Samsung had a closed booth and was offering tours. We went around with a group from Ingram Micro. We started with a quick look at the QLED LCD monitors that were shown at ISE. Although we still don’t like the phrase QLED, there is no question that the Quantum Dot technology looks very good with very strong colours. The systems can support HDR in the latest version of Tizen, Version 3.0, and can offer peak brightness of 1,300 cd/m², although the overall brightness rating is 600 cd/m². The Samsung rep was quite critical of the use of OLED in commercial applications.
Direct LED is a ‘major focus’ now and Samsung is shipping pitches 1.5mm, 2.5mm, 4mm and 6mm already and both 1.2mm and 0.98mm pitch will be available ‘later’. The latest modules have been developed based on the learning curve that Samsung has been on and the latest cabinets are much slimmer. There is also a new frame system that is very slim and light. Samsung highlighted that its controller is very small and is of its own design.
Samsung’s new LED Cabinets are much slimmer (right). Image:Meko
The latest version of Tizen is much more powerful than previous versions and the company had created a good demonstration of the power on animations of the three versions developed so far and showing how many more objects could be controlled and also how much smoother the animation is at the higher refresh rate of the latest version.
The latest Samsung Tizen version supports many more objects with faster animation. Image:Meko
Samsung has a new extended warranty scheme and the rep promoted the concept to Ingram as a really good profit opportunity for Ingram’s resellers. If reports are made by 3.00 pm Eastern, an advance exchange unit will be with the customer by the end of business the next day. Samsung also has a higher level of service available with a ‘white glove’ service that ensures that the defective unit is dismounted and replaced.
From 65″ and up, FullHD units will be ‘going away’ and Samsung is switching to UltraHD only at this size and above. In 2018, the large sizes will be 65″, 75″ and either 82″ or 85″. Features will include 4 HDMI and dual DisplayPort as well as DVI and there will be screen split options.
Next we looked at video wall products. The UH46F5 was launched at the beginning of this year and has 700 cd/m2 of output. It is slim to allow ADA compliance and Samsung is shipping the 3.5mm bezel versions in 46″ and 55″ with 500 and 700 cd/m2. The 55″ UH55F-E, which has a combined bezel of 1.7mm is shipping now and a 46″ version, the UH46-FE with 700 cd/m2 will ship ‘later’.
We moved onto desktop monitors including the mammoth 49″ curved unit that Samsung has launched for gamers – it’s a monster!
The Samsung 49 inch gaming monitor is a monster. Image:Meko
A new product to us was a 32″ mirror display that includes a proximity detector so that the system can react to a consumer coming close to the screen. There were also new ‘PC-less’ touch systems at 55″ and 32″ (49″ comes later) which use the integrated SoC to operate the touch system. Also new was a concept for a double-sided 37″ stretched display.
Moving to outdoor displays, The OH series has 2,500 cd/m2 of output and is rated to IP56 for waterproofing and is currently available in 75″. However an 85″ version will be coming ‘later’. The company is also very positive about the OM series of ‘window displays’ which have the same level of output luminance, but have no protective casing, so must be used inside buildings. The series is available in 32″/46″/55″ and 75″.
