• Samsung plans to bring world-renowned masterpieces directly to consumers’ homes via its lifestyle TV ‘The Frame’
• It says it intends to expand the global leadership of its TV art platform, the Art Store
• Will partner with national art galleries to get their own art into citizens' homes

You might not be aware of Samsung’s ‘The Frame’ wall mounted TV. Essentially Samsung found another way to package and differentiate a high definition thin screen TV (in various sizes) to place it a notch higher in what would otherwise be a cut throat market.

Any 4K 2 inch thick TV is, of course, a technological marvel, but that doesn’t stop it looking the same as all its competitors when lined up in the showroom. So Samsung came up with The Frame. It is wall-mounted and can act as a conventional TV - Netflix, Youtube and all the rest of it - but with a button press it switches to ‘art mode’ and that does more than simply display nice screensaver pictures when at rest.

Samsung has included some clever technology to assess the nature of the light in the room and adjust itself to optimise the appearance of each picture displayed - be it Aunt Mary at Christmas or Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ - and to take it up another notch, there’s even a cavity in the back of the TV to accommodate the mount mechanism so the thing is flush with wall when afixed.

Other tricks include sensing any human moving about to automatically turn itself on, and offering snap together picture frames. The light woodgrain frame is particularly effective at turning what before was clearly a black-bezeled TV hanging on the wall, into what looks like an original Van Gogh. And you don’t need to pawn your own Van Gogh to buy it - a mid sized example can be under £1,000 (just), though other larger examples are more likely to be £2-3000.

Now Samsung is pushing its flat screen TV for 'art as a service'  - partnering with national art galleries so that citizens can really get to see the art that's been bought for the national collection on their behalf.. . surely one of the best digital use cases yet.  Read the details below. 

Samsung Electronics announced today that it has partnered with three prominent global museums and art galleries, Uffizi Galleries (Italy), Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and The Van Gogh Museum (Netherlands), to bring world-renowned masterpieces directly to consumers’ homes through Samsung’s lifestyle TV ‘The Frame’. Through these premiere museums art galleries partnerships and concession, Samsung aims to expand the global leadership of its art platform, the Art Store, and continue to transform the way that consumers enjoy their TV.

Already inclusive of more than 1,000 exceptional works of art and photography, Samsung’s Art Store will additionally host 62 new pieces of art through these three gallery partnerships. With these latest additions, the Art Store continues to grow as the largest, specially curated art content platform in the world.

“The Frame has gained global popularity, and we are thrilled to continue to provide consumers with new artworks to enjoy from the comfort of their homes,” said Seline Han, Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We strive to redefine how a product can provide value to consumers’ unique lifestyles, and we believe that The Frame does just that. Our latest partnerships and concession will allow users to access even more rare masterpieces to enhance their home décor.”

Located in the Historic Centre of Florence in Tuscany, Italy, the prestigious Uffizi Galleries is one of the most important museums in the world and shows the best collection of works from Renaissance. Through this concession, consumers can enjoy the works of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Eugène Delacroix, Piero della Francesca, Lorenzo Monaco, Rosso Fiorentino and many more. Notable works include Botticelli’s “Allegory of the Spring”, “Birth of Venus” as well as da Vinci’s “Annunciation.”

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, also known as Te Papa, meaning “our place,” serves as New Zealand’s national museum and art gallery. Featured works by Anthony Copley Fielding, Frank Edward Clarke, Johannes Keulemans showcases beautiful images and sketches of the natural world such as “_Sunset, Hastings_”, “_Hypoplectrodes semicinctum 1876” and “_Three Huia”.

The Van Gogh Museum, dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh, touts the largest collection of van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world. Art Store users will be able to access the likes of “The Yellow House”, “The Bedroom”, “Sunflowers” and many more by the Dutch master.

The Frame offers innovative ways for consumers to sort and display their artworks, which can now be categorized by colors, composition and more. With personalized artistic preferences, The Frame can also assist users through a series of artistic advice in discovering new artists. Additionally, users can create custom art galleries and slideshows and play them throughout the day on their TV in a similar way to a music playlist, in intervals from 10 minutes up to a whole week.

To make art look even more realistic, the brightness sensors adjust brightness levels based on the ambient light in the room throughout the day. Also, motion sensors enable the TV to turn itself off and save energy when no one is in the room.

Designed to meld to various home décor aesthetics, The Frame also can be mounted against the wall with the No Gap Wall-Mount or artfully displayed on many elegant TV stand. To meet customers’ various needs, its custom bezels which can be attached easily on The Frame are offered in four colors – white, black, beige wood, and walnut. The Frame is also equipped with Samsung’s One Invisible Connection, a single and near-invisible cable supplying both power and A/V data that allows consumers to remove all clutter around the TV.

The Frame is available in a variety of sizes, from 43 to 65 inches. To learn more about these partnerships and The Frame, visit http://www.samsung.com.

Vincent van Gogh’s “_Sunflowers_” (The Van Gogh Museum)

Botticelli’s “_Allegory of the Spring_” (Uffizi Galleries)

Anthony Copley Fielding’s “_Sunset, Hastings_” (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa)