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Samsung's New, Invisible "Ambient Mode" Feature Shows You What the Design of a TV Should Be

Next they'll be building Wonder Woman's jet

By Rain Noe - March 8, 2018

As glass rectangles of all sizes have come to occupy our attention spans, Samsung's designers have taken the largest one and enabled it to disappear. Their new QLED TVs, which come in fives sizes from 49 to 88 inches, have an irresistible "Ambient Mode" that kicks in when the TV's off. Prior to mounting the TV you take a photograph of the wall it's to live on, then this is what you see:

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It's a simple, elegant trick that manifests an idea once you're finally able to turn off the news, the game or Bachelor-based cruelty: You are back in your living space. There's no TV here. Well there is, but don't look at it. It's there if you need it. In the meantime, congratulate yourself for your choice of wall treatment, well done.

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In the photo below, you can better see a detail that the designers took the time to get right: A faint drop-shadow around the inside of the bezel. This gives the illusion that the brick on-screen is at the same depth as the brick surrounding it. Absent that drop shadow, your eye would spot the discrepancy of lighting to either side of the frame and the illusion would subconsciously be broken. This is a minor thing but to me, represents that extra mile that good designers will go to.

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The clock/weather/news headlines/traffic information overlays are optional, chosen by the user from Samsung's list of partners (The Weather Channel, The New York Times and reportedly more to come). And you can of course set the timer on the Ambient Mode so that it turns off entirely, if you're concerned about your electricity bill. Alternatively you can opt for it to display an image of your choosing.

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Another nifty detail is the company's elegant-looking One Invisible Connection, the single slim cable that supplies both power and A/V to the screen. It can be had in lengths of up to 15 meters, freeing you to place the TV wherever you want, sidestepping the tyranny of power outlet geography.

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The TVs will be available later this month.

Comments

Bobtato Smith

4 years ago

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I think it could work OK as long as it has at least one ambient light sensor so it can match the actual brightness of the surroundings. It'd still only work in flat lighting, but then, you'd want to position your TV to avoid direct illumination in any case.

I wouldn't say I'm sold, but if they're going to do a gimmick like this, I can appreciate it if they spend the time and attention to do it properly.

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Joe Belkin

4 years ago

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Idiotic. If you loathe the look of a Tv in your house, DO NOT BUY A TV. It's like people used to spend $5k to find a cabinet to hide the fact you have a TV. If you are so embarrassed to admit you watch TV, you have issues. that are not going to be solved by paying 4x for a TV that does not look like a TV. IDIOTIC and a waste of our time and resources, it's ANTI-DESIGN.

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- Scott Stevens
  
  Joe Belkin
  
  4 years ago
  
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  I disagree. How is making something your not using fade into the background of your home Anti-design? That is good design in my opinion. If every object had to be a show piece our living spaces would be a visual mess. Telling people not to buy a TV because it's not visually shouting at them from a wall is ridiculous. Samsung's execution of this idea leaves a lot to be desired though...
  
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Chris Lynn

4 years ago

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What a fail.

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Pete Schirmer

4 years ago

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we did this in our conference room computer desktop image at odopod like 10 years ago..

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Scott Brown

4 years ago

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very cool idea.. but the photo I take of my wall at 10am isn't going to look right on the screen at 3pm, or 10pm, etc. Some kind of progressive auto filtering of the image to compensate for time-of-day might do the job.

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- Stephen Hill
  
  Scott Brown
  
  4 years ago
  
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  Perfect for your dungeon, or other rooms with ZERO natural light!
  *Disclaimer - to ensure optimal function, please do not adjust position of lamps or other light sources.
  
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Rain Noe

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.