By Claire Reilly
While Samsung’s home entertainment launch in Sydney last week was dominated by talk of its new $40,000 Ultra High Definition S9 TV, the brand is yet to confirm retail availability of the ultra premium flat panel. However, with only 20 to 30 stores across Australia set to be given access to display the TV on the shopfloor, most retailers will be showcasing the other new releases in Samsung’s line-up.
Comprising of 11 LED TVs (not including the UHD model), two plasma TVs as well as one home theatre system, the focus of the Samsung home entertainment range is on larger screen sizes and the brand’s new Smart TV interface.
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According to Phil Newton, vice president of consumer electronics at Samsung Australia, the variety of products across Samsung’s range is about providing a solution for all consumers.
“We’ve got to cater for everybody,” said Newton. “So from the guy that wants to spend $250 on a 32-inch TV for his bedroom right through to the guy that wants the $40,000 television. And if we don’t do that, we’re not covering our bases. And that’s who we are — we want to address those consumer needs.
“Our 2013 Samsung Smart TV range spans affordable large-screen sets all the way to mind-blowing, high-design luxury TVs.”
At the top of the range is the F8000 Series, which is available in 55, 60, 65 and 75-inch screen sizes, and is billed as offering the “brightest picture quality of any Samsung LED TV to date”. The televisions feature a bezel width of less than 6 millimetres, a “wave inspired arc stand” and support the new HEVC high-compression video codec, which offers double the compression rate of previous codecs for higher video quality, even when streaming over lower bandwidth.
The Series 8 range is joined by new panels in the Series 6 and Series 7 ranges, ranging in size from 46 inches up to 75 inches.
Also in the line-up are Samsung’s two new F8500 plasma panels, available in 60 and 65 inches, which deliver “the same brightness and eight times the black levels as previous Samsung LED TVs,” while also supporting the HEVC codec.
The Smart features on each new TV vary across the range, but the line-up boasts Australian language interaction and gesture controls, programme recommendations, social media streaming and added PVR functionality on the Samsung Foxtel app for pausing, rewinding and fast forwarding playback.
Finally, Samsung announced the launch of its flagship 7.1 channel Blu-ray home theatre system (HT-F9750W) — a 1,330-watt sound system that features “a vacuum tube pre-amplifier and Gallium Nitride power amplifier…that provides a very similar sound quality to that of very high end analogue power amps”.
Samsung's F8000 Series 8 LED TV.
Full product pricing and availability (provided by Samsung):
-Samsung UHD TV (S9) – RRP $40,000, available from May through "select retail stores"
-Samsung Series 8 Smart LED TV 75-inch (F8000) – RRP $9,999, available in July
-Samsung Series 8 Smart LED TV 65-inch (UAF8000) – RRP $5,999, available in June
-Samsung Series 8 Smart LED TV 60-inch (UAF8000) – RRP $4,999, available in June
-Samsung Series 8 Smart LED TV 55-inch (UAF8000) – RRP $4,199, available in April
-Samsung Series 7 Smart LED TV 60-inch (UA607100) – RRP $3,999, available in June
-Samsung Series 7 Smart LED TV 55-inch (UA55F7100) – RRP $3,299, available in May
-Samsung Series 7 LED TV 46-inch (UA467100) – RRP $2,399, available in May
-Samsung Series 6 LED TV 75-inch (UA75F6400) – RRP $6,999, available in June
-Samsung Series 6 LED TV 65-inch (UA65F6400) – RRP $3,999, available in June
-Samsung Series 6 LED 60-inch (UA60F6400) – RRP $2,999, available in May
-Samsung Series 6 LED 55-inch (UA55F6400) – RRP $2,349, available in April
-Samsung Series 8 Plasma 64-inch (PS64F8500) – RRP $4,299, available in April
-Samsung Series 8 Plasma 60-inch (PS60F8500) – RRP $3,399, available in April
-Samsung 7.1 Channel Home Theatre System (HT-F9750W) – RRP $1,499, available in May