunsuk, Samsung executive vice president, said: ‘We have just introduced our first OLED TV and have to see consumer response to gauge overall market demand.’
Samsung said it will begin selling its curved OLED television outside South Korea from July but did not specify which countries.
It also said it has no plans to offer a non-curved one this year.
The concave display gives viewers a sense of being immersed in the images.
Samsung claims its ‘Timeless Arena’ design reduces the chance of images appearing pixelated, too.
The 55-inch OLED screen also supports Samsung TV features such as multi-view that lets two people watch different things at the same time.
Samsung and LG, which are the only TV makers in the world to begin commercial sales of OLED TVs, had promised to launch them in 2012 but delayed the launch to this year.
The two South Korean TV giants tout OLED, short for organic light-emitting diode, as the next-generation display technology that will eventually replace older displays.
But mass producing OLED displays still faces many challenges, leading to high prices.
In addition to curved OLED TVs, Samsung launched two ultra-HD TVs, with four times the resolution of regular high-definition TVs.
An OLED display works without a backlight, which means it can display deep black levels and can be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display (LCD).
In low lighting an OLED screen can produce a higher contrast ratio than an LCD, too.
The technology has long been touted as the future of consumer electronics displays, offering crisper picture resolution, a faster response time and high contrast images.
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