14 DAY TRIAL // We've seen many ultra-high definition displays over the past three years, with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. We've also seen ultra-wide screen panels with a resolution of 5120 x 2160 (5K), the biggest of which were just released by Samsung and LG (105-inch diagonals).
Those two we mentioned are actually doubly unusual, as they have curved 4K displays. Now, Samsung has gone ahead and combined the concepts of flat-panel TV with that of the curved display.
Curved TVs offer a higher degree of immersion, but they might not be best suited for group movie nights because of the smaller field of view.
Admittedly, when your screen has a gargantuan size of 105 inches, the field of view isn't going to be a problem. That can't be said about, say, 40- to 45-inch models though.
The new display that Samsung released in its home market is not that small. At 78 inches in diagonal, it's actually still pretty large. Large enough to need buyers to perform some landscaping concessions in their sitting rooms. Still, it is quite a bit smaller than 105 inches.
Anyway, the curious trait of the new Ultra HDTV is that it can change from a flat panel to a curved display on command.
The change is achieved by motors built into the edges of the frame. The screen actually has two frames: the actual frame/bezel, and a second one that borders it. The second one has motors that push the edges of the TV inwards when you wish them to.
The curvature angle is about the same as that of every other curved TV on the market, so not that glaringly obvious.
Samsung seems to have managed to one-up LG for once, as the latter doesn't have this type of form-changing television or monitor on the market or in the roadmap.
Admittedly, LG did unveil a rollable OLED screen not long ago, but for all its ability to turn into a cylinder the product has too poor a resolution to be anything more than a proof of concept (1200 x 810 pixels).
Thus, the ongoing and none too friendly competition between the two South Korean companies is not jarringly blatant, for once. Unfortunately, we do not know the price of the new flat-to-curved Samsung 4k TV, or the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for all the countries other than the company's home market. It will be quite droll if LG managed to offer something similar by the time availability ramps up.