Samsung 2015 SUHD 4K TVs launch with official pricing

Customers in the US finally know how much they'll be paying for a new Samsung TV.

The Korean electronics giant officially unveiled pricing and specific model details for the 2015 TV lineup that it first revealed back in January . At the high end, the line is dominated by Samsung's premium "SUHD" label, mostly curved, all 4K models using Samsung's flavor of quantum dots -- or what Samsung calls "proprietary Cadmium-free nano-crystal technology." And the company reaffirmed that these new TVs will be powered by its Tizen operating system.

But despite the exotic name and branding, SUHD TVs are basically LCD TVs supercharged with a bunch of fancy enhancements like those dots. And they're going to have their work cut out for them as they go up against the top-notch picture quality of LG's OLED TVs , which are also being refreshed for 2015.

SUHD models and pricing

Today's pricing announcement largely aligns with this leak from February. In other words, we can now confirm SUHD TVs are SUper-expensive. The JS9500 costs $6000 for the 65-inch size right now at Amazon, and the least-expensive model, the JS8500, comes in at three grand for the 55-inch.

There's also an 88-inch JS9500 mentioned in the leak for $23,000. Since it's already listed at some vendors, I won't be surprised if Samsung officially unveils it today as well.

Of course those prices will fall throughout the year, but by how much could vary widely (and depends on when you buy). The 2014 UN65HU9000 started at $4,999 and now that its successor has arrived, sells for $3,499, a discount 30 percent. Meanwhile the UN65HU8550 fell from $3,999 to $2,997, a 42 percent drop.

Those prices are UPP (universal pricing plan), so they're set by the manufacturer and vendors have little room for further discounts. The only exception to the prices listed above is the UN65JS9500, which sells for $500 less than Samsung's "official" price.

The main difference between the JS9500 and the step-down SUHD sets is in their types of local dimming. The 9500 gets full-array, while the JS9000 and JS8500 get edge-lit local dimming For details on how the SUHDs stack up, check out the first takes of the JS9500, JS9000 and JS8500 . As for the 78-inch JS9100, we're awaiting confirmation from Samsung on how it differs from its peers.

As mentioned above, note that the best SUHD sets are curved-only, while LG's OLED TVs will be available in both curved and (later this year) flat screens. But it's also worth remembering that the best 65-inch SUHD is also $3000 less than a 65-inch OLED, although the 55-inch 1080p OLED itself costs "only" $3000.

Samsung 4K TVs sans SUHDs

Samsung didn't become the dominant TV maker in the world by selling $3000 TVs, however. Part of its strategy is to offer an overwhelming number of TVs at different permutations and prices. That might help explain the profusion of other Samsung 4K/UHD TVs introduced today that don't merit the "S."

These TVs don't get SUHDs' nanocrystals, and steadily shed features and design chops as they get less expensive. That said they could still be very good sets, and might provide significantly better bang for your buck than SUHD. I'm particularly excited to check out the UNJU7100 series, the least-expensive flat 2015 Samsung to offer actual local dimming.

Here's the full list:

We expect to check out one of Samsung's new 2015 TVs in our lab soon.