Samsung's IFA press conference recap

We're just back from the WiFi-less Samsung PR space here at IFA in Berlin, and the report may be less than thrilling to most of our readers. Nevertheless, here's a quick recap of the events. First up on stage was Dr. Jong Woo Park, president of Samsung, who didn't have much to offer in the way of groundbreaking news, though he did emphasize his company's dedication to "user experience" with their products.

Dr. Park then went on the demo the Bluetooth functions of Samsung's new S5 PMP, asking a member of the audience to call "his" mobile phone, so that he could showcase the S5's ability to answer a call while listening to music.

Dr. Park then introduced Nelson Allen, head of media design at Samsung, who went on to discuss the company's new LED smart lighting, which can "turn off" parts of a display independently, allowing for (at least by the company's claim) 500,000:1 contrast ratios. The new technology will be featured on the new F9 and F8 LED, 1080p displays, (the former being the largest commercially available LED). Mr. Allen also discussed the P9, claiming that by utilizing the company's Ultra Filterbright technology, the display could obtain contrast ratios of a whopping 600,000:1. After commenting that, "We don't know who will win the format war," there was a mention of the BD-UP500, a dual-mode HD DVD / Blu-ray player, as well as the Blu-ray-based sound system, the HT-BD2.

Mr. Allen then demoed the YP-P2, a PMP which we're fairly familiar with, calling it the "Palm theater," and excitedly hyping its 3-inch WQGA screen. The VP-HMX10C was mentioned -- the company's latest HD camcorder -- which uses 8GB of flash memory for up to 2 hours of HD recording. And then our main-man Nelson went on to dicsuss two new office products, the 220TN VoIP monitor, and the SCX-4500, a new "design minded" printer / scanner / copier. Sure, less than breathtaking, but certainly not a total bust. Stay tuned for detailed reports on new gear.

[producerism @ Aug 30th 2007 7:29AM]

wait... WiFi-less?

what the hell were they thinking, this is 2007 isn't it?

[Poom @ Aug 30th 2007 7:39AM]

500,000:1?? -_- I find it hard to believe, especially without a prototype. I find Samsung's contrast ratios really misleading. Even most of the salesman in retail shops would agree that the dynamic ratio they quote is too high. Dynamic Ratio is measured differently and is quite subjective. I compared Sony and Samsung's TV's, Samsung having higher contrast ratio and thought that Sony's was much sharper. Anyone feel the same?

[recon @ Aug 30th 2007 10:29AM]

yeah poom,

I mean samsung's LNT-4065 (i think i cant remember the model number, it might be 4066) has a great dynamic contrast ration of 15,000:1 and its stunning, best in it's class, however, their new LN-T4071 boasts 25,000:1 and well i just don't see it. Compared to the new sony KDL-40V3000 which boasts 18,000:1 dynamically set contrast, the sony looked a lot deeper and richer when it came to the black levels. In fact the 4065 looked better than the newer 4071. Here's one thing to note though, the 4065 has a high gloss screen to help bring out the blacks and the sony 40v3000 has a slight gloss, not like the samsung, but its not matte, however the 4071 has a matte finish for its screen.

[david @ Aug 30th 2007 7:47AM]

wow 600,000:1 ratio......

[Rick @ Sep 10th 2007 9:47AM]

I have been looking at LCD TV's for the last week. One store I went to had Sony Bravia's right next to the Samsung HDTV's. Same video on both units. I found the Samsung to be quite noticably better than the Bravia. The Samsung LN-T 4071 had the best video of them all. Even the Samsung with 15000:1 ratio looked better than the Bravia's. Makes me wonder how much is just personal preference.