Samsung
Stays on Top with Quantum Dot SUHD Technology
The big question I get asked is whether OLED TV technology is the best TV technology out there?
OLED is good, but the technology can be expensive when compared to the specifications offered in other TVs in LED ranges.
In Australia, a 65” LG OLED TV is selling for $5,995 vs. the top end Samsung Series 9 65” SUHD TV which is selling for $4,195. That’s a price gap of $1,800.
Yes OLED is good, but why pay an additional $1,800 to get almost identical picture quality in a TV that will hold its colours for the life of the TV?
There is also little, if any difference in the high quality 4K display that you get with both systems.
And if you do take into consideration the opinions of publications like SmartHouse, the Samsung Quantum Dot TV technology is cleaning up in the award stakes. We will announce our TV winners next month.
Consumentenbond, one of the Netherlands’ top consumer product magazines, awarded the Samsung 55KS9000 and 55KS8000 SUHD TVs with Quantum Dot display the top prize of “Best Product of 2016.”
The publication honoured the two SUHD TVs after testing a total of 177 2016 TV models across manufacturers. The 55KS9000 and 55KS8000 received the highest marks for picture quality, highlighting the ability to produce a wide range of colours with accuracy.
The TVs were also recognised for their rich and detailed HDR capabilities, slim design and the more intuitive Smart Hub operating system. In addition to earning the top-five spots in the Consumentenbond TV testing evaluation for 2016, this is the seventh consecutive year that a Samsung TV was awarded with a “Best Product” distinction from the outlet.
HD Guru, an American news and reviews website that focuses on televisions, awarded the Samsung 65KS9800 with a “five out of five” rating, noting, “For anyone looking for the best flat-panel TV money can buy, the 65KS9800 has to stand as one of the primary considerations.” Of the 65KS9800’s picture quality performance, HD Guru also shared, “So far, it stands as the best of the 2016 4K Ultra HDTVs we’ve reviewed to date.”
At this year’s launch of their 2016 line up, Samsung also revealed that it is sticking with curved TVs claiming they deliver a superior viewing experience, which I must agree, curved TVs do. Samsung estimates that approximately half of its premium TV sales are curved.
So what does Quantum Dot technology bring to the home viewing experience?
Quantum Dot nano-particles are incredibly efficient when it comes to brightness, and are capable of astonishing colour purity. 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, they can deliver perfect primary colours, depending on their particle size. But Samsung doesn’t use Quantum Dots for the display itself, instead they’re used as a backlight enhancement.
In common LED-backlit LCD TVs, those white LED backlights are blue, coated with yellow phosphor. This coating leads to diminished intensity, one reason why many LCD TVs produce an orangey red. Using a Quantum Dot Enhanced Film (or QDEF) layer between the TV backlight and the Liquid Crystal panel fixes this.
The phosphor can be removed and the native blue backlight, mixed with Red and Green produced by the QDEF filter, produces a brilliant white light, which allows the attached LCD panel module to function more efficiently. The result is more accurate colour – and lots of it. The range-topping 55KS9000, for example, claims to cover 96 per cent of the DCI P3 colour spectrum. This, and the ability to deliver a better peak luminance, make Quantum Dot screens a natural fit for HDR content.
Spend five minutes with any Samsung TV boffin and they’ll also tell you quite emphatically that inorganic Quantum Dot panels are not prone to age-related degradation. A Quantum Dot screen bought today should be just as bright a decade hence. That’s not something OLED vendors are prepared to claim. In fact, Samsung Australia now offers a “no screen burn” guarantee for 10 years with its SUHD TV range.
Professor David Reilly from the University of Sydney has even gone as far as backing Quantum Dot technology as one of the most advanced panel technologies because it is technically superior to most other display technologies out there. Crucially it is also cheaper to produce than OLED. This technology is found in both the Samsung 8000 and 9000 series which come in both flat and curved displays.
Quantum Dot SUHD TVs, which deliver a 3840 x 2160 resolution, deliver a viewing experience that is almost as good as the movies.
All you must do to see how good this technology really is, is go to a store such as JB Hi-Fi and see for yourself.
It makes the old Full HD TV that was cutting edge when you bought it 5 years ago look like yesterday’s technology.
In recent years, Samsung has also introduced HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology to the market. This is a technology that delivers superior RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colours which make up all the colours delivered to a TV.
Recently HDTV Test, a top UK news and reviews website for televisions, focused on the improved HDR capabilities in the Samsung 2016 models. The outlet awarded the Samsung 65KS9500 the “Best TV for HDR,” as determined in a side-by-side television comparison against other HDR-capable TVs. The 65KS9500 received the most votes from attendees comparing the devices, as its display was the only one that could highlight details up to 4,000 nits.
“The fact that Samsung SUHD TV with Quantum dot display is receiving a series of positive reviews from among the world’s top consumer technology publications is a testament to our long-standing commitment to providing our consumers with only the best products,” said Moon Soo Kim, the Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “It is an honour for our products to be recognised in this way and it only motivates us to continue to innovate and deliver the best TV’s.”
So, there you have it, a TV technology that is affordable and seriously up there.