Samsung unveils curved UHD TV

Samsung Electronics TV head Kim Hyun-seok, right, poses with Hong Myung-bo, head coach of the national football team, during a launch event for the company’s curved UHD TV at its main office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Samsung

By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung Electronics launched its ultra high definition (UHD) curved TVs Thursday, and vowed to reshape the global TV industry.

“We are confident that our curved UHD TVs will appeal to consumers thanks to their rich picture quality,” Kim Hyun-seok, head of the company’s television business, told reporters during a launch event.

Samsung, a long-time TV industry leader, has released several UHD TV models with different in sizes including 55-inch, 65-inch, 78-inch and 105-inch.

UHD TVs provide improved picture quality when compared to existing liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs because they have a resolution of 3840 by 2160, four times higher than the 1920 by 1080 in previous full HD models, which are the industry’s current mainstream.

The Samsung executive said its diversified UHD TV lineups serve as a testament to the company’s knack for quick product innovation and breakthrough designs.

“Since 2006, when Samsung’s Bordeaux-branded TVs were launched, Samsung has been consistent in leading the global trend by launching high-class TVs. We believe our UHD TVs will become another new standard in the industry,” Kim said.

In a press release, the company said its UHD TVs will help the firm maintain its leading position for the ninth straight year.

While Samsung is increasingly being challenged by its major Japanese and Chinese competitors, the Samsung executive said the Korean firm is ready to compete with them because “healthy” competition is good to revitalize the market.

“Japanese TV manufacturers are driving up the UHD TV market and it’s no surprise that they have launched competitive UHD TV models. This is not a bad scenario for us because Samsung isn’t the sole firm that is staking on UHD TVs,” said the executive.

Kim said Samsung will lead over Chinese TV makers because Samsung’s TV technologies are a year ahead of the competition.

To vitalize this segment, Samsung said that it will adopt a competitive pricing policy, compared to those for existing flat-panel TVs.

“Our curved UHD TVs will be sold in almost all countries on this planet. The 55-inch, 65-inch and 50-inch will be our main models, followed by the 65-inch and 78-inch for households in North America and the 65-inch and 50-inch for homes in other regions,” said Kim.

Samsung plans to begin selling the UHD TVs sometime in the middle of next month. The executive said the 105-inch curved UHD TV model will be available from the latter half of this year as Samsung is finalizing specifications and surface design.

Samsung was the top UHD TV seller last year with a global share of 30 percent by revenue. In North America and Europe, which Samsung identified as the most crucial markets, it grabbed over a 50-percent market share, said the company.

Samsung is collaborating with major U.S. film studios such as Fox and Paramount for content to be used on UHD TVs.

“We plan to unveil ‘UHD Video Pack’ in March by forming an alliance with Fox and Paramount. We will allow consumers to download additional UHD TV content inside TVs. We will also air live UHD broadcasting from April for the world’s first in Korea by teaming up with local cable TV manufacturers,” the firm stated in the press release.