Samsung made its expanding 2016 4K SUHD TV lineup a central part of its CES 2016 announcements Tuesday by showcasing the Smart Things platform it is adding on to all SUHD TVs, allowing them to perform as smart home automation hubs.
The company also revealed plans to offer its first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player in 2016.
In addition, Samsung said all of its SUHD TVs will include improved wide color gamut supporting quantum dot technology in 2016 and that the sets will all conform to the newly announced Ultra HD Alliance 4K minimum performance specifications.
That means that this year’s SUHD models will all feature 10-bit displays, support 1 billion colors and will achieve peak brightness levels of 1,000 nits.
The SUHD TV tier will include about 14 models (up from 10 in 2015) across five model series in 2016. Screen sizes will range from 49 to 88 inches. The company has also improved its quantum dot technology and blue LED backlighting system to produce up to a 20 percent boost in light output.
More on Samsung’s CES 2016 4K Ultra HDTV announcements after the jump:
Meanwhile, Samsung’s flagship KS9500 SUHD TV series will have the first bezel-less curved screen TV design, Joe Stinziano, Samsung executive VP, announced during the company’s pre-CES press conference. Similarly, Samsung is adding so-called bezel-less design TVs in flat-screen 8- and 9-series SUHD TVs.
During the show, Samsung said it is also showing a 170-inch SUHD TV and an 8K curved SUHD TV as technology demonstrations.
Samsung has also improved screen reflection in 2016 SUHD models, using glare limiting screens with four times the improvement in sharpness detail, 1.5 times more accurate color, and 1.2 times more brightness and contrast ratio versus last year’s models.
All SUHD and 4K UHD TVs this year will be HDR metadata-compatible (displaying whatever level of HDR the screen can support or ignoring it altogether if the set cannot use the information). Unlike some other TV manufacturers’ announcements at the show, Samsung TVs will only support the open baseline HDR 10 format called out in the UHD Alliance specifications and deemed mandatory for players in the Ultra HD Blu-ray standard.
All of the Samsung’s UHDTVs will also feature HDMI 2.0a inputs to accept HDR video from 4K Blu-ray players and other outboard HDR sources.
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Samsung’s First Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Meanwhile, Samsung said its first Ultra HD Blu-ray player will be available in March and will be able to play more than 100 Ultra HD Blu-ray disc titles planned for release by various studios before the end of the year. The UBD-K8500’s UHD Blu-ray player will also offer built-in upscaling technology that enhances the picture quality of standard Blu-ray discs and DVDs. The player will also support audio CDs, Samsung said.
Samsung has partnered with Hollywood studios to ensure consumers have a selection of Ultra HD Blu-rays with astonishing HDR picture quality. This year, Twentieth Century Fox is slated to release more than 30 4K Ultra HD discs with HDR including films like The Martian, Peanuts, and others.
SUHD Smart Hubs
As reported prior to the show, all of Samsung’s SUHD TVs this year will act as smart home hubs, controlling a wide range of smart home automation devices from Samsung and other compatible manufacturers.
Samsung has added on top of its Tizen smart TV operating system a Smart Things Extend USB dongle that gives the TVs the ability to control more than 200 home devices compatible with Smart Things technology. This allows controlling things like IP-based in-home cameras, smart thermostats and smart lights through a user-interface on the TV screen.
Samsung said it is also expanding the features and functionality of its Tizen-based TVs in 2016, bringing a wider selection of games, including more sophisticated titles to the TVs. It has also changed the interface slightly, bringing various connected input sources onto the same screen and favorite apps and even favorite program from apps to quickly find play a program from a single menu.
By Greg Tarr
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