Samsung Adds New Features to Its 3D TVs

Feb 22, 2011 15:52 Naoki Tanaka, Tech-On!

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd announced new models of its "Smart TV," which can display 3D video and has an interactive function, Feb 17, 2011.

As features of the new models, the company mentioned (1) the improved quality of 3D video, (2) a function to easily select various contents and (3) a reduction in bezel width to 5mm.

The prices of the 46- and 55-inch models of the "D7000" series are about 4 million won (approx US$3,572) and 5.5 million won, respectively. And those of the 46- and 55-inch models of the "D8000" series are about 4.3 million won and 5.8 million won. Samsung plans to sell 12 million units of the new TVs in 2011.

The new products can reproduce 3D video without lowering the full HD spatial resolution, and they use the same active shutter glass technology with a wide view angle as Samsung's existing products.

Also, to reduce cross talk and flicker, which are problems for 3D display, Samsung employed (1) the "3D Hyper Real Engine," which optimizes color, contrast and motion, (2) the "Micro Dimming Technology," which controls the brightness of the LED light source for each area of the screen and (3) the "Speed Backlight Technology," which adjusts light from the LED light source at high speeds.

The power consumption of the 55-inch models is 20% or more lower than the power consumptions of the TVs developed by Samsung's competitors, the company said. The weight of the 3D glasses is 28g. The company tied up with Australian fashion brand "Silhouette" for the design of the glasses.

Moreover, the interactive function enables to, for example, automatically extract keywords related to the TV program being watched by the user and search for information by using the keywords. When the user is watching a TV program that introduces restaurants, it is possible to quickly know the information about the restaurants, their menus and dishes and ingredients related to the menus. Samsung developed this function in collaboration with NHN Corp, the largest Internet-related service company in Korea.

Furthermore, with the new TVs, it is possible to display keywords that are being searched by many people as well as blogs and online news Websites like PCs. The user can browse a Website and use online services such as Twitter and Facebook while watching TV. Samsung plans to start a 3D-compatible video-on-demand service to deliver movies and music videos in March 2011.

Samsung's Smart TV features the company's own user interface called "Smart Hub," which enables to easily select and watch various contents stored on the Internet, a home network, etc. The Smart Hub shows various contents on the screen at the same time by using icons so that the user can select a content just by clicking on its icon. And the user can choose contents to be displayed as icons.

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