Hisense’s CanvasTV, a more affordable alternative to Samsung’s iconic artsy TV “The Frame”, has gone on sale in the U.S. It’s available at a very competitive price tag that provides significant savings for price-conscious consumers who are determined to own their very own digital art frame.
With the CanvasTV, Hisense is trying to appeal to those who want both decent functionality, great pictures and rapid refresh rates in a more aesthetically pleasing display.
As with The Frame, the Hisense CanvasTV is designed to seamlessly integrate into a living room’s decor, mimicking the appearance of a framed work of art when it’s not being used as an actual television. It comes with a matte, anti-glare 4K QLED display and is bound by a teak wood frame. Users can change the aesthetics by snapping on additional magnetic frames in colours such as white and walnut, though these are sold separately.
The headline feature is the CanvasTV’s Art Mode, which enables the TV to display various pre-loaded artworks that span Renaissance, modern and abstract art styles, in addition to personalizing the display with their own art and photographs.
To conserve energy, the CanvasTV comes equipped with a motion sensor that switches the screen off when it doesn’t detect someone in the room.
What’s really impressive about the CanvasTV is its technical capabilities, with specifications that beat those found on The Frame. For instance, its 4K QLED display offers a 144Hz refresh rate, superior to the 120Hz found on Samsung’s alternative, and there’s a Game Mode Pro that supports variable refresh rates from 48Hz to 144Hz, making it an ideal display for smooth and responsive gaming experiences.
The built-in ambient light sensor is said to adjust the display’s brightness and color temperature on the fly, according to the lighting conditions in the room, to ensure optimal viewing of the artwork on show. The audio system is reasonably punchy too, with a multi-channel 2.0.2 surround sound setup designed to complement the vivid visuals. Moreover, there are two HDMI 2.1 ports, two regular HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB slots, an RF antenna port and support for RCA composite video inputs.
Some consumers may also appreciate that the Hisense CanvasTV runs the Google TV platform, which might be a bit more flexible and have a few more apps than Samsung’s Tizen operating system, although both software platforms are regarded as being among the best. Because it runs Google TV, the CanvasTV has built-in support for Google Assistant and full Chromecast functionality.
Perhaps the most important differentiator between the two artsy TVs is the actual selection of art, and it’s here that Samsung probably maintains an advantage. The Samsung Art Store contains more than 2,500 famous pictures available to purchase, and also features a rolling monthly curation of works that can be used by The Frame owners free of charge. Samsung also touts its Pantone Validated Artful Color certification, which certifies that all pictures displayed via The Frame perfectly mimic how the genuine article would appear in a physical art gallery.
Hisense hasn’t defined its content plans quite so well, but is promising a “curated world of free artistic masterpieces with a collection of pre-loaded works spanning abstract, modern, and renaissance styles.” It doesn’t give any numbers about the size of its art library, but considering that Samsung has been doing this for years and has announced collaborations with numerous top art galleries, it’s unlikely that Hisense will be able to match the extent of artwork available on The Frame, at least not yet.
That said, the price of the CanvasTV may make it a much more attractive option. The 55-inch CanvasTV retails at $999, which is $500 cheaper than the 55-inch The Frame’s $1,299 price tag. Meanwhile, the 65-inch CanvasTV is currently listed at $1,499, which represents an even bigger discount of $700, compared to the $1,999 price tag of the 65-inch The Frame.
