CES 2009: Samsung's new LED-based LCD HDTVs

I'm in Vegas now for the next few days, and CES is kicking off with the usual Wednesday press conferences from the major electronics players. First up (for me at least) is Samsung, which is announcing a slew of new TVs and home theater products I'll be breaking up into several posts.

New HDTVs are always the top story with Samsung, and the company is expanding its investment in LCD sets that use LEDs as backlights. Previous Samsung LED models have been acclaimed for offering superior color accuracy and black-level performance compared to conventional LCDs, and 2009 will see three distinct lines that should cover a wider range of prices than older sets, which just covered the "very expensive range."

Continuing that top line will be the 8000 series, which sports a 240Hz refresh rate—a.k.a. this year's trendy feature. Sony was the first to double the 120Hz refresh rate that is moving downstream in the LCD market (and which helps to compensate for LCD's ability to handle fast-moving action without a touch of judder), and Samsung won't be the only manufacturer doubling that rate in 2009. The less pricey 7000 and 6000 series will feature 120Hz refresh rates.

Earlier this week, Samsung announced that it was teaming up with Yahoo to bring the Internet@TV content service to many of its new sets. The widget-based service will grab content from the Web using an Ethernet or wireless connection built into the set. The 8000 and 7000 series will feature the service, while the 6000 series will be able to access Samsung's less robust InfoLink RSS service, which can provide viewers with news, weather, and sports updates and the like.

Samsung's Touch of Color designs, which have been a love-'em-or-hate-'em proposition for buyers depending on if they want an HDTV with a red bezel, will be available for the new LED sets as well. The 8000 series will have the more subtle black designer bezel, while the 7000 and 6000 series will offering the familiar "ruby" bezel. At just over an inch thick, the sets are already svelte, but Samsung says it's devised a new wall mount that leaves only 0.6 inches between the TV and the wall.

No pricing or availability have been announced yet, but the 6000 series will presumably drop the technology to a lower price level than in the past. I'll let you know how they look when I meet with Samsung later in the week.