Art on the Wall: The Samsung Frame TV

The premise of the Samsung Frame TV is simple enough to explain at a dinner party: it is a television that displays artwork when you are not watching it. The execution, across six months of living with one in a room that took four years to get right, is more interesting than the premise suggests.

The Frame's display is a matte QLED panel with an anti-glare coating so effective that it reads as painted canvas under diffuse room lighting. The anti-reflection technology is the product's most important feature — it is what makes the art illusion work — and Samsung has refined it to the point where the effect holds under multiple light sources simultaneously.

Art Mode displays images from Samsung's subscription catalog, which costs $4.99 a month and includes over 2,000 licensed works from international galleries. You can also upload personal photographs or license independent artists. I've been rotating between a Klimt study, a photograph by Fan Ho, and a still from Kubrick. The mix is exactly what I wanted.

The mounting system is thoughtful: the Frame ships with a no-gap wall mount that positions it flush against the wall, eliminating the shadow gap that betrayed earlier-generation smart displays. Magnetic bezels come in four finishes. I chose Teak. Neither choice is irreversible.

Television performance — the primary use case — is very good. The QLED panel handles HDR content well, and at 65 inches the experience is immersive without being aggressive. The Frame is not a premium home theater panel and is not trying to be. It is trying to be the best television for people who care about their living room as much as their entertainment system.

The subscription is the only genuine objection. $4.99 a month to display art you don't own is a philosophical position as much as a financial one. If it bothers you, upload your own images for free. If it doesn't — if you value curation and are comfortable with a rotating licensed collection — the catalog is genuinely good.