Ahead of the curve

In the course of developing curved TVs, South Korean tech giant Samsung had to address the age-old philosophical question of which came first: the chicken or the egg?

"We often get this question," admitted Mr Iksuk Choi, vice-president and head of Asia product marketing of the Visual Display Division at Samsung Electronics.

"Do you curve it because you can, or do you curve it because it is necessary and gives benefits to the viewers," he asked.

Unlike the less-than-satisfactory answers often given to the proverbial question, Samsung said it actually knew the benefits of a curved TV but lacked the technical expertise to make one until 2009, when it perfected its LED screen technology and was able to build super slim TVs.

"We thought, why not bend it?" said Mr Moon Gwonjin, principal engineer, TV R&D, of the visual display division at Samsung Electronics.

Mr Moon said the engineering team spent five years adding new production facilities, changing its operations to cater to the new materials needed for producing curved TV sets and focusing on three main challenges in making the curved displays.

First of all, LED systems use backlighting and it proved difficult at first to bend the backlight portion of the screen.

"We had to make sure that there was a uniform emission from the backlight," he said.

The second challenge involved bending the glass cells such that there was uniformity in the bend.

The last was in getting a good yield in the mass production stage.

The best curvature radius

Today, Samsung said it has the technology to bend any screen that its display division produces, like LED (left), OLED and Super Amoled.

The only exception is plasma screens. Demand for such screens has declined, so Samsung saw no reason to pursue it. "We do have our plasma business but we decided not to bend such screens because it's not worth the effort," said Mr Choi.

During this time, the company also explored varying curvatures for its screens from between 3,000R and 6,000R, before settling on 4,200R as the default. This refers to the curve of a circle with a radius of 4.2m.

The smaller the number, the greater the curvature.

Unlike Samsung, LG has chosen to vary the curvature of its screens according to the size of the TV.

Samsung's Mr Moon said: "Normally, average TV viewing distance is about 3m to 4m and we established that 4,200R produced the best viewing experience."

8K screens may be next

All Samsung curved screens have an auto depth enhancer optimised for this distance and curvature, and this feature offers greater contrast, creates a deeper viewing angle and offers less reflection to the viewer.

The success of last year's curved models prompted the company to release the world's first curved ultra high-definition or 4K model (3,840 x 2,160) this year.

"Last year, we introduced a curved OLED to the market and the response from the market was very positive, which is why we expanded the line to include UHD as well," said Mr Choi.

Because 4K content is lacking, Samsung is bundling a UHD video pack that includes movies X-Men Origins: Wolverine (left), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (left, bottom) and documentaries The Last Reef and Travelscope: Cappadocia in 4K resolution, with select UHD TV sets.

This was done in negotiation with Hollywood studios. Such a method of giving content is much easier to obtain than trying to license movie streaming or downloads to the various global markets through its smart TV, said Mr Choi.

The curved screen is now an added feature on all of Samsung's high-end smart TVs and comes in sizes of up to 105 inches. Availability varies by country.

The company is also looking at improving other aspects of its TV technology, including researching a much sharper 8K screen, as well as glasses-free stereoscopic 3-D.

Given the lack of 4K content, the push towards 8K is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

As for updated 3-D features, the company is treading gently. "Market research has shown that demand for 3-D TVs peaked last year and is now on a downward trend," said Mr Lee Sangdo, director of global product marketing, visual display division.

"We will be introducing our product to the market when we are more comfortable and sure that it gives certain benefits to the viewers."

Sherwin Loh has a few factors for you to consider before you get that new curved screen.

Size

Both Samsung and LG have different sizes of curved televisions available globally, but Samsung is bringing in only its 55-inch and 65-inch models. LG is sticking with its 55-inch model.

Regular high-definition (HD) content from Blu-ray discs offer up to 1,080p resolution, but even that tends to lose sharpness on bigger screens, which means that a full HD 65-inch TV will not offer you the best quality images, especially if your primary source of TV content is from local free-to-air or cable TV services.

On the other hand, an ultra high-definition (UHD) TV is a pricier alternative and there are not many sources of UHD resolution content available, so you may end up buying a feature you will not use.

The upside is that UHD TVs do offer up-conversion of full HD content to UHD resolution.

Resolution

In the consumer electronics industry, UHD is presented as offering at least 3,840 pixels × 2,160 lines. It is used interchangeably with the 4K digital cinema standard, though 4K refers to a resolution of 4,096 × 2,160.

In essence, UHD and 4K offer eight million pixels of resolution.

High definition goes up to only 1,920 x 1,080, which translates to about two million pixels. This is why TV makers tout UHD/4K as offering four times the resolution of HD.

Samsung is throwing in several digital UHD movies with purchases of select UHD TV models, and while content services like Netflix offer 4K content, it is for select shows and available only on the relatively new HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) H.265 codec.

For early adopters, the good news is that TV makers are working to ensure that their sets can accommodate upcoming video formats, via the use of multi-core processors and smart software that power the TV sets.

High-end Samsung TVs have the evolution kit, a piece of external hardware that can be replaced with a more advanced kit from next year.

LG TVs are already built with 4K HEVC 60p decoders, which makes them "future-ready" said Mr Kim Ki-wan, executive vice-president of overseas sales and marketing at LG's Home Entertainment Company.

He said: "The powerful hardware is able to decode broadcast signals in the H.264 and HEVC H.265 formats, in either 30p or 60p. What's more, the TVs can display UHD content from nearly any input source, including HDMI 2.0, USB and LAN."

While the Blu-ray Disc Association has announced that it will release 4K titles, it has yet to announce availability and pricing. Users will probably also need to invest in a 4K Blu-ray player.

Display: LED v OLED

The light-emitting diode or LED display is used to light up most flatscreens in the market. While their abbreviations differ by one letter from the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, their technologies are different.

LEDs are used in the backlight of TV screens, where the small diodes allow for local dimming, that is to have one part of the screen light up over another area.

OLED screens are made up of material that light up when an electrical current runs through them, and can be extremely thin.

This means that OLED screens are capable of delivering darker blacks, as a lack of electrical current means having a spot be totally black. This allows for higher contrasts and richer colours.

Mr Kim added: "Moreover, OLED TVs do not suffer from motion blur or loss of picture quality at extreme angles, making them the superior choice for action films or gaming. The 4K HDTV will produce a sharper and clearer picture, but the OLED will produce vibrant colours, a clearer tone and an immersive viewing experience."

But OLED screens are also pricier and the combination of OLED and UHD will make a TV set more expensive, though the prices of OLED TVs have dropped over the years.

3-D

Though 3-D has not caught on with TV viewers, curved TVs offer a more immersive stereoscopic experience, as one enhances the effect of the other.

The catch is that optimal enjoyment requires one to sit in front of the "sweet spot", where curved display meets stereoscopic glory.

Sit to the side and you will lose that immersive effect. If two or more people sit side by side in front of the TV, the curved or 3-D effect diminishes slightly.

LG uses the passive system. Its 3-D glasses are cheaper, lightweight shades. Samsung uses the pricier and heavier active shutter glasses that require the use of batteries.

For large families, using the LG system makes more sense. But if you are particular about the 3-D effect, the active shutter system offers sharper and more detailed images.

sherwinl@sph.com.sg

This article was published on April 23 in Digital Life, The Straits Times.

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