Samsung forks 4K with Tizen tellies

Some UHD sets are more equal than others, says Korean colossus

CES 2015 Samsung has decided that 4K TV isn't quite enough; it wants to do even better.

The South Korean mega-firm drew a packed crowd to a CES press conference that included the unveiling of a new class of TV screens dubbed SUHD.

The company said that the SUHD sets would offer a superior picture to current UHD screens including brighter picture and improved contrast with colors and blacks. The screens, based on Samsung's own nano-crystal semiconductors, were shown as both a regular 59in and widescreen models.

Big Sammy said that the screens were part of a push to improve and standardize UHD picture, an effort that is also leading Samsung to form a coalition with vendors and broadcasters focused on creating both screens and video content for UHD screens.

"Customers want the UHD experience," said Samsung EVP Joe Stinziano.

"Not all the so-called UHD screens provide the detail and depth customers should expect."

Samsung is also looking to improve the software on its connected TVs. The company announced at the show that going forward, all of its future smart TV models would be based on Tizen, the mobile platform Samsung has also been pushing for mobile and wearable devices.

Not that the company is entirely focused on TV, however. Samsung also used the event to showcase a much smaller product- and ultra-small SSD drive that holds 1 TB of data. That company said that the SSD T1 would pack the data capacity into a removable USB 3.0 drive with dimensions of just 9.6x 71 x 53mm. ®