Let’s cut right to the chase. Samsung’s KS9500 is right now one of the best 4K TVs that money (rather a lot of it in this case) can buy, offering a jaw-dropping colour palette and amazing contrasts across a wide range of viewing experiences.
The KS9500’s curved screen is just 1cm thick, perching on a sleek forked metal stand. The curved screen arguably makes for a more immersive viewing experience, with the trade-off of some annoying reflections.
Sound quality is surprisingly well-rounded, but you’ll want to retain your home cinema system for a bit of extra bass.
Samsung’s Tizen-based operating system is simple to navigate, with easy switching between your set top box and the built in Netflix app. The latter helpfully offers quick links to series and programmes you’re part way through watching.
Letting the side down a bit is the voice recognition system, particularly in comparison with the Android TV search features of the Sony X93D.
Such a niggle quickly gets forgotten when you see the KS9500’s mind-blowing picture quality. The set has two trump cards, namely its High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities and its quantum dot technology.
It's hard to put down in words how amazing HDR content looks on the KS9500; the simple lettuce leaves and apricots in the Netflix series Chef's Table: France take on a lifelike quality I've never seen before on any screen anywhere.
And while HDR content is still thin on the ground, Samsung's quantum dot technology means that even standard HD content is impressively handled, with both the shabby street shots and pastel party scenes of The Nice Guys rendering brilliantly.
Such technology doesn’t come cheap. The KS9500 range starts at Dh9,999 for a 55-inch model, with the 78-inch version setting you back an eye-watering Dh34,999.
Those willing and able to part with such cash will in return receive an exceptional television, one that rewrites our conception of what the home viewing experience can be.
q&a
John Everington expands on what Samsung’s KS9500 has to offer:
So tell me more about this quantum dot thing then.
Over to you Samsung: “Essentially, quantum dots are incredibly tiny particles that emit different colours depending on their size. When you drop watercolour paint in clear water it creates the most striking colour. SUHD TV uses quantum dots as a light source to produce the purest medium, which functions in the same way the clear water does, resulting in intensely accurate and vivid colour.”
Thanks for clearing that up. Should I believe the hype?
In this case yes. Quantum Dot isn’t a Samsung marketing gimmick, the technology is also in use by the likes of Sony and LG. The colour and contrast the technology offers is very impressive.
On to HDR. Where do I get to see these amazing lettuce leaves you talked about?
HDR content is still in very short supply right now, and is mostly confined to Netflix shows such as Daredevil, Marco Polo, Chef's Table, and films such as The Do Over and The Ridiculous 6.
And how about good old fashioned 4K content?
BeIN launched the region's first 4K satellite receiver at the end of May, offering Euro 2016 games in 4K, but du and Etisalat's 4K services are still nowhere to be seen. Once again Netflix is your best bet, its 4K content library growing by the day. Remember though that you'll need at least a 25 Mbps internet connection to enjoy such content in its full glory.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
