Company: Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
Category: Video Displays

Mobile devices have changed the way we consume and create video content. However, smaller devices can make watching videos with a group of friends or seeing highly detailed videos difficult. Moreover, casting mobile video content onto a TV is suitable for widescreen content, but vertically-oriented content does not transfer well.

To address these problems, Samsung created Sero, which means vertical in Korean, the first TV equipped with an automated rotating display that can switch between horizontal or vertical orientations.

The TV automatically syncs with the user’s smartphone to play content and adjusts its orientation to the video playing.

The Tech Behind It

Mobile Tap Mirroring technology allows users to pair their smartphones to the TV with a single tap. The TV uses Bluetooth to recognize the device and mirror the screen.

When Sero is synced, when the phone is horizontal, it will also act like a traditional TV. But when the phone is vertical, Sero adjusts to be the same. Users can also rotate the TV manually by pressing a button on the remote control.

The rotation is possible due to a patented motor technology that minimizes noise during rotation and has a failsafe mechanism that prevents collision with obstacles in the screen’s way. Flux UX, a Samsung user experience design, enables users to also browse different smart apps and adjust settings in both horizontal and vertical orientation.

Sero is also a 5G-ready TV, only requiring a connection to a 5G-capable dongle. With this, Sero makes it possible for users to simultaneously access multiple video streams at a high speed without a lag for buffering.

Samsung is also working with popular streaming apps to best optimize the content and interfaces for Sero.

See the Samsung Sero at the CES 2020 Innovation Awards Showcase.