Two posh tellies

When I was with home entertainment magazine >>FFWD, we used to talk about the Wife Objection Factor or Wof (corrected by sub-editors to Partner Objection Factor).

It's when you see the big TV, projector or hi-fi system of your dreams, but you know you won't get it past your other half.

Or, if you do, they will do their best to hide your 70-inch LCD, or place a pot plant in front of your perfectly positioned flloor-standing speaker.

It was with this situation in mind that Samsung this month launched its new TV called The Frame.

Even I have to admit that a TV can look imposing and out of place when it's switched off, and the dead black screen looms large in your living (and it does loom ever larger as flat screen costs come down; at the launch of The Frame, Samsung said half of the TVs sold in New Zealand are now 55-inch or 65-inch models).

The Frame addresses WOF by displaying a work of art onscreen when it's switched off (you get a choice of 100).

There's also an optional wooden frame that clicks on magnetically and comes in a choice of three colours.

It's thin and sits flush against the wall (or it can be hung on a slight angle, to mimic a painting on a hook).

A light sensor dims or brightens the onscreen artwork to match the ambient light.

And there's no Samsung logo.

Put those factors together, and The Frame (pictured above) did indeed look like a framed, high-quality print when it's switched off — as NBR witnessed at a quick demo recently.

Yes, most TVs (and gadgets like Apple TV) gave an option to display still photos, but The Frame makes it easy with one click of your remote, and the wood frame really completes the picture, so to speak.

You also get all the mod cons you'd expect in a high-end TV these days, such as 4K, HDR, and Netflix and other smart TV apps (see full tech specs here)

The Frame comes in 55-inch ($3999) and 65-inch ($5999).

An optional wooden frame comes in walnut, beige or white and costs $299 for the 55-inch or $349 for the 65-inch.

Downsides
There are a few downsides: 65-inches is really the minimum for being able to appreciate the difference between 4K (or ultra high definition/UHD) and HD. Why not a larger frame? Samsung says a larger model would look too out-size to be an artwork. 

Then there's the risk of screen burn, or the burned-in ghost image that can result if a picture says on a screen relentlessly. Samsung gets around this by setting The Frame to switch off after four hours, slightly ruining the TV-as-artwork effect (a motion sensor, switched off by default, can be employed to switch the artwork back on when someone walks within 6m of the telly).

Also note that if you do want it flush against the wall, you'll need a recess for cabling.

Samsung says it's in talks with various New Zealand artists about including their works in its selection for The Frame. All going to plan, customers will be able to purchase reproductions.

LG's SIGNATURE OLED W7 'Wallpaper' TV
NBR also recently got the chance to look at LG's new "Wallpaper" TV, which is an absolute stunner.

The Signature OLED W7 is just 4mm wide at its thickest point.

Set flush against the wall (which, again, requires a recess for cabling), it's a high tech marvel that will have guests talking, and the Joneses trying to keep up with you.

Pricing ranges from $6999 for a 55-inch version to $16,999 for a 65-inch through to $39,999 for a 77-inch model.

The W7 is so thin none of my attempted photos from the side turned out, but here's the official version:

I got a bad first-impression with 4K Netflix being streamed over (horrors) hotel wi-fi during a demo in central Auckland.

But once the buffering caught up, the ultra high definition video looked gorgeous on the 77-inch model — and all the more impressive because with its barely-there frame it seems to be coming from nothing (although there is a slight cheat in that some of the electronics, and inputs, are packed into a unit that doubles as a sound bar; it's at the bottom left of the picture above).

Like Samsung's The Frame, there's an emphasis on 4K/HDR quality and apps and easily-accessible broadband content, which is great to see (and by "great to see" I mean "great to see rather than the recent emphasis on gimmicks like curved screens and 3D").

As with any huge-screen display, the W7 will show up flaws in Sky TV's regular, standard definition channels as much as it makes 4K footage from Netflix look brilliant. But if you mainly watch HD and 4K/UHD sources, the W7 is hard to beat (full tech specs here).