I'd love for Samsung to make The Frame OLED — here's why it hasn't happened

Samsung The Frame Pro 2025
(Image credit: Samsung)

The Samsung The Frame TV has been a hit, and for good reason. For decades, TVs have essentially been big boxes that look great when they’re on. When they’re off, however, they’re kind of ugly. The Frame reimagines what a TV can do when you’re not actively watching, combining a thin build with a more natural-looking design, an anti-glare glass and software that shows art on the screen. It makes for an image that really can look like a painting — at least at a glance.

At CES 2025, Samsung unveiled a new, upgraded version of The Frame, called The Frame Pro. There's only one problem: While The Frame Pro is being billed as an art TV for those who care more about picture quality, it still doesn’t really have a truly great picture quality.

The problem with The Frame Pro

Two Samsung lifestyle TVs, The Frame and The Frame Pro, hanging on a beige-colored wall next to one another while displaying blue-colored artwork

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Frame Pro is basically an edge-lit TV.

To be clear, The Frame Pro is a step ahead of the standard The Frame TV. But Samsung’s marketing is a little misleading when it comes to how much better it really is. According to Samsung, The Frame Pro offers Mini-LED backlighting. Traditionally, that would mean thousands of LED lights behind the display, which would be individually dimmable to give the TV better control over brightness and backlighting. This has made for much deeper black levels on TVs like the Hisense U8N.

But buried in the fine-print of The Frame Pro is a caveat. While it might technically be using a Mini-LED system, those LEDs are actually arranged in the edges of the TV. That’s right — it's basically an edge-lit TV.

Now, Samsung claims that the Mini-LED system in The Frame Pro does still give it better control over backlighting than traditional edge-lit TVs (like The Frame). But I’d be shocked if the TV ends up offering as much control as other Mini-LED TVs.

The problem with OLED

Samsung S95D OLED on stand in living room

(Image credit: Samsung)

It seems like there should be an easy solution, right? OLED panels are super thin, don’t produce too much heat and Samsung already uses them in its highest-end TVs. Surely the company could use one of those panels in an even more expensive Frame model.

Not so fast. OLED panels might be perfect if it wasn’t for one issue: burn-in. OLED burn-in essentially happens when there’s one static image being displayed on the screen for long periods of time.

When burn-in happens, certain pixels can degrade faster and produce a kind of ghosting effect. This can seriously reduce the life-span of the organic materials used in OLED screens. Burn-in isn’t as much of an issue these days thanks to technologies that alternate pixels on static images, not to mention the lower brightness level for those art modes, but it still happens, and it would still be a concern, especially for a TV like The Frame, which specializes in displaying static images for long periods of time.

A path forward?

(Image credit: Samsung)

So are there ways around the OLED burn-in issue that would allow for an OLED Frame TV? Well, potentially, but they’re not perfect. For example, the TV could have software limitations that force users to rotate through different images, or that slightly moves the art over longer periods of time.

That, of course, would defeat the purpose of The Frame TV for some people, though — removing the ability to show the art you want to see, when you want to see it. It’s a potential trade-off for those in the know, but also probably hard to explain to users who don’t necessarily have a full understanding of OLED technology and just want to see a TV display their preferred art.

Are there ways around the OLED burn-in issue that would allow for an OLED Frame TV?

There are other display technologies. Real Mini-LED backlighting systems are all the rage right now, especially from brands like Hisense and TCL. But those systems generate a lot more heat than OLED panels — something that could disqualify them from the thin form-factor Samsung is going for.

All that to say, maybe there isn’t really a set path forward for art-style TVs to truly compete with other displays. Eventually hopefully the tech will simply improve – allowing for OLED panels that don’t suffer from burn-in at all, or Micro-LED panels that are ultra efficient and don’t generate too much heat. Or, maybe Samsung will work on other ways to add these advanced technologies to its lineup, such as through advanced cooling technologies or software limitations that help prevent burn-in.

The best compromises

Samsung Frame Pro Shuts Down The Art TV Haters! - YouTube Samsung Frame Pro Shuts Down The Art TV Haters! - YouTube
Watch On

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a TV, you may have a decision to make. You could buy a The Frame Pro TV and simply deal with the fact that it won’t look as good as some other high-end TVs. Or, you could buy a high-end OLED TV like the new Samsung S95F, and simply not use it to constantly display art. Lastly, you could buy a high-end and similarly-priced Mini-LED TV that could be used in an art mode without fear of burn-in, but doesn’t offer the same anti-glare glass or the same ultra-thin build as the Samsung The Frame.

Yeah, unfortunately, you can’t have it all right now – but any of those decisions is perfectly respectable. If you go the OLED route, the Samsung S95D (soon to be replaced with the S95F) is an excellent option, as is the LG G4 OLED, to be replaced soon with the LG G5 OLED. If you go the Mini-LED route, a mid-range option like the Hisense U8N is well-worth the money. And, if you simply want a TV that looks great when you’re not watching TV, and perfectly fine when you are, the Samsung The Frame Pro will likely make a serious case for itself when it rolls out this year.

More from Tom's Guide

TOPICS
Christian de Looper

Christian de Looper is a freelance writer who has covered every facet of consumer tech, including mobile, audio, home theater, computing, gaming, and even car tech. At Tom’s Guide, Christian covers TV and home theater tech, and has reviewed dozens of TVs, soundbars, and A/V receivers, including those from the likes of Samsung, Hisense, TCL, and Vizio.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
A woman hanging a small painting onto a wall alongside Samsung's The Frame TV, which is wrapped in wood-colored bezels and displaying an oil painting of flowers. Across the wall all several more pieces of artwork, emphasizing how The Frame blends into the space.
The TV as we know it is finally changing — and these designs are leading the charge
Samsung The Frame Pro 2025 TV Lineup
Samsung's turning all its 2025 TVs into The Frame and I'm here for it
Samsung Frame Pro TV
Samsung Frame Pro TV has the upgrade to shut down the haters — even me
A wall-mounted 2025 Philips OLED TV with Ambilight. There is an astronaut on the screen and blue, green and yellow ambient light is being thrown onto the wall behind the display.
This OLED TV is the most stunning of 2025 — and LG and Samsung should copy it
Two people sitting in a modern living room watching a wall-mounted LG G5 OLED TV. The TV is displaying a cityscape at night.
I test TVs for a living — here's the 5 TVs for 2025 I'm most excited about
Samsung QN90D lifestyle image with TV wall mounted in modern living room setting
Here’s what I want to see at CES 2025 for Samsung TVs — new QD-OLEDs, updates to Smart Hub and more
Latest in TVs
A Samsung DU7200 LED TV on a side table
Samsung DU7200 LED TV review
The LG G5 OLED on a living room wall.
The LG C5 OLED and G5 OLED launch this month — and the prices have just been announced
TCL QM7K lifestyle
TCL just dropped one of the best-looking QLED TVs of the year — and it reaches a super-bright 3,000 nits
A Samsung TV box on the floor of a Walmart. It is strapped shut and ready to be moved.
Here's why you should never throw out the box that came with your TV
Samsung Display Bezel-less tile concept at MWC 2025
Bezel-less tile OLED TVs could be the future of large-screen displays
Photos of the LG C5 OLED taken in 2025 at an LG event.
The LG C5 OLED isn't the upgrade I was hoping it'd be — here's why
Latest in Opinion
Josh Hartnett as Cooper in "Trap"
Netflix just got a twisting thriller movie that feels fresh — and there’s one thing about it that I love
A blonde woman sleeping in bed with white bedsheets with Tom's Guide Sleep Week 2025 logo
I tried the 'alpha bridge' method for Sleep Week and fell asleep in 10 minutes, according to my smart mattress
A woman sleeping on her back smiling in a brightly lit bedroom with a Tom's Guide Sleep Week 2025 logo in the top left corner
Quitting drinking helped me get better sleep night after night — I'm sharing my story for Sleep Week
(From L to R) Michelle Rodriguez as Holga the Barbarian, Chris Pine as Edgin Darvis, Justice Smith as Simon the Sorcerer, and Sophia Lillis as Doric next to a Gelatinous Cube
'Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' just crashed Netflix's top 10 movies — and it's a hilarious, heartfelt adventure
An iPad mini 7 on a desk with a finger resting over its power button with Touch ID
I spent two weeks with the iPad mini 7 and it reignited my love for smaller tablets
A Samsung TV box on the floor of a Walmart. It is strapped shut and ready to be moved.
Here's why you should never throw out the box that came with your TV