Samsung is the biggest television maker in the world, and its product introductions always say a lot about what we'll encounter in stores and living rooms in the months to come. Today at CES 2016, the company made public a line of four ultra-high-def TVs that it calls SUHDs, which are extremely thin and beautifully designed, and that highlight two major trends.
First, television makers are betting hard on a technology called high-dynamic range, or HDR, which helps images pop by increasing the contrast between the lightest and darkest images the set can produce. All of the SUHDs support that technology, along with televisions from LG, Hisense, and other companies.
Secondly, the new TVs underscore Samsung's commitment to the Internet of Things, in which users can control products from appliances to doorlocks that are all linked wirelessly. The TVs introduced today can act as central hubs for items in Samsung's SmartThings program, which ties together 200 household products from a wide variety of companies.
Last year, one of Samsung's SUHD sets was the highest-rated LED LCD TV in our TV Ratings. This year's SUHD TV line will again use something called quantum-dot technology, which helps televisions produce an extremely wide and nuanced array of colors. The TVs will support a new industry standard for HDR, called SMPTE HDR10. And, finally, the TVs are brighter than last year's models—the company says this helps ensure that highlights in the picture really pop, even if users are watching in a sunny room. (The brightness helped Samsung's entire 2016 SUHD TV lineup achieve something called an Ultra HD Premium certification by the UHD Alliance. Expect to see that certfication promoted in Samsung's marketing.)
This year, Samsung's flagship sets are in its KS9500 series, which have curved screens and the new bezeless design, in which all you see is the display, with no apparent edge around it. They'll include a new Smart Hub interface that lets you access favorite content as soon as you turn on the TV. Samsung's Tizen smart TV platform will provide access to streaming UHD movies and TV shows from providers such as Amazon, M-GO, and Netflix. At its press event, Samsung said that UHD technologies developed by a company called NeuLion will let users view a selection of streaming 4K sporting events.
There's also a new remote control that will automatically recognize and control other devices hooked up to the TV, such as a game console, streaming player, or home theater system. That means users should no longer have to switch from one remote to another.
The company also announced its first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, the UBD-K8500, which is slated to arrive in March. This promises to be among the first of these players on the market; we'll try to find out pricing during the next day or two. [UPDATE: The Player will cost $400, and can now be pre-ordered.] The player will support the HDR and wider colors we've been hearing about. And based on conversations with some of the Hollywood studios here at CES, it appears there could be 100 or so 4K Blu-ray titles available by fall. Among the titles to expect, according to Samsung, are The Lego Movie and Mad Max: Fury Road.