Did you know? Samsung Display caters to more than just smartphones, TVs or monitors

So you say you know Samsung as a company. And all you probably know is that they are a brand from Korea that manufactures Smartphones, TVs, computer monitors, and a few home appliances such as ACs, Refrigerators and Washing Machines. While you are definitely right to an extent, you should also know that they do a whole lot of things, more than what you see here in India.

Well, Samsung was founded in 1938 as a small trading company, which later grew into a huge empire with businesses such as textile, insurance, securities, retail and even shipping, and that too in just 3 - 5 decades. The electronics arm began around 1960 and soon rose to the top, bagging the title of being the world’s 6th highest brand value, last year. However, while Samsung is most prominent in the home appliance and the smartphone industry, there is a lot to talk here too.

Many would know that Samsung is one of the leading manufacturers of display panels in the world. Other companies that also own that space are LG, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba and a probably few more. However, Samsung is most known for manufacturing the OLED display for its own smartphones and TV, and also for Apple’s iPhone X.

While they are into the consumer space, you should also know that Samsung also manufactures displays for small businesses to large enterprises, and they are available in the weirdest forms and sizes and for various applications.

Samsung is a huge name in the display market, especially when it comes to display and the sizes and variants it can offer to businesses. Advertising and hence large screen displays are the need of the hour for most business today, and Samsung has something for all. They can cater to the type of display you need — be it LCD, OLED, or LED, straight or bent, rectangle or square, big or small, or simple or interactive. Samsung has just the right display panel for all business needs. You could create signages in corridors, advt panels for windows, large outdoor advt panels or even drape a building exterior with huge modular displays, the portfolio is big.

While simple displays consist of a panel that is connected to a computer, there are other variants that make sense for small standalone displays to large outdoor video walls. Samsung has following product categories under its Display segment.

Standalone Displays: This is a reliable and affordable display panel with a simple System on Chip (SoC) with essential functionalities that delivers content as per what the user/business demands. Samsung SMART Signages are presently available, that open up new business possibilities by creating a digitally immersive commercial environment. Under the Standalone portfolio Samsung has a few more offerings:

UHD Display: This is a professional-grade Ultra High Definition (UHD) panel which has a Built-in System On Chip (SOC).

Mirror Display: This one is a harmonized hybrid display with an integrated digital signage and has mirror functionalities. Samsung's MLE mirror displays serve as an all-in-one content centre to help shoppers make a more informed purchasing decision. You may find these interactive displays in a few malls around you where fashion outlets. The panel is a one-way mirror, with a display behind it. When no one is in front of the display/mirror within a set range, the display is turned off and it looks like a conventional mirror. The moment you step closer, the IR proximity sensor in the display kicks into action and the interactive mode comes into play. Businesses such as gyms can also use this to help users exercise, while the display could be used as a personal trainer.

This one comes in two variants — 32-inch and 55-inch, in Full HD resolution and built-in SoC with audio.

Stretched Display: This display is a slim profile panel which can be installed in areas where space is limited and allows content to blend seamlessly with the environment in a slim, light design that allows for fewer distractions in the content and allows your message to shine in a clear, uninterrupted way.

Applications are places dealing with transportation and retail. The stretched display is not a conventional 16:9 or 16:10 format, but wider than that. The sizes range between 10-inch and 37-inch, with resolutions up to Full HD, for both indoors and outdoors. 

Videowall Displays: A video wall is a digital wall made using a series of multiple display sets, which are tiled together contiguously or overlapped in order to form one large display screen. Samsung’s video walls come equipped with a software solution that allows users to control a multitude of rich content without requiring an external device. Businesses can simply send the video feed to the panel and the internal hardware with Samsung’s software takes charge to split the content into smaller portions and feeds it to the X number of panels added to create a larger display from the single input. 

These display panels consist of a few more variants in full HD and 4K and suited for various requirements. For example, the UDE-A and UDE-B sports an ultra-narrow bezel with a slim and light design, while the USE-A can be daisy chained with numerous displays too. The UHF-E, UHF5 and UM55H-E are 4K-capable with super narrow bezels, as little as 0.17cm between two subsequent panels. 

Interactive Display: This is a ready-to-use, all-in-one E-board display that is available for corporate and educational organisations. Interactive displays bring devices, education software and lesson content together for multiple people to use. It is a display that simply lets you share your screen from a mobile, tablet or PC/laptop, and users can interact with the content on the display using the touchscreen. Classrooms and boardrooms are the targeted areas for such displays.

This segment is an E-Board, which has three variants — Samsung Flip QBHT-R and WMH which are UHD (4K), and range between 55-inches and 75-inches and are multi-user (four simultaneous users). MagicWB is a single user interactive whiteboard with handwriting recognition.

Outdoor Display: This is a powerful all-inclusive outdoor signage solution featuring an embedded power box. Samsung Outdoor Displays are a solution for business messaging and are suited for a range of environmental conditions that can withstand even the most hazardous weather conditions. These displays are IP56-certified which are rugged, water- and dust-proof.

This range consists of ultra slim IP56 certified panels that are meant to run 24/7 in any weather conditions. The OMD-W and OHF are available that range between 46-inches and 85-inches, with Full HD panels and built-in SoC with audio. 

LED panels:  These are suited for both indoor and outdoor and use SMD LEDs to form a panel. Each pixel is a combination of three colour LEDs (red, blue and green), and these combinations form to become a larger panel called a cabinet. The cabinets are then tiled or clubbed into a large frame to create a display or screen size that is required by the business.

Each of these cabinets is centrally controlled by a computer, which runs the entire show. If any cabinet is faulty or fails during operation, the cabinets are hot-swappable and can be easily replaced even during the operation. LED display panels offer higher brightness and better blacks and a lifespan of up to 100,000 hours.

LED panels are the best for outdoor purpose, as compared to LCD panels since they have a zero-bezel format and can form a seamlessly large screen for the best immersive video.

LED Cinema: This is the latest entry where Samsung is pushing display technology into an area that was only possible by projectors because of large screen size requirements. Yes, future cinema halls will now feature display instead of old-style projectors. The displays today can have larger screen sizes, 3D capabilities, wider viewing angles and up to 4K resolutions, which is ideal for cinema halls. These are similar to LED panels that are clubbed together to form the screen size required by the business.

  

Samsungs display business is usually unheard of because they are usually background operations by small and large businesses. Samsung is presently maintaining over 50 per cent of the market share for Digital Signage Business for the last few years, which makes it the current market leader in India in this product category.