Samsung unveils 85-inch ultra-high definition TV

SAMSUNG'S monster 85-inch ultra-high definition TV "speaks" with an Aussie accent and could cost more than the van that delivers it.

samsung 85 inch TV

SAMSUNG last night launched a massive 85-inch ultra-high definition TV that "speaks" with an Aussie accent and arguably could cost more than the van that delivers it.

And at an event held in Sydney's The Star featuring entertainers Sneaky Sound System, the South Korean manufacturer also debuted a massively overhauled smart TV platform range that will hit Australian retail outlets starting this month.

Samsung Australia vice president, consumer electronics, Philip Newton, said the new 85-inch TV will cost around $40,000 locally.

With very limited ultra-high definition TV content available, Samsung expected to sell no more than about one per week, Mr Newton said.

Ultra-high definition content is not available through free-to-air services, cable or internet television sources. The only means of obtaining it is through manufacturers with the possibility of new movie content being made available on hard disk drives.

Samsung says it will provide its customers with some UHD content and would be seeking to provide more through agreements in future with movie producers. Production houses currently provide near to ultra-high definition versions of movies to cinemas.

Mr Newton said that as part of the purchase package, Samsung would deliver and fully install the TV, offer half a day of tutoring on using it, and provide each user with a unique phone number for ongoing support.

The S9 includes Samsung's smart evolution kit -- a slot for a circuit board that over the next five years could be plugged in to fully-update this year's set to the model of the day.

The S9 is the third very large UHD TV to hit the Australian market. Last year Sony launched its 84-inch Bravia KD-84X9000 with a price tag of $24,999, while rival Korean manufacturer LG Electronics' 84-inch 3D TV costs $15,999.

Mr Newton said the S9 has speech technology which allowed it to "talk" to viewers in an Australian accent. The speech recognition technology had been developed jointly by Samsung and Macquarie University, he said.

"Something we're especially proud to be launching this year and unique to Australia, is the natural language functionality," he said.

"Specifically designed for the Australian market, whereby the TV understands the way we speak and can speak back with an Aussie accent, can make recommendations based on analysing viewing habits and truly illustrates the level of innovation that Samsung is able to deliver to Australian consumers."

The thinly framed TV also includes an up-scaling engine that can convert regular high-definition media to UHD level picture quality. The S9 also is 3D capable. Samsung is sticking to 3D that requires active shutter 3D glasses.

Samsung last night also launched a massively overhauled range of LED and plasma smart TVs that will be in retail stores between now and June. They range from the 55-inch, Series 6 LED TV costing $2,349 through to the top-of-range Series 8 75-inch LED TV for $9,999.

Samsung's redesigned smart TV hub includes five separate screens that cover smart TV program guides, video-on-demand offerings, apps, social networking and a portal for home owned movies, photos and video content. The TVs are equipped with fast, quad-core processors.

Samsung says more than 3000 apps adapted to smart TV viewing were available for download.

Higher-end models can recognise the family member in front of it, and can recommend programming choices based on past viewing habits. The TVs respond to gestures as well as voice commands.

Viewers can register a 'like' for a program using a thumb-up gesture, and the TV can stream content not only from internet TV sources (IPTV) but also from a user's DropBox or SugarSync cloud-based account.

Samsung's smart evolution kits that let a user update their set to the next model by slotting in a circuit board are available for smart TVs also.

For streaming over the net, Samsung smart TV are offering support for the new high-compression video codec, called HEVC, which allows for streaming higher video quality at lower bit rates.

Samsung TVs can stream content from Foxtel, Quickflix, and catch-up TV for SBS, ABC, Yahoo7 and Channel 10.