When Samsung teased a seemingly
translucent, portrait-oriented television in the weeks leading up to CES 2013,
the tech media were quick to doubt, criticize, and make fun of Samsung. That
didn't stop some of them from feeling a little betrayed when the real thing was
unveiled as something other than a mainstream consumer product. But trust
Samsung to win the love back in the end.
At the end of 2012, the Samsung
Tomorrow blog released a teaser picture showing what looked like a
semi-transparent TV designed in portrait mode, rather than the usual
"landscape" widescreen of virtually all modern televisions. "A
true innovation of TV design is coming up with a unprecedented new TV shape and
timeless design," read The Verge's translation of the Korean-language
blog's minimal description.
Gizmag, among
others, was dubious but intrigued. Despite the fact that Samsung has been
producing translucent displays for nearly a year now, Gizmag swiftly threw that element into doubt. Because the teaser
picture's TV showed a slightly different line than its background. And while trying to figure out why anyone
would actually want a portrait-oriented TV, Gizmag
addressed the benefits of an "AirPlay-like local streaming service,"
going so far as to superimpose "a mirrored Galaxy S III display" in a
mock-up photo.
The intrigue led many to show
some irritation when visiting Samsung's booth at CES. The big portrait-oriented
display on hand was actually the latest generation of Samsung's LFD line,
professional indoor/outdoor displays designed for advertising and informational
usage; compelling to enterprise customers, certainly, but not exactly a
consumer TV innovation.
Or perhaps Samsung Tomorrow had
been referring to the Series 7 monitors? The SC750 and 770 do rotate between
landscape and portrait orientation, as well as having a very impressive screen.
The 770 offers touch screen and Windows 8 optimization; features that are still
rather innovative (in a sense). But we're still talking about the professional
market, and it's a big leap to call this "TV design" in any way, so
they're even farther from the Samsung Tomorrow tease.
In the end, Samsung more than
redeemed itself for the consumer TV market with the stunning UN85S9 Ultra HD
which was used as the show-stopping centerpiece for Samsung's CES presentation;
presumably because its 110-inch big brother was too big to be brought up on
stage (or possibly the minor detail that it's just a prototype). Innovative,
with a certain amount of timeless design; so who needs translucency and
portrait view, anyway?
Author
Bio: Dwayne Thomas currently writes
for cabletv.com. You can find him on Twitter @Dwayne_CableTV.
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