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DisplaySearch: Samsung has more than 50 models listed on their US web site, including their latest LED TVs. In order to understand this Samsung’s LED TV positioning in their LCD TV product line, we made a comparison table, shown below.

From the specifications and suggested prices, we can make some interesting points:

• In terms of product sizes and pricing, the B6 and B7 series LED TVs are closer to the A7 and A8 series LCD TVs than they are to the A6/B6 and A7. For example, LED B6 has 40”, 46” and 55”; LCD A7 40”, 46” and 52”. The price gap is similar ($400-500) for the same size comparison.
• The B6 and B7 series LED TVs are likely to eventually replace the A7 and A8 series, which use CCFL backlights. Samsung hopes that consumers find the advantages of LED TVs are enough that they can increase the suggested price, which would help Samsung increase revenues on high-end models. Samsung is likely to adopt LED backlights for all their high-end models and keep CCFL for entry- and mid-levels; LED TV is equivalent to high-end LCD TV in Samsung’s product line.
• The B6 and B7 series LED TVs adopted edge lighting instead of the direct lighting used in the premium A9 series. Edge lighting enables lower costs, but it does not support local dimming. Probably only high-end customers notice or value the difference. Many consumers will be glad to own any LED TV, and they may have no idea of the difference between edge and direct lighting. Another benefit is that edge lighting can enable slimmer design, which is a difference that all consumers can notice.
• After intensively promoting frame rate conversion in 2008, Samsung is using LED backlight as the next feature to enable improved picture quality. If this strategy works, Samsung can drive higher revenues from the high-end models now, and extend LED backlights to mid-level products in the future. So, it’s reasonable to expect there will be lower level B5 series LED TVs ranging from 32” to 46” or even 55”.
• For those consumers who value picture quality, Samsung will promote the B6 series 40” LED TV UN40B6000 ($2,299). For those who think applications are more critical and interesting, Samsung will offer the B6 series 46” LCD TV LN46B650 ($2,099) with DLNA. For consumers that feel size does matter, the 52” LCD TV LN52B610 is available at the same price, trading internet connectivity for larger screen size.

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Guardian: The animal welfare group Peta is pursuing Samsung over a viral video featuring a flock of sheep covered with LED lights being herded into an array of clever patterns on a Welsh hillside.

Peta has called on In-Soo Kim, Samsung’s European chief, to remove the ad from the internet because the company should have known better than to “scare sheep half to death … for some passing amusement”.

An accompanying letter reveals that Tesco has asked suppliers not to use sheep dogs to herd sheep because it “stresses” them out. Peta also claims to have research showing that sheep “perform nearly as well as pigs on IQ tests” and have “demonstrated problem solving abilities”.

Perhaps, given the time, the sheep could have made the Samsung ad for themselves? Chunks of the viral were created digitally – although the Viral Factory, which made the ad, is keeping tight-lipped over which bits. “These guys are champion sheep herders, they are the cream of the cream,” said a source close to the project. “There is no way they would harm any of the animals.”

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EngadgetHD: Fall back Samsung, LG seems ready to deliver the medium sized OLED HDTV you aren’t in 2010, if this road from DigiTimes is followed tightly. 15-inch OLEDs by the end of this year, and 32-inchers next?

The battle seems to have taken a swing in one direction, but we’ll wait till there are displays available to declare a winner.

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Engadget: In addition to that new AS730 HTIB, Samsung’s kicking around a new soundbar audio system, which packages a 260W 2.1 setup (capable of virtual 5.1) with a sizable wireless subwoofer for the passable price of $350 (€260).

The HT-WS1 is fairly diminutive as far as soundbars go, and is wall mountable if you’re into that. The bar is styled in Samsung’s “Touch of Color” grey and red to match your Samsung TV (you do have a Samsung TV, don’t you?), and the whole kit will be available in April.

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EngadgetHD: Hey, wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute here! Last April, we caught Samsung asserting that it figured affordable medium-to-large size OLED TVs would be available in 2009 / 2010. Now, we’ve got Samsung Europe’s new President and CEO telling us that “mainstream” OLED sets are still five years out.

Believe it or not, said bigwig was quoted as saying that “when it comes to OLED, we have several issues to overcome in terms of technology and production cost,” and that it would be “at least four to five years before we see OLED in the market place.”

Of course, such a quip is to be expected given the quantity of dollars Sammy has poured into LCD, but we’re still a bit dismayed by the news. Hear that, entrepreneurs of the world? The time’s about right for an OLED-only startup to beat every last one of these traditional powerhouses to the punch.

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Electronista: The long-standing legal battle over a patent related to liquid crystal displays between Samsung and Sharp has been settled, as a Tokyo court upheld Samsung’s countersuit, filed back in 2007.

Samsung noted on Friday that allegations in a June countersuit were upheld in a Japanese courtroom. Sharp initially sued Samsung, the world’s largest display panel maker, over similar though unspecified alleged infringements in August of 2007.

Samsung filed two countersuits, one in a Tokyo courtroom, the other in a Delaware house of justice, and has also requested an investigation by the US International Trade Commission.

The outcome of either the Delaware lawsuit nor the investigation request were not made public. Such lawsuits are fairly common in the display panel manufacturing industry, as competitors try and gain an advantage over one another by forcing licensing or settlements.

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Crave: For as long as there have been Blu-ray players, there have been oversized, slow, bulky lumps of utter cack. Now, however, Samsung has decided to up its game, by releasing a player that is neither slow, bulky or utter cack.

The BD-P4600 is designed to complement Samsung’s tasty TVs, and a very good job it does of it too. It’s one of the flattest players on the market at 38mm thick, and that means it’s ideally suited to be bolted in place beneath your wall-mounted television, so you just pop a Blu-ray disc in its slot-loading drive.

If that doesn’t suit you, there’s a stand provided that will prop it up on a flat surface. We like the options, although clearly it won’t suit everyone.

The DB-P4600 is a profile 2.0 machine, which means you’ll get access to all of profile 1.1′s features, such as picture-in-picture, plus enhanced services via an internet connection.

There’s an Ethernet socket to connect to your home network, or you can use an optional wireless dongle.

The 4600 also boasts 1GB of internal storage, so you can keep the content you download. All the standard connections are present and correct. You get an HDMI connector for 1080p video and HD audio output. There’s a pair of USB sockets too, one of which is located underneath the player, to better deal with the optional wireless dongle. You also get digital audio out via an optical connection, and there are composite video and stereo audio RCA jacks.

Interestingly, DivX playback is included, and Samsung promises there will even be support for HD video too.

The Samsung BD-P4600 will be available in late April, and will cost around £270 (around €290), depending on the retailer.

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SlashFilm:No sooner has Blu-Ray seen off HD-DVD with it’s knobbly knocking stick than another format war starts brewing in, quite literally, the R&D labs. According to a report in Video Business, Panasonic are looking to launch their first 3D-ready HD sets in what they hope will be an industry-wide standard, and will do so as soon as next year.

It’s probably pertinent to tell you right away that while Panasonic aren’t the only manufacturers working on a 3D standard, they are the ones in league with James Cameron. That alone has very possibly won them any upcoming format war before it even reaches the shop floor. {…}

Here’s a run down of the 3 big players so far…

1. Panasonic’s system uses a Plasma screen and the same specs that you get at a Real-D screening. I know this system works, because I’ve seen it in action.
2. Samsung’s system has been around a while without much content. However, they also have a kind of conversion engine pending that will turn 2D into 3D on the fly – though this is likely to be very problematic and certainly won’t be the optimum solution, not least because it takes control of the stereo elements out of the hands of the filmmakers.
3. Hyundai’s system uses a polarising sheet over an LCD screen, which is likely to be the cheaper option and will also side step the various issues with Plasma screens (as well, of course, as the various benefits). This system is already on sale in Japan and will be running in Britain very soon with Sky TV planning to steadily ramp up their 3D output over the coming years until they can broadcast a very size-able chunk of the London 2012 Olympics in stereo-vision.

The closest thing to a set standard so far is in Panasonic’s pocket. They already started coding Blu-Ray discs with left and right eye fields and pledge to release Avatar on a 3D disc next year. At the moment, the Panasonic demo discs require a pimped up player that can tear through twice as much data per second than normal.

Hopefully this won’t be the case with the release software as asking consumers to replace their newly minted BD decks is simply not going to fly. Video Business have embedded a recent YouTube video in which Cameron briefly mentions collaborating with Panasonic on “high quality” 3D for the home. It seems to be software, not hardware, that wins format wars, but perversely, it’s the price of hardware that determines how far a media standard will infiltrate the marketplace. While Avatar is very likely to win the war for Panasonic, this success will be in vain if they don’t price-up for the Yous, Mes and Everyone we Knows out there. If you have the right kind of 3D glasses, the Panasonic logo that James Cameron is conjuring out of thin air at the top of this post will fly around room and poke you in the eye.

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DigiTimes: Samsung Electronics, the second largest plasma TV vendor, is looking for additional suppliers of PDP filters, as the company aims to increase its plasma TV shipments to 4.5-5 million units in 2009 from three million units in 2008, according to market sources.

Despite its goal to increase plasma TV shipments, Samsung will not need to expand its PDP module capacity this year, as its existing capacity, including that from Samsung SDI, will be more than sufficient, the sources explained.

But its PDP filter supplier, Samsung Corning Precision Glass (SCP), may not have enough capacity to cater to Samsung’s increasing needs, the sources said. Samsung Corning, which also supplies PDP filters to Panasonic, the world’s number-one PDP TV vendor, has no plan to expand its PDP filter capacity because of the plasma market’s long-term outlook, the sources said. Shinan SNP, a Taiwan subsidiary of Korea-based SNP Lab, has reportedly started shipping PDP filters to Samsung in small volume, according to the sources.

Shinan, an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass supplier who has diversified into PDP filters, has revealed that it is also in the process of gaining certification to supply PDP filters to TV vendors in Japan, Taiwan and China. Shinan expects its new PDP filter business to contribute US$40 million in annual revenues, according to company president Sang-Myeon Lee.

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Home Cinema Choice: Samsung has been named the world’s biggest TV brand for the third year running. In a ranking of the world’s biggest players based on 2008 sales data, market analyst DisplaySearch has placed Samsung clearly at the top of the pile.

The South Korean giant sold 21 million LCD TVs in 2008, giving it a 21.9 per cent market share. The company is now some way in front of second placed Sony, which commands a 13.1 per cent of the market. LG Electronics comes in third with 11.2 per cent, Panasonic fourth (8.2 per cent) and Sharp fifth (7.4 per cent).

However, the cash looks likely to drain from the market during 2009. Quixel Research says that while the flatscreen market grew 14 per cent in 2008, its value is decreasing fast. ‘The numbers foreshadow a tough future as far as LCD TV revenues are concerned,’ says Quixel’s Tamaryn Pratt.

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Home Cinema Choice: Samsung has claimed the number one TV position in the UK for the second year running.

Latest Gfk data released make Samsung the number one brand in overall sales, with a 23.8 per cent market share (up from just 0.7 per cent in 2000).

Andy Griffiths, VP of CE for Samsung UK is predictably thrilled: ‘It just shows that Samsung’s offering in this market is stronger than ever.’

Samsung is expected to be the first brand to release LED LCD TVs into the UK featuring Yahoo’s new TV widget platform.

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EngadgetHD: Here’s a new one to add to the display technology lexicon: TMOS, which stands for “time multiplexed optical shutter,” is being developed by UniPixel in its Opcuity products.

The technology is interesting enough to get Samsung to get in on, and the promise to provide better image quality over LCD and OLED displays while being up to 60-percent cheaper to manufacture than LCDs makes it easy to see why.

We haven’t even seen a prototype of this technology, but we’re able to piece together that the display centers around UniPixel’s Opcuity “Active Layer Film,” basically an array of micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) shutters that sit in front of the illumination source that will strobe between red, green and blue to produce color; basically, it’s a bit of DLP (MEMS and persistence of vision) combined with LCD technology (flat backlight with a shutter).

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