By Jim Mayo

I want to start and say thank you to our CI channel dealers for another great year of doing business together. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in Denver at CEDIA EXPO and have a ton of things happening in the Samsung booth - #1013. Let’s break it down and show you what we have in store for you this September.

We will be focusing lots of attention on 8K at this year’s EXPO. One of the main attractions in the Samsung booth will be our private presentation space. We’ll be giving special 10-minute talks centered on 8K, AI upscaling and other features and selling points to help you become more fluent in talking about 8K with your customers. We will be featuring our 98” QLED 8K TV and running these special presentations multiple times each hour during EXPO. So make sure to add that to your schedule.

We will also be demonstrating the latest upgrades to our Frame TV and Ambient Mode-featured TVs. These products have captured the imagination of designers and homeowners alike. TV when it’s on, Art when it’s off. Please make a point to come by and see the latest feature sets so you’re completely up to date when talking about Frame and Ambient Mode.

One of the special spaces within the booth will focus on how connected the Samsung TV line has become. We’ve partnered with eight of the top home control systems that will be on display to demonstrate how Samsung products can be integrated into home automation systems – AMX, Control4, Crestron, ELAN, Josh.ai, RTI, Savant and URC. We will have Samsung representatives on hand to answer any questions.

In this same dedicated space we’ll also have Samsung staff present to talk about Samsung Care, autocall and the latest enhancements to the 5-Star Resource Center. Finally, we’ll be featuring our Outdoor TV products and our Super Fine Pixel Pitch LED display.

Yet another exciting debut for the luxury residential market is a new version of The Wall. Called The Wall Lux, you will get an inside look at what differentiates the Lux version of The Wall from the Pro version. For those dealers who think they have the clientele that might be attracted to this awesome new technology, you’ll want to come learn how to sell and promote microLED technology.

And there’s still more to cover! We will have an updated and expanded Connected Living space featuring our SmartThings product group. And make sure you check out the Interactive Digital Director that is located opposite the 8K Gaming space. We have recently added nine new rep companies and additional Samsung staff. Use the Digital Director to locate your nearest rep firm, distribution location and Samsung sales person.

So as you can see, there is a lot going on at our CEDIA EXPO 2019 booth #1013. Our entire team looks forward to visiting with you and showing you the latest technology and design from Samsung.  

An immersive experience like no other. We have all been anticipating the wider release of Samsung’s microLED technology and that day is here! With six Wall systems either installed or in the installation phase here in the United States, it’s time to talk about how we are going to market with this luxury product and how you strategically as authorized dealers will be going about the sales process.

Greatness Needs a Stage

The Wall is a display technology that enables design leaders to fulfill their most inspiring designs. Wall-size displays with imagery and motion will resonate with greatness. The Wall from Samsung will bring an awe-inspiring edge to any space. Inspired by emotion and powered by intelligence.

The Wall is a luxury item. It is a solution perfect for large office buildings and luxury residences and as with any high-end technology with amazing performance, there is a price to becoming an early adopter.  Please familiarize yourself with The Wall, so you can represent the endless applications for this product with visionary architects and designers interested in creating a state-of-the-art residence or showroom.

The Technology

Our most important talking points have to do with how the actual picture looks  and how The Wall will be utilized day-in and day-out.

We start with great color. MicroLED’s narrower wavelength of color results in higher color purity, approximately twice what conventional LEDs produce. This renders a far more precise and accurate color presentation. The Wall’s inherent color qualities, with superior color purity, produce vibrant and natural colors for an awe-inspiring visual experience, bringing details to life like never before.

AI upscaling technology delivers another layer of visual innovation. No matter what your original source resolution is, The Wall upscales to the highest resolution possible in order to deliver stunning images and video. And with machine learning, Samsung has embedded a massive database of video content so the AI processor has a reference for how images and video will look best when upscaled to a higher resolution.

From live TV to movies, still images and business presentations, games and more, people will see their favorites come to life in a fully immersive experience. 

When The Wall isn’t delivering images and video, it is equipped with Ambient Mode that turns the screen into an accent piece to enhance the interior of any home or office, matching the client’s personal taste. This is an incredible selling point and as important for The Wall as it is for our big screen TVs. This will be a huge selling feature for designers.

Configuration

The Wall, similar to large-format LED screens, are modular. The videowall display consists of a series of panels that are seamed together to create any size the client desires. For The Wall, the maximum 8K resolution screen size measures approximately 12 by 21 feet. More than enough to cover a great room wall or create an immersive museum experience. 

Verticals

We will be targeting luxury residential properties, corporate lobbies and boardrooms, museums and open spaces, flagship luxury stores and flagship luxury suites in the finest sports facilities available.

If you are in any of these verticals, you especially want to keep up-to-date on the technology and selling process. 

Selling The Wall

We want to ensure that when any Samsung authorized dealer believes they have a solid lead for one of these amazing products that Samsung is there from the very beginning to guide you through the process of not only the sale, but the installation as well.

Integrating The Wall into any space requires designing and planning.

If you believe you have an interested party, the first move you need to make is to contact your local Samsung rep. You will be put in touch with our corporate offices and we will schedule a call to determine the level of commitment of the potential buyer.

Moving forward, we will schedule a conference call with various Samsung departments that are involved in the process to discuss next steps and put your installation on a timeline.

Please remember that The Wall is a luxury investment. For those corporations, museums, flagship retail stores and luxury residences, Samsung will support you from ideation to installation. The Wall is a high profile, big statement display. If your customers are interested in investing in the future, The Wall is a great option.

Please contact your local Samsung rep if you have any questions regarding microLED technology or other facets of experiencing The Wall.

We recently sat down with KP Audio & Video co-founders Kevin Price and Emil Estrada to talk about the luxury end of residential integration, their relationship with Samsung, and technologies and products that are driving their business.

Samsung Connections: Thanks guys for carving out some time to talk with us. Who wants to dive in and give our readers some background on your company?

Kevin Price: I’ll kick things off, and thanks for letting us be a part of the Connections newsletter. We’re a Los Angeles-based full-service integration company founded in 2005. Over the years we’ve grown to an operation with between 15 – 20 employees depending on seasonal workloads and have revenue in the $3 – 5M range. 70 percent of our work is for luxury residences and 30 percent is for light commercial. And we are members of the ProSource buying group.

Emil Estrada: Let me add that our primary clientele are located in Beverly Hills, Montecito and Calabasas. When Kevin mentions that we cater to a luxury crowd, I’d add that we have been changing our business model over the past few years where we aren’t chasing jobs just for the sake of chasing jobs. We are focused on a very select clientele. And for those select customers of ours, they get our full attention, whether it’s consulting or integrating technology into their lifestyles or providing concierge-level service.

Connections: How are you getting the word out to this select clientele base?  Beverly Hills and Montecito have some of the highest concentrated wealth in the country and lots of high-profile technology design firms.

KP: Good question! We have a few things going for us. First of all, without sounding brash, our work speaks volumes. From our Crestron Master Programmer credentials to our Control4 and Networking certifications, our ISF training, our qualification list is really, really long! Our attention to detail and level of service precedes every lead that comes our way.

We’re talking about clients in Los Angeles and they all like to entertain. When their friends see our work and wonder how they can get that same level of technology and design, we get a referral. And referrals drive our business.

EE: And don’t forget that the general contractors and designers who we’ve worked with are also recommending KP Audio to their new clients. We get a phone call and it’s typically, “So-and-so said I should call you and get you working on my new house.” I mean, as Kevin says, it’s really our work that gets noticed and how we take all of the various technologies in the house and make it all work together seamlessly. Every time.

KP: Reliability is what you’re talking about and I couldn’t agree more! We have two major goals we must accomplish on each and every job; first we have to work with the design team to make sure the aesthetics of our products support the vision of the homeowner and designers. And two, promises made have to be kept. If we say it’s going to be intuitive, then it’s going to be intuitive. If we say it will be reliable, then it’s going to be reliable.

Connections: Let’s talk Samsung. You guys have been very successful selling 8K TVs. How many of the 98” 8K models have you rolled? And how are you selling and positioning them?

EE: Four so far. And all of those were when it was still priced at $100,000! One of the reasons we have been successful is that we obviously have the clients who can afford these works of art. And most are in the entertainment industry. For example, one of our clients uses the 98” 8K product to evaluate film that is sent over by the studio so she can take notes on edits and how she envisions the flow of the footage should be. She’s using the Samsung 8K TV as her reference monitor.

KP: And don’t forget that in Los Angeles, where people all throw parties, having the biggest and the best TV is like having a new Bugatti parked near the front door. But our clients also want to invest in future-ready products, and we tell them that by investing in 8K products today, you are set for what’s coming down the road.

Connections: How are you installing large format displays?

KP: Our typical install starts with flush-mounting the TV to give it a beautiful aesthetic appeal. Our clients tell us all the time that Samsung TVs are gorgeous. Not just the picture, but the TV itself. I think Samsung clearly designs the best-looking TV products on the market.

Our Samsung sales rep keeps us up-to-date on which models require the One Connect box so we can ensure that we are specifying a 20” recessed housing in the wall behind those TVs that will need it.

EE: We are also specifying and recommending performance audio to compliment the large picture presentation. And obviously we are bringing all of the technologies together with either Crestron or Control4 control systems.

Connections: What content is being fed to the TVs?

KP: We use the 4K DirecTV receivers and 4K video distribution. Also 4K Apple TV. A lot of our clients have secure video servers installed that studios can download to, so they can watch their own content at home.

Connections: Tell us about doing business with Samsung.

EE: These past few years have been absolutely brilliant. Our program with Samsung is profitable and they are allocating products for our channel, so when we order we get what we need. That’s huge. And we feel that we have a say in what is happening and that we can reach out and talk to a real human about what we need to become more successful and make our systems all work together.

KP: Amen!

Connections: What technologies are hot right now and where are we headed?

EE: House music systems are getting bigger. With streaming and so much music available, and with all the entertaining going on, people are cranking up their systems. Where we would normally put in two architectural speakers and a sub, now we’re installing four speakers and two subs. Larger speakers and a more immersive experience is what’s happening in our market.

KP: Big Screen TVs continue to dominate. I think that large format videowalls like Samsung’s The Wall will appeal to many of our clients. And outdoor entertainment keeps getting more action, with better sound and larger outdoor TV products hitting the market.

Connections: Thanks guys and continued success!

Did you know that in 2019, the total value of construction performed in the United States is projected to reach $1.3 trillion. Residential housing starts are estimated at 815,000. This incredible sum illustrates not only the pace in which residential and commercial development continue to grow, but the sheer magnitude of the market. 

Let’s keep in mind that not every residential project will be featuring advanced whole-house control. In fact, the majority of new-build homes have no control systems whatsoever.

But like hardwood floors and fancy countertops, smart-home technology is quickly moving up the must-have checklist. Homeowners are looking at everything from lighting, garage doors and appliances to thermostats, locks and security cameras.

38 percent of American households will have entered the smart home market in 2019. 61 percent of Millennials favor smart homes and the average increase in a home’s resale value thanks to smart features is estimated to be $15,000. And Samsung is a major player as the NPD Group reports that SmartThings is the #1 U.S. Hub market segment leader with 500,000 active users.

This all adds up to an incredible opportunity for our Samsung authorized dealers. Samsung SmartThings represents a competitively priced, easy to deploy control system that’s perfect for new homes, re-models, vacation rentals, MDUs, guest homes and second homes where functionality and versatility are a must.

What is SmartThings?

Samsung SmartThings allows you to connect wirelessly with a whole range of smart devices and lets everything work together. You can add Samsung home appliances, TVs and our other IoT devices and use the SmartThings app to view and configure these devices at a glance.

Add a SmartThings WiFi hub to your network to control smart outlets, smart lights, use Voice assistants like Amazon Alexa® and Google Assistant®. Use sensors to detect water leaks or see whether doors and windows are closed before retiring for the night. You can add compatible door locks, speakers, switches and more. Check out the SmartThings.com/products website to see the extensive list of products SmartThings communicates with.

Naturally, the SmartThings app works on both Android and Apple OS, and devices you can control are being added to the platform all the time.

Total Solution

Control virtually every square foot of the home. Samsung SmartThings is an open ecosystem that works with hundreds of other devices. Check out just a few that connect with SmartThings: TVs, Audio, A/C, robot vacuum, laundry appliances, refrigerator, motion sensor, camera, doorbell, light bulb, door lock, outlets, light dimmer and thermostat.

Smart App

Manage all of your smart appliances and devices with a single app that works on your mobile device, TV or Family Hub refrigerator. You can even set scenes to automate processes to make things even easier for your customers.

The Future Starts Today

Get a fast, secure connection for an entire house or building, thanks to SmartThings WiFi. Discover a low-cost way to transform your customers’ homes into smart homes. Make things smarter without expensive wiring.

With SmartThings you’ll get:

• Simple setup: just plug in, connect and go – no monthly fees, no pre-wire necessary.

• Customizable packages that enable a perfect fit for any type of home.

• A trusted brand with an open ecosystem.

Advanced Control

Just because the SmartThings product group is competitively priced, don’t think for a moment it isn’t a powerful tool. Once of the features that homeowners want in a smart home is the ability to set scenes. And this is where SmartThings excels.

With a simple voice command to your Voice Assistant device such as Alexa, Google Assistant or Bixby, you can say activate your Good Morning scene and have SmartThings activate the bedroom lights, turn on your music, turn up the thermostat and start the coffee maker. When you say Good Night, your nighttime playlist lulls you to sleep as the thermostat turns down, your security cameras come on, the doors are locked, and the lights fade out.

This is powerful control. This is what homeowners want. These are tools you can bring to project developers, builders and designers. Affordable, secure and easy to set up. Take a deep dive into the SmartThings architecture, this is a smart home gateway product that can pay huge dividends down the road with add-on sales and service.

The Apple TV App*

You’ll want to let your customers know that a whole new world of entertainment has opened up, because the Apple TV app is available on all 2019 Samsung Smart TVs. Here’s a run-down on how to explain the Apple TV app to your customers:

Fully integrated into Samsung’s Smart TV platform, users can simply select the Apple TV app icon to access all of their iTunes movies and TV show purchases and browse more than 100,000 iTunes movies and TV shows to buy or rent, including titles available in 4K HDR, in pristine picture quality. Customers around the world can also subscribe to Apple TV channels within the Apple TV app — paying for only the ones they want — and watch on demand directly in the app. Samsung Smart TV users will be able to enjoy Apple TV+, Apple’s original video subscription service, in the Apple TV app across the same model lines when the service launches this fall. With AirPlay 2-enabled Samsung Smart TVs, customers can now also effortlessly play videos and other content from their iPhone, iPad or Mac directly to their Samsung Smart TV.

The Apple TV app will work seamlessly with Samsung’s Smart TV Services, such as Universal Guide, Bixby and Search, to create a consistent experience across Samsung’s platform.

And that’s your tip of the month!

*Apple and Apple TV are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung recently opened the Smarter Living by Design experience center in Dallas, Texas featuring our full spectrum of home and commercial technology, masterfully designed to support the design-build community.

The Dallas Design Center began life back in 1957 as the Furniture Mart. Today, the Dallas Market Center is a wholesale facility open to the retail trade inside a million square foot campus. Innovative products from every category imagined are housed in the four buildings: World Trade Center, Trade Mart, Interior Home + Design Center, and Market Hall.

From The Wall to 8K TVs to The Frame to kitchen appliances to digital signage, the Smarter Living by Design experience center is the perfect venue to demonstrate the full range of technology products Samsung brings to market.

In the next issue of Connections, we will take a detailed look at the experience center and talk about how any of our authorized dealers can take advantage of the center to show clients or design-build partners the world of Samsung. If you have need and would like to request use for this space and happen to be in the Dallas area, please reach out to Ryan Chicoine at r.chicoine@sea.samsung.com and Ryan will help you set up an appointment for you and your client and design-build partners.