Samsung is finally rolling out its QLED technology to more than just its Q series of TVs, with CES 2019 seeing both The Frame and Serif ranges gain QLED panels. This should dramatically improve the picture quality of these TVs, and could finally help justify their premium price tag.
The Frame is one of Samsung’s most unique TVs, with its ability to blend into the overall décor of a room unrivalled by any other off-the-shelf set. Unfortunately, while it was by no means expensive, it was comparably priced to the company’s Q series, which boast QLED panels, a screen technology far better than standard LCD. This meant that The Frame’s picture was noticeably inferior to the more affordable Q6FN, making it hard to justify the added expense.
Thankfully, Samsung is now writing that wrong and bringing its QLED technology to both The Frame and Serif TVs. This should see the sets receive a significant boost in contrast, colour accuracy and black levels, and offers another alternative to OLED TVs.
The 2019 Frame TV By Samsung
While the addition of a QLED panel is the big news for the 2019 Frame TV, Samsung has also added its Bixby voice assistant. While this lags far behind similar voice assistants such as the Google Assistant and Alexa, it has vastly improved in recent iterations – although we’ll gladly admit that we’re still holding out hope that Samsung will opt for another assistant in the future.
Bixby will be capable of controlling just about every function on the 2019 Frame TV, as well as search popular streaming services like Netflix and Rakuten. There’s no word on whether it will be able to search The Frame’s biggest feature, however, the Art Store.
For 2019, The Frame’s Art Store is set to grow even further, with thousands of pieces of art made available from a wide range of museums and art galleries. Masterpieces from the Uffizi Galleries in Italy, the Van Gogh Museum in The Netherlands, Te Papa in New Zealand, the V&A and Tate Modern in the UK have all recently been added.
2019 Serif TV
While it’s nowhere near as popular as the The Frame, Samsung’s Serif range of TVs is still a unique proposition for those wishing to make their TVs a centrepiece. With the addition of QLED panels, this aesthetically-focused range is now more than just a striking design, however. That’s because it boasts deeper blacks and 100% colour volume.
Bizarrely, while the Serif TV wasn’t designed to blend into its surroundings, Samsung has added its Ambient Mode to the 2019 offering. That allows the TV to blend into whatever is behind it, while it’s also able to display information from news headlines and weather updates.
Most importantly for the 2019 Serif is that it won’t be confined to high-end department stores or furniture shops anymore. That’s because Samsung has made the decision to make its Serif range more widely available.
Release Date & Pricing
Samsung has yet to reveal how much the 2019 Frame and Serif TVs will cost, and while we’re hoping that it will remain the same price, there is the possibility that the new models may carry a slight premium over last year’s offering, solely thanks to the addition of QLED technology.
Just like the pricing, we’re still awaiting information regarding a release date – something we’ll hopefully learn about at CES 2019.