What is a Frame TV?

Updated September 17, 2026

A Frame TV is a television built to disappear – to look like a framed painting on the wall whenever it is not showing television. The name comes from Samsung’s The Frame, launched in 2017, which is still what most people mean by “frame TV”, but the idea has since been copied by TCL, Hisense, LG and others.

What makes a Frame TV different from a normal TV

Four things, and the art mode is only one of them:

1. Art Mode. When you press the power button once, instead of a black screen the TV shows a piece of art at low brightness. A motion sensor turns it off when the room is empty; a light sensor matches it to the room. This is what people think of as a Frame TV.
2. A matte, anti-reflection screen (2022 and later). Ordinary TVs are glossy and reflect the room; the Frame’s matte panel looks like paper, which is most of why the art looks real.
3. A customisable bezel. The magnetic bezel swaps between black, white, beige, teak, walnut and other finishes, so the TV looks like a picture frame rather than a screen.
4. A flush, no-gap wall mount and a single cable. The Slim-Fit mount holds it flat to the wall like a picture, and the One Connect box keeps all the HDMI and power connections in a separate box with one thin cable to the TV.

Strip away the last three and you have a normal 4K TV showing a picture – which is why “can any TV be a Frame TV?” has a yes-and-no answer (see below).

How Frame TV art works

In Art Mode the Frame draws on two sources:

• The Samsung Art Store – a subscription catalogue of a few thousand pieces from museums, galleries and artists, $4.99/month or $49.99/year in the US, with a small rotating free selection. See our Art Store cost breakdown.
• My Collection – your own images, uploaded free through the SmartThings app or a USB stick. This is how most owners end up using it: your photos, plus art you have bought or downloaded. Our 1,267-design collection is built for this.

Art is displayed at 3840 × 2160 (the panel’s native resolution) and can be shown with a digital matte in various colours. Full details in the dimensions guide.

Sizes and models

Samsung sells The Frame from 32” to 85” (the 32” is 1080p; the rest are 4K QLED). Model years are identified by the code – LS03B (2022), LS03C (2023), LS03D (2024), LS03F (2025) – and the 2025 line adds The Frame Pro (65”–85”) with Mini-LED backlighting and a wireless One Connect box. For a practical comparison by year and size see best Frame TV.

Who makes Frame TVs?

• Samsung – The Frame, The Frame Pro (the original and the benchmark).
• TCL – NXTFRAME (A300 series), a close copy at a lower price, with its own art library.
• Hisense – CanvasTV, similar approach, matte screen, swappable frames.
• LG – Gallery Design OLEDs and the Posé; LG’s Gallery mode shows art but the hardware is less frame-like.
• Sony – some Bravia models have a photo/art screensaver, without the bezel or flush mount.

How they compare is covered in TVs that look like art and TCL vs Hisense vs Samsung Frame.

Can any TV be a Frame TV?

Partly. Any modern TV can show a full-screen image – from a USB stick, a Roku or Fire TV photo screensaver, an Apple TV, or its own gallery mode – so the art is available to everyone; our files are ordinary JPEGs for that reason (art for any TV). What you cannot easily add to an ordinary TV is the matte screen, the sensors, the flush mount and the bezel, which together are what make the Frame pass for a painting rather than a TV showing a picture. Third-party frames and bezels for ordinary TVs get you part of the way (bezels and frames).

Is a Frame TV worth it?

If you will actually use Art Mode – if the TV is in a living room where a black rectangle bothers you – yes: it is the one TV that improves a room when it is off. If it will live in a media room and be used purely as a TV, a conventional QLED or OLED of the same size gives better picture quality for the money. The art itself is the cheap part: the Art Store is a few dollars a month, and your own uploads are free.