With Samsung Curved UHD TV, History Recreates Itself

It is no secret that the TVs nowadays look much different to the beginning of the TVs. From Smart TV to UHD and Curved UHD TV, the picture quality and the viewing experience have improved rather significantly since the conventional TV era. However, the main purpose of the TV remains the same, which is ‘viewing’. The large screen and high resolution of the TVs make TVs the best way to view contents.

The kinds of TV content we can view have evolved as well. Not only can we watch original contents on-demand, but we can also surf the web and connect with friends from a physically different place. From the perspective of the conventional TV, it is definitely very futuristic contents. What about contents from the past? We are talking about 935 AD old. What if we were to tell you that there is a way to enjoy ancient artifacts and national treasures on a TV much more personally and in detail? It is true. Thanks to the Curved UHD TVs and 4K UHD cameras, it can be done. In fact, it has been done.

Gansong Museum in Seoul, Korea (named after the collector/professor who went by ‘Gansong’) is known for its collection of historic artifacts and treasure, which only opens to public twice a year. Therefore, it is very rare for the general public to get to see the historical collections. However, at the DDP Seoul, Korea, three leading Korean national treasures from the Gansong Museum were presented. To make the best out of this rare opportunity, Samsung decided to enhance the experience with incorporating its Curved UHD TVs. Therefore, we at Samsung Tomorrow made a visit to experience it ourselves. Here is how it felt.

What the UHD format of the Curved UHD TV does

Hunmin Chongum Manuscript (or Hunminjeongeum Haerye) is a book that explains the background of the creation of the Korean letters, Hangul, the status, meaning, purpose, and the usage of initial consonants, vowels, and final consonants of a Korean syllable. This manuscript, which was printed in woodblock, was first published in 1446 and was recognized by the UNESCO as one of the UNESCO Memory of the World in October 1997. This was actually a significant moment for the Korean culture and literature, because it was the moment when the effectiveness and science of Korean language was officially and internationally recognized. (And it is still being recognized every year by various international literacy organizations.)

On the Curved UHD TV, we saw the intricate delicacy of the woodblock printing and the detail and texture of the paper of the book that has been maintained to this day. The UHD TV technology of the Curved UHD TV brings images to life with twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the 1080p HDTV format. Hence, as you can see, the yellow rusty paper that had numerous creases felt very lifelike.

What the Auto Depth Enhancer of the Curved UHD TV does

This beautifully curved celadon (aka Cheongja Unhak Sanggam Mun Maebyeong in Korean), which is one of Korean national treasures, is a fine representative of a Korean dynasty (Goryeo, 918–1392 AD) when greenish blue vases or celadon were widely appreciated for its elegant color by the aristocrats. It is decorated with inlaid designs in various patterns, known as “Sanggam” in Korean, having small pieces of colored clay, gold, silver, jewelries, and mother-of-pearl inlaid in the clay. It is adorned in pale green-blue color. 

On the Curved UHD TV, the curve of the celadon pottery was very well represented, as well as the detail such as the small gold remained on the surface. It showed the capability of Samsung’s proprietary Auto Depth Enhancer of the Curved UHD TV, a new algorithm,  which analyzes regions of images and adjusts contrast for a greater sense of depth automatically, giving a 3D effect.

What’s more, we were able to see the genuine color of the celadon on the curved UHD TV. In fact, the actual color of the celadon porcelain was produced only through the natural light. So, there were some limits to presenting the genuine color. Curator Jinmyoung Lee, who organized and planned the Gansong Art Collection, said that it was challenging  to show the exact pigment that he recruited famous Korean lighting experts, which wasn’t enough to show the actual textures and colors of it on film. However, Samsung Curved UHD TV was able to overcome the limit and revealed the real pale bluish green color.

What the PurColor™ technology of the Curved UHD TV does

Shin Yun Bok, who is better known by his pen name Hyewon, was one of the prestigious Korean painters in the Joseon Dynasty (392 to 1897 AD). He was famous for his genre paintings, which depicted people’s daily lives in his time. His paintings are known for showing the rise of women’s role in Korean society during era, which considering the time of the history, is thought to be revolutionary throughout the world until this day.

When we looked at the three main paintings, the colors of the clothes the women and men wore were so vivid that we were able to see the colorful strokes of the brush. The colors were further enhanced thanks to Samsung’s PurColor™ technology, which enables the reproducing of the natural color as it is with the ability to project shades that are more detailed. The size and curve of the TV, along with the colors and definition, make it feel as if you’re standing in the middle of the scene. (Slightly exaggerated? Maybe, but it’s that good 😉

The Significance

It should be noted that this kind of exhibition not only presents the beauty of the ancient artifacts and treasures and the current TV technology, but it also presents many different significances. Translating an ancient art form to a digital signal is not something new, however, with the combination of right technologies, it could provide people a whole new meaning to how people access art – easier access and a livelier experience in this case. People didn’t need to physically go to the Gansong Museum. The Gansong Art Collection and Samsung Curved UHD TV showed that this is not a futuristic concept. It is somewhat exciting to see the type of contents we can expect for UHD TVs.

As we mentioned earlier, this exhibition provided a rare chance for people to get close to the ancient artifacts and treasures that are not usually allowed for the public. However, with Samsung display technology and Curved UHD TV’s immersive experience, people not only get to enjoy the pieces as they are, but also get to experience them from a whole new perspective. For example, for various security reasons, people don’t really get to see the artifacts up close. Moreover, at a busy gallery like this, you don’t even get to have a full view of the pieces. Therefore, it is very difficult to see all the details of each piece.

Since the Curved UHD TV and UHD quality recordings of these historic artifacts and treasures really captured all the details from various perspectives, people get to enjoy the collection up close even without the actual pieces being present.

Translating an ancient art form to a digital signal is not something new; however, with the combination of right technologies, it could provide people a whole new meaning to how people access art –easier access and a livelier experience in this case. The gallery presented much more than just the history, but also the future.