Putting the art into smart TV

It’s not often that a TV blends into your home’s aesthetic. Usually, a dormant television looks like a big black mirror dominating one wall. But Samsung’s The Frame TV is different. Designed to look more like a piece of art than a typical television, The Frame makes a stylish addition to your home decor, whether it’s turned on or off.

With its slim profile, picture frame-style bezels (the frame itself) and smart features, The Frame is a great fit if you don’t want a black screen disrupting the flow of your interior design - like Al and Imogen Roberts, custom-built furniture makers from Victoria’s Surf Coast.

Al and Imo don’t only create bespoke wooden furniture for clients, they live and breathe all things design, with their own home testament to their passion. As such, they embraced the opportunity to install a TV that wouldn’t jar with the carefully created look and ambience of their home. You can check out their take on The Frame here.

As its name suggests, The Frame closely resembles a framed artwork when wall-mounted. It’s slim (as thin as 2.5cm) and comes with a Slim Fit Wall Mount that helps it sit nearly flush against the wall.

The bezels can be customised with a range of colours and finishes, such as walnut, white or teak. These magnetic frames are easy to attach and allow you to adapt the TV’s appearance to suit the style of room it’s in, from minimalist or Scandi to classic and cosy. If the telly moves rooms or house, you can always buy new bezels to match its new surrounds.

When it’s not being watched (or gamed on), The Frame TV transforms into a stunning piece of art using its Art Mode.

A subscription to the Samsung Art Store costs around six dollars per month and gives you access to thousands of artworks from museums, galleries and contemporary artists around the world. You can usually get a free trial when signing up for the Art Store.

If you decide you’d rather not pay a monthly subscription when the free trial ends, you can still access around 30 free artworks each month, as well as around 70 ambient-style designs, and you can also upload your own photos or digital art. If you've run out of space on the fridge door for the kids' artistic endeavours, The Frame makes for a handy clutter-free alternative.

Whichever you go with, you can choose whether artwork is displayed with a digital border for a classic framed look, or full screen, edge-to-edge.

Thanks to its anti-glare matte display, The Frame minimises reflections and gives art a soft, paper-like quality - making it look far more convincing than a standard screensaver on a regular glossy TV.

Don’t be fooled by the artful appearance -The Frame is still a sizzlingly good 4K smart TV with impressive tech packed into its slim design. As part of Samsung’s QLED TV lineup, The Frame uses quantum dot technology to deliver vibrant colours and crisp detail, along with HDR support for richer contrast. The result is a fantastic viewing experience, whether you're watching Netflix, Blu-ray discs, or free-to-air TV.

Like Samsung’s other smart home products, The Frame is powered by Tizen OS, which makes it easy to access your streaming apps and use voice control functions like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Audio-wise, The Frame supports Dolby Atmos for immersive sound that does justice to the high quality visuals.

As you’d expect from any smart TV worth its salt, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth make it simple to connect devices like soundbars and headphones - as well as the conveniently battery-free SolarCell remote control.

Rather than having messy cords trailing down your wall, which would somewhat dispel the art gallery illusion, The Frame keeps everything neat with a single thin, clear cable that discreetly links the TV to the One Connect Box. Like Al and Imo, you can store this box in a cabinet or entertainment unit to keep things looking schmick and clutter-free.

The Frame isn’t just a television - it’s a clever blend of art, tech and design, and if, like Al and Imo, you don’t want any more black rectangles invading your decor, it’s well worth a look. If you’re shopping around for a new 4K TV, it won’t be your cheapest option, but Appliances Online often sells The Frame QLED and The Frame Pro at well below RRP, so you may find it’s comfortably within your budget.