Samsung has announced the next iteration of its aesthetically-minded ‘The Frame’, which is able to function as both a 4K UHD television set and a digital picture-frame for photos and artwork.
The Frame 2018 is a smart TV that can flexibly blend in with the decor, instead of leaving a black box eyesore on the wall throughout the day.
Owners can access hundreds of classic and contemporary artworks to display when the TV isn’t in use, allowing ongoing customisation. You’re free to upload, say, family photos, or even your own personal artwork. (You might be an artist, how would I know?)
The new model offers an improved user interface, allowing you search through photography or drawing categories – or even browse artwork by colour scheme to best suit the surrounding decor. You can also now curate your own ‘playlist’ that shuffles between images at chosen intervals, to best suit the mood at any time of day.
The Frame 2018 will come in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes, priced at $1999 (around £1500) and $2799 (around £2100) respectively.
Monet in your living room
As nice as your family photos are – and you will be able to display them, if you really want to – the real pull of the picture-frame mode is the host of artworks now on offer.
When the first Frame TV launched last year, it coincided with the opening of the Samsung Art Store: an online portal partnering with renowned international galleries to showcase high-quality 4K renderings of classic and contemporary artwork.
By partnering with London’s V&A, Saatchi Art, and the Albertina Museum in Vienna, the store has expanded its original library to offer over 800 items, including the recent addition of ‘iconic’ photographs from The New York Times.
So whether you’re looking for a high-end television to watch the World Cup, or something to impress your gallery-minded friends, it’s reassuring that you don’t need to choose one over the other.
