Is it a good thing when you’re not sure that the best thing about your new TV is the picture quality? Don’t get me wrong, the picture quality on Samsung’s The Frame is beyond compare. Boasting a resolution rate of 3840 x 2160 and a motion rate of 240 Motion Rate (120Hz), UHD upscaling, 40 watts of DTS Premium Sound 5.1, with built-in woofer, smart TV, Bluetooth, wireless internet and 4 HDMI inputs, among other things, The Frame is everything you would expect from a top of the line 4K Ultra High Definition Samsung TV. But there is more—so much more.
Emily Henderson’s rendering of The Frame in our living room \\\ Photo by Tessa Neustadt
We got our hands on The Frame because my pal Emily Henderson completed the design of our living/dining space and had the smart idea to Photoshop The Frame into our reveal images, whetting our appetite to acquire the real thing.
Perhaps the best part of The Frame is that it doesn’t look like a television at all. In fact, it can hide in plain sight because it doubles as hanging wall art. No, seriously, this TV goes beyond smart TV. It senses when you are in the room and displays a piece of art. In fact, it displays over a hundred pieces of curated art and can even display your personal photos. It seems like a novelty at first, but your appreciation for The Frame grows as the family room is no longer beholden to doing double duty as a home theater room centered around a dark rectangular abyss. The art feels part of the room and you have to look very closely to detect that the image is from a digital display.
The Frame with curated art displayed \\\ artwork by Tobias Rehberger
The Frame’s app, Smart View, allows you to choose from their curated art selection or from your own photos.
You can display your own art or photos in a variety of ways, from adding a matte or creating collages.
The Frame allows the family room to return to a gathering room for conversation instead of only watching TV, with the flexibility to transform functions. The Frame conceals itself into the background and blends into the surroundings until it’s time to come alive.
Samsung’s The Frame with artwork by Jaime Derringer
The Frame is distinctively modern with clean lines and offers a selection of neutral Customizable Frames you can add on, including White, Walnut and a Beige Wood. Although modern, its simplicity lends itself to seamless incorporation into any decor. We chose the Beige Wood frame, which looks great with our decor and when the TV is on, The Frame seems to disappear and only the picture is visible.
Close up of the Beige Wood Customizable Frame
We chose to mount ours on a wall, but it would fit in equally well had we installed it on the Studio Stand (pictured below). Having a six-year-old daughter and a puppy, however, ruled that installation as impractical for the time being but we will be storing the Studio Stand with plans to use it in the future (i.e., when it’s safe!).
Samsung’s The Frame with artwork by Jaime Derringer using the custom matte option. The Preview mode allows you to preview any art, photos or collages you create before setting them.
When switched on, the experience becomes, well, switched on. The picture is vibrant and rich. The colors are almost as endlessly deep as the black, which depths rival the darkest abyss of the ocean floor. Whether it is an action movie or sports, it is impossible to detect anything other than smooth continuous motion with no noticeable juttering. Watching the Frame TV is an immersive and wholly satisfying experience.
Installation was a breeze as well. The Invisible Connection cable and One Connect Box allows you to easily mount the TV on the included No-Gap Wall Mount with relative ease and hide all the connections elsewhere, leaving only one cable plus your power cord (Can I get an Amen for no messy wires?!). There are ample HDMI hookups and an optical out for hooking your TV to an external receiver and speakers, if you should so choose. The remote control is minimalist and its use is intuitive.
Samsung’s The Frame with artwork by Jaime Derringer
In answering the question originally posed, we have to say that there are so many amazing things about The Frame that we can’t figure out which is the best.
Special thanks to Samsung for letting us try out The Frame. It lives up to the hype.
Read more about The Frame here and their recent art collaboration with Scholten & Baijings here.
from Design MilkDesign Milk http://design-milk.com/hiding-in-plain-sight-samsungs-the-frame/
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