4K Ultra HD, OLED, Curved TVs: Samsung’s Got It All At IFA

Samsung Electronics has unveiled a slew of new display products – including at least a duo of world’s firsts – at its IFA 2013 stand this week, through various permutations of the hottest next-gen technologies such as 4K Ultra HD, OLED and curved TVs.

Samsung 4K OLED TV

First to catch our attention at Samsung’s IFA press conference was the announcement of the company’s first ultra high-definition OLED TV. Of course, avid industry watchers will remember that both Panasonic and Sony have already outed 4K OLED displays at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year, which are also on exhibit at IFA this week. The 4K UHD OLED TVs from these Japanese manufacturers measure 56″ in screen size, whereas Samsung’s offering is 55 inches.

Samsung curved 4K OLED

Of course, in an effort to go one step further, Samsung also introduced another model featuring a slight concavity (all the rage these days among OLED television makers), which results in the world’s first curved Ultra HD OLED TV – isn’t that a mouthful? Like the non-UHD version, the bendy one is 55″.

Side view of Samsung curved 4K LED TV Samsung curved 4K LED
Side profile Samsung’s 65″ curved 4K TV

The South Korean manufacturer’s obsession with curvature doesn’t stop at its OLED displays. At its massive IFA showhall, the company also showed off a 65in curved Ultra HD 4K TV – another world’s first – which Samsung tells us uses the same edge LED backlight technology found on the flat UE65F9000 that is now available to buy in the UK and Europe.

Like all OLEDs we’ve seen to date, the Samsung OLED TVs – curved or not – looked stunning, delivering supreme contrast performance that is just beyond the capabilities of current HDTVs on the market including the best plasmas. If we had to choose, we’d probably go for the flat one, which happens to be 4K…