Samsung's new LCDs premiere at CeBIT

By Guy Cocker on 10 March 2006, 9:43am

Samsung's last LCD TV range heralded the dawn of the flat-screen revolution, with fantastic picture quality, great styling and high-value pricing causing many to ditch their CRT TVs. But sadly their day has passed, and like all much-loved gadgets they must step aside for something newer and shinier. Samsung's new 'R7' range, which we ogled at CeBIT, will be on sale in April, with 32-inch, 37-inch and 40-inch flavours. There'll also be some of the white models pictured here, available in sizes of 26-inch and under.

Yes, they're white -- Samsung has gone all Apple on us. These sizes are clearly meant to be used in the kitchen and bedroom, and the lighter finish suggests a more playful departure from the Korean giant's usual serious black veneer. However, the black models are also looking much shinier than their predecessors, with a rich, piano-black finish and new hidden speaker panels. The speakers are tucked away at the bottom of the screen and fire downwards, reflected by a diagonal panel below. It was difficult to tell in the hustle and bustle of the show, but Crave's first impression was that Samsung promises a more enveloping aural experience.

New styling: check. Fancy speaker setups: check. Why else should we consider upgrading to the R7 range? Well, the response time of the LCD panels has been improved to 6ms, the perceived contrast ratio is a boastful 5,000:1, and there's a new 'game' picture setting that has been calibrated to make the most of your Xbox 360 experience. However, you may be spoiled for choice. There's a plethora of new LCD, plasma and rear-pro TVs heading our way from Samsung, and when Crave returns to British soil we'll pursue them relentlessly on your behalf. -GC

See the new TVs in our Samsung R7 LCDs video, or visit our CeBIT 2006 Special Report for all the latest news, product announcements, photos and videos from CeBIT.