Samsung Super OLED 55-inch TV Preview

OLED is here... well, almost here. Samsung and LG have both released new OLED televisions. Of course, since LG released OLED, Samsung has released/announced "Super OLED". That's super better than plain-old OLED, we suppose. The OLED TV will be produced from a single pane of glass and uses Samsung’s Super OLED technology to deliver the ultimate in picture quality and thinness. And it is super thin - just around 1/4" thin at it's smallest point. In all seriousness, there is an element to the "Super" designation in Super OLED. Samsung's version has apparently eliminated the need for a color filter as the OLED pixel unit comprises self-emitting RGB sub-pixels laid directly on the display panel.

Of course, the Samsung Super OLED TV is already a Best of Innovations Award Honoree at CES 2012, and why not - the new OLED TV marks the culmination of Samsung’s latest engineering technologies, and may just usher in a new era of minimalistic design. While Samsung claims "unmatched vivid and true-to-life picture quality" and "significantly improved color accuracy" compared to conventional LED TVs, the more likely reality is that OLED is almost "hyper-real" in its ability to portray more (and brighter) colors than LCD technology. Since light output on the Super OLED is controlled on a pixel-to-pixel basis, the truest blacks and purest whites can be achieved - in a way that is very similar to the way plasma works.

Of equally-important note, OLED (Samsung's flavor or any other) offers faster response times than LED, virtually eliminating motion blur even in the fastest-moving scenes. And, because Super OLED technology features self-emitting RGB sub-pixels which do not require a backlight, the TV weighs significantly less than even an LED backlit TV. The Samsung Super OLED display looks incredible - on or off. In fact, when powered on, the bright, vibrant picture illuminates the screen from edge to edge. But when turned off, the TV looks like a thinly-framed piece of luxurious floating glass. OLED TVs are going to be very popular on decorating television shows - not to mention actual upper-scale home decorators. When hung on the wall, an OLED set more closely resembles a work of art than an electronic device.

Intuitive Controls and a Camera with Smart Interaction Technology

So what else does Samsung offer? As Apple leaked, through the Steve Jobs biography, its intention and success in reinventing the TV (or "cracking" it, as Jobs intoned), more and more rumors surface about voice control and a complete reworking of how we interact with our sets. Samsung is trying to stay ahead and is using new Smart Interaction technology which includes Voice Control, Motion Control  and Face Recognition features. These are designed to complement, rather than eliminate, the remote control and users can turn the TV on or off, adjust the volume or activate selected apps through speech. They can also use voice to activate the search function in the web browser and “tell” the TV what they are searching for.

And, according to Samsung, and coupled with what we've seen - it's real.

The Super OLED’s built-in camera recognizes movement in the foreground to enable intuitive control, and two unidirectional array microphones recognize voice at an incredibly accurate rate. Finally, noise cancellation technology helps to separate any background noise from the users’ commands.

Richer Content for Outstanding Entertainment 

The Samsung Super OLED TV is equipped with Samsung’s new dual core processor, which allows users to run multiple apps simultaneously for a faster, uninterrupted experience, as well as a smoother web browsing experience.

The Super OLED TV also offers the latest improvements to Smart Hub, Samsung’s integrated destination for access to all types of content from a single screen. The interface has been updated for easier navigation and faster performance. With a new tabbed web browser, users can conveniently open multiple pages at a time for an improved web experience.

Additional first-of-its-kind signature services such as Family Story, Fitness and Kids will allow users to get more out of their TV experience, and help foster closer connections between friends and family members. Samsung’s AllShare Play offers a seamless way for users to access, manage and share content through cloud storage and access that content on supported smartphones, tablets, cameras, computers or TVs, regardless of their location.

Will OLED be a reality? Yes. The real questions are "when" (second half of the year according to Samsung) and "how much" (they are expected to start around $5000, but final pricing still to be determined) - and right now we just don't know. For more information about Samsung, please visit www.samsung.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.