LG has unveiled a 55-inch OLED TV set with a curved screen and we took the opportunity to have a closer look.
At a glance you might think that LG’s concave OLED is just an or an attention-grabbing gimmick. But there’s a method to the madness.
The curved shape is intended to create an ‘immersive IMAX-like experience’ in the living room. Whether this effect actually shapes the way we look at films (see what we did there?) or not remains to be seen.
Read Recombu Digital’s guide to Super Hi-Vision, Ultra HD, 4K and 8K TVCompeting with a similar swerved screen from Korean rival Samsung at IFA 2013 – which also has a curved LED TV – LG’s 55EA980V demands attention. However, that’s mainly about the use of an OLED panel, which remains one of the most intoxicating ways of displaying video.
Luscious colour and huge contrast help create a lifelike picture, though it’s the sheer fluidity of fast-moving pictures that has made OLED – curved or not – that’s difficult to look away from. It’s the first OLED TV to get THX Certification, but the value of the 55EA980V’s curve is hard to fathom.
During our hands-on we got a lot of reflections from the screen’s curves and little of the immersion promised – it’s just too small for that. However, the biggest issue was the use of 1080p Full HD. You might not beleive it until you see it, but 4K Ultra HD makes a huge difference even on relatively small screen sizes. Its absence on the 55EA980V is obvious.
Unlike a lot of previous trade fair-only OLED prototypes, the 55EA980V has already gone in sale in Germany this week for a whopping €8,999 (£7,580).
LG has also used IFA 2013 to introduce a raft of new 4K Ultra HDTVs in 55-inch, 65-inch and 84-inch sizes, including a LA970V Series with a Sliding Speaker that appears from the bottom of the TV when it’s switched on.
IFA 2013 reporting, photos and video by Jamie Carter.
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