With OLED hogging so much of the spotlight at The Consumer Electronics show this week, we might overlook some pretty amazing adavnces in light-emitting-diode-lit LCD TVs. The flagship Samsung ES8000 Smart LED TV Series and the ES7500 Smart LED TV Series represent some of the company's very latest technology, a boon to both 2D and 3D viewing. The UNES8000 brings "Micro Dimming Ultimate" which analyzes the picture in hundreds of different segments in order to optimize the LED backlight and the video signal for each area in real time, by increasing peak whites in portions of lower gradation. The result is a bump in brightness of 20 percent overall, which in turn supports richer colors and higher contrast ratios. This technology also addresses the dreaded halo effect and image distortion associated with diffused light.
Samsung has honed the term "Smart TV" to three distinct areas of smartness, particularly on premium models in the ES8000 line: Smart Interaction, Smart Content and Smart Evolution. Smart Interaction will allow users to launch and use apps more intuitively through a combination of Motion Control, Voice Control and Face Recognition. Smart Content shares photos, memories and memos with family, from the TV to the cloud and then on out to smart devices. We can also manage our own health, and access educational programming, as well as stream movies, TV and more, with true multitasking capability. And Smart Evolution is in truth nothing short of a revolution, enabling select Samsung 2012 model TVs in 2012 to be upgraded to the latest software and hardware (including updated processors) via new, easily installed Evolution Kits. The premium ES8000 LED TV is a powered by a new dual-core processor to enable multitasking, so apps no longer need to be exited and relaunched before we can do something else.
Over 1,400 free and paid Samsung Apps are currently available, and soon Angry Birds will be among them. Samsung had announced a partnership with developer Rovio to bring the seminal game the their Smart TVs, and also to deliver Rovio's new Angry Birds animated shorts as well. This content will become available in 2012, making Samsung Smart TVs the first to offer the game without the need for an external set-top box.
Esthetically, the TVs offer the lean lines that we've come to expect from Samsung LED. The 0.2-inch ultra-slim bezel introduced in 2011 returns on the select high-end models, while the others feature a barely-there half-inch bezel. The ES8000 also sports a new metallic U-shape stand that really classes up the joint, with a unique shape that's also thankfully stable. An optional über-slim wall mount is available.
Samsung's ES8000, ES7500 and ES6800 series of LED TVs all received CES 2012 Innovations Design and Engineering Awards. A final lineup of screen sizes, pricing and availability is forthcoming.
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