Plenty of people love Samsung’s Frame TV, which cleverly makes itself look like fancy framed art any time you’re not watching movies, TV shows, or live sports in the living room. Problem is, it’s expensive as heck, making for quite the premium purchase. If you like the idea of TVs that can masquerade as framed art, but prefer to spend just a little bit less, you might want to check out the Hisense CanvasTV.
Yes, Hisense made their own version of Samsung’s art canvas TV, allowing you to enjoy a big screen TV that turns into a classy art display at a much more affordable price. Sure, the bezels aren’t as thin as those on Samsung’s panel and they only have limited sizes for now (Samsung offers six sizes from 43 inches to 85 inches), but being to save up to $500 compared to similarly-sized Samsung panels does make for an attractive proposition.
The Hisense CanvasTV is a 4K TV that uses the same quantum dot OLED technology on the Frame TV, so it should exhibit the same rich and accurate color reproduction that’s brighter and more vibrant than your typical displays. It has HDR baked in, with support for Dolby Vision, HDR 10, HDR 10+, and HLG, so you should enjoy those amazing HDR highlights that people rave about in modern TVs. Native refresh rate is 120Hz, so anything you watch onscreen is going to look smooth and stutter-free, complete with a game mode that allows it to use AMD’s FreeSync Premium Pro to give you a variable refresh rate up to 144Hz.
The panel Is covered in a low-reflection coating that gives it a high matte finish. According to Hisense, this enables the screen to look like a real art canvas when needed, allowing it to exhibit the depth and texture of real paintings. In Art Mode, by the way, you can opt to show a single painting or create a slideshow of multiple artworks you want to rotate onscreen. You can even add external images by connecting a thumb drive or an external drive to the TV’s USB slot.
The Hisense CanvasTV comes in an ultra-slim design that allows it to sit perfectly flush against the wall. Not only is this more space-efficient, it also allows it to blend a lot better with your decor, much like a real painting would. You’re also not stuck using the same bezel as the artwork’s frame, since the outfit also sells aftermarket frames that you can simply swap in its place. The existing bezel is only secured by magnets, after all, so you can easily remove it and snap on a different. Yes, their selections include wooden frames that can really amplify that artwork look.
Other features include 2.0.2 surround sound audio, four HDMI inputs (including two HDMI 2.1), built-in Bluetooth 5.3, abd a weight of 64.6 pounds. It runs Google TV, so you get Google Assistant for voice commands, although it’s also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit.
The Hisense CanvasTV is available now in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes. Price is $999 for the 55-inch and $1,299 for the 65-inch.