Beware of pseudo UHD TVs, warns Samsung

Samsung Electronics South Africa is warning consumers that pseudo UHD TVs have found their way onto the South African market. A pseudo UHD TV is, in fact, misrepresented and uses inferior 3K resolution that delivers 25% less pixel power.

"UHD stands for Ultra High Definition and this is precisely what consumers should get when they purchase a television," said Matthew Thackrah, deputy MD and head of consumer electronics of Samsung Electronics SA. "Samsung's SUHD TVs produce 64 times more colour expression than conventional televisions and have a pure 4K resolution of 3840x2160 pixels. The inferior pseudo UHD TV only offers 3K resolution of 2880x2160 pixels. This is because the substandard 3K technology uses RGWB (red, green, white and blue) technology in order to minimise production costs. The technology replaces some of the RGB sub-pixels with white sub-pixels and reduces the resolution significantly."

Some manufacturers misleading consumers

Thackrah continued that while 3K television might offer improved brightness and resolution compared to traditional TVs, some manufacturers are misleading consumers because they aren't producing and selling true UHD TVs, thus misleading consumers and the wider UHD TV market.

"The risk to consumers is that they aren't getting what they pay for. The pseudo UHD might seem more affordable in the short term, but the quality and additional functions you get when you purchase a true UHD more than justify the investment," he explained. "The influx of pseudo UHD TVs confuses consumers and has a negative impact on perceptions of what UHD truly offers.

Consumers already face an array of standards and systems, and the addition of a substandard UHD screen only serves to make things more complex and confusing. This is where Samsung would like to educate consumers to ensure that they know exactly what they are buying and how to tell the difference between pseudo and true UHD TV.

The UHD test

In order to help consumers make an informed decision between buying a true UHD TV and a pseudo UHD TV they can ask the following questions in store:

• What is the resolution? A true 4K UHD TV has a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels.
• What is the aspect ratio? A true 4K UHD TV has an aspect ratio of at least 16:9.
• What is the colour bit depth? A true 4K UHD TV has 8-bit colour depth.
• What is the frame rate? A true 4K UHD TV has a 24p/25p/30p/50p/60p frame rate.

Another clear indicator that you might be purchasing a pseudo UHD TV is that the cost may be considerably less, but this is because you're in fact not purchasing a true UHD TV.

Establish UHD quality standards

Samsung is the only manufacturer that offers an entire range of UHD TVs all of which deliver genuine 4K resolution as certified by American and European authorities and is currently working with relevant global authorities and leaders in the industry to establish UHD quality standards.

"This will ensure that the UHD development and design adhere to the 4K and this resolution standard and encourage further innovation. Samsung's SUHDTV ticks all the boxes on the UHD checklist, thus ensuring that you receive a true to life, immersive entertainment experience," said Thackrah.

With a Samsung UHD TV, you also get so much more on top of 4K resolution. Its SUHDTV boasts an array of extra features and capabilities including, among others, the Tizen open-source platform that supports web standards for TV app development and a responsive and intelligent user interface. Samsung's proprietary, eco-friendly nano-crystal technology is supported by the intelligent SUHD remastering engine, which automatically analyzes the brightness of images to minimise additional power consumption while expressing ultimate contrast levels, producing images with much darker blacks and an elevated brightness 2.5 times brighter than usually.

"At Samsung, we passionately lead and transform innovation in technology and design, creating a window for users to discover new experiences. We understand consumers' needs and develop ground-breaking visual and audio products and services to deliver the most immersive and breathtaking viewing experience possible," concluded Thackrah.