CES 2020: Samsung Shows Off Rotating Sero TV, Bezel-Less ‘Infinity Screen’
Samsung is expanding its 8K TV line significantly and introducing new lifestyle TVs such as the rotating Sero. TVs with Infinity Screen, meanwhile, are designed to appear bezel-less and to sit flush enough against the wall that they cast no shadow.
At CES, Samsung unveiled several new TVs here at CES 2020, including one with a bezel-less design known as the Infinity Screen, significantly expanding its selection of 8K televisions and adding stylish 4K lifestyle models as well.
Samsung first launched its consumer 8K TVs last year with the Q900R, a single TV line available in six screen sizes from 55 to 98 inches, with the smallest and least expensive model retailing for $3,500. Samsung continues its flagship 8K series with the Q950TS and step-down Q900TS line, along with the less expensive and more accessible Q800T series. The three lines will cover a wide range of screen sizes, and while Samsung has not yet announced pricing or availability the company has said that the Q800T series will be available at “competitive pricing,” comparable with flagship 4K TV prices in 2019.
The Q950TS introduces a new design element Samsung is incorporating into its flagship TV models called Infinity Screen. TVs with Infinity Screen are designed to appear bezel-less, and to sit flush enough against the wall that they cast no shadow. The effect is similar to LG’s W-series of OLED TVs, which feature separate OLED panels that can be mounted nearly flush on the wall and also have no bezel. The Q950TS and 4K Q90T TVs with Infinity Screen feature bezels that measure just 2.3mm wide, with bodies that measure only 15mm deep, including all electronic components. This is an impressive, striking design.
The Q950TS, along with the Q900TS and 4K Q80T and Q90T, also introduce Samsung’s new Object Tracking Sound feature. Four (or six, for the Q950TS) speakers aligned against the screen provide both height imaging and stereo sound. The effect is similar to Dolby Atmos sound systems with height channels, allowing the drivers to give a sense of both vertical and stereo movement.
The effect can be expanded with Samsung’s 2020 Q-series soundbars, which can interact with OTS-equipped Samsung TVs to let the higher drivers on the TV work alongside a soundbar positioned under the TV.
Samsung is also expanding its selection of 4K lifestyle TVs, first introduced with The Frame series. The newest Samsung lifestyle TV is the Sero, a 43-inch TV with an eye-catching gimmick: It rotates.
The TV can shift between portrait and landscape orientations, displaying both TV and smartphone content exactly as intended. Smartphone users can cast their screens to the Sero and display the full portrait view with no pillarboxing; when they turn the phone sideways or vertically, the Sero will twist to match the screen just like the phone screen shifts between modes. The Sero is also equipped with a 4.1-channel, 60-watt speaker system built into its base.
The Samsung Sero, while new to North America, was released in Korea last year with a price tag equivalent to approximately $1,000.
Samsung’s other lifestyle TVs, the Frame and the Serif, are getting new size options as well. The Frame is Samsung’s first lifestyle TV, designed with a modular, customizable frame system that lets the TV appear as a framed picture on the wall. The Serif is a more fashion-conscious, standalone lifestyle TV, with a unique girder-like cross-section that lets you place small objects on top of it.
The Frame will be available in six screen sizes in 2020, from 32 to 75 inches, and the 32-inch Frame will be mountable vertically. The new models will also feature Samsung’s new Dual LED feature, which combines cool and warm LEDs for the backlight system to provide more accurate color. The Dual LED system will also be available in several 4K QLED TV models.
The Serif will be available in 43, 49, and 55 inches, a wider selection from the 55-inch-only model available last year, all of which will feature 4.0-channel, 40-watt sound systems.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com on January 6, 2020.
