LG announces $13,500, 55-inch curved OLED for preorder in South Korea

[Dave LeClair]

LG is officially bringing the world's first curved OLED display to market this June. The company is currently taking preorders with a price tag of 15 million Korean Won (about $13,500). However, LG is only accepting these preorders for the curved OLED in South Korea, with plans to announce availability for the rest of the world in the coming months. That means those outside of South Korea will have to look on with envy for now.

The curved 55EA9800 features a 55-inch display, a tiny 4.3mm (0.17 inches) side profile, and weighs only a slim 17kg (37.48 pounds). Having such a thin profile does not leave much space for speakers, and as such, LG has integrated what it calls "thin transparent film speakers" into the stand. This allows the company to maintain the slim lines of the curved screen while still being able to deliver sound to the display.

LG claims that the curved OLED display delivers an "IMAX-like" viewing experience. The company has spent the last five years researching the proper curvature for the display, with the goal of making the entire screen surface equidistant to the viewer's eye. This supposedly does away with the distortion and loss of detail often seen at the very edge of the screen.

This announcement, and the standard OLEDs that were first released to Korean customers in February, puts LG in a dominant position in the OLED market. In fact, LG cites DisplaySearch data suggesting that its lead in the OLED field could grow to as high as 7 million units by 2016.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/52394-lg-announces-13500-55-inch-curved-oled-for-preorder-in-south-korea.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Having such a thin profile does not leave much space for speakers, and as such, LG has integrated what it calls "thin transparent film speakers" into the stand.

Why do they even include speakers? Anyone buying a nice TV, not even a state-of-the-art TV, would have separate speakers. And even if they didn't, you can spend $100 and get a 2.1 system that's FAR better than anything the TV is going to output. I'm sure they could more easily add audio outputs to a TV than adding speakers so you wouldn't need a receiver too.

 

[RH00D]

I was also thinking, anyone buying this quality of a display would have to be crazy to not use a dedicated sound system... They should've just excluded built-in speakers.

 

[spydercanopus]

Imagine gaming on three of these surrounding you! Curved, edgeless monitors are needed for surround gaming.

 

[Guest]

If you can afford three of these, you're too busy working to play games.

 

[Guest]

Maybe if you buy three, they'll give you a small discount? Got $40K?

 

[Guest]

And if you have plenty of time to play this then you are poor and cannot afford this......so according to this strange paradox, no one will be able to buy this TV and/or do gaming with it....but we know that this is not true either, which is another paradox.......now two paradoxes together is not another paradox but is close to one.....I mean should people work hard to afford this and so not have time to use it or should they just sit at home and simply want this TV, but be poor and not afford it at all.....that is the question!! To TV or not to TV...To Work or not to work.........To TV or to work.....to work or to TV.......these paradoxical questions will haunt everyone once this TV launches!!!

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

If you can afford three of these, you're too busy working to play games.

Yeah and if you're not too busy then you'll be too tired after being so busy.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Maybe this is the future of TV. If that's true then you're best advised to wait until it becomes mainstream unless of course you're an early adopter with more money than sense.

 

[Guest]

The big problem about this new technology is that it won't get very many sales... which will immediately send people into a panic for no reason, and the technology in general might suffer despite it being a really great move.

The problem stems from a couple things: 1) It's new, so people will want to hold off and see how it goes with others before making the huge investment. 2) It's only 55" screen, and I'm guessing that if you're the kind of person who can afford to drop 13.5k on a TV, then you probably have an 80"+ size screen and would have to take quite the size hit to purchase the new technology.

The bottom line is that when people see the technology failing because of low sales, it shouldn't cause immediate panic. The people who have set the initial price are the ones who are to blame.

 

[Jad Chaar]

This will be something in 5 years when you can get one (newer models) for $2500 and included 4K support.

 

[VitalyT]

$13,000 for a 55" 1080P today is as stupid as it gets, when I can get a 50" 4K TV 120Hz for just $1400: http://www.amazon.com/Seiki-Digital...?ie=UTF8&qid=1367270941&sr=8-1&keywords=seiki

And here's a good hands-on for that TV:

 

[Jad Chaar]

The Japanese know how to do things right. And economically.

 

[Jroc187]

$13,000 for a 55" 1080P today is as stupid as it gets, when I can get a 50" 4K TV 120Hz for just $1400: http://www.amazon.com/Seiki-Digital...?ie=UTF8&qid=1367270941&sr=8-1&keywords=seiki

And here's a good hands-on for that TV:

I can not get over complaining a lot of you do when new stuff comes out. Yes it cost $13,000 today but in 2 years or less it will cost $1,500. This has been going on for like ever in the tec industry. Just like the morons freaking out when 4k tv's started coming out at $20,000 but now starting to cost $1,500.

 

[VitalyT]

Just like the morons freaking out when 4k tv's started coming out at $20,000 but now starting to cost $1,500.

Those morons are the consumers who hold the economy together. The flexible display technology carries a certain overhead to justify the increase, but not more than double over the standard OLE displays. Offering them for 12 times the prices of the same OLE displays is really taking the pi$$.

Speculation and greed is the mother of all evil. People are right to be upset about such prices.

And you should know better than defending corporate profits against the very people who is supposed to be the beneficiaries of the technological progress.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Jroc. Do you even know what an OLED is? It is so expensive to make. Do you research and then talk please.

 

[money]

Those morons are the consumers who hold the economy together.

Which rock have you been living under? It's the budget and mid-range products that people buy the most and that hold the economy together, not the luxury items. That is common knowledge, but apparently not for you.

 

[VitalyT]

Which rock have you been living under? It's the budget and mid-range products that people buy the most and that hold the economy together, not the luxury items. That is common knowledge, but apparently not for you.

And you are just one of those lazy trolls who pulls a quote out of context, because couldn't be bothered to read the whole and understand it, just enough to troll. The conversation was about budget-smitten mid-range consumers who Jroc called morons because they complain about the price for the new product being too high.

Next time read first before trolling.

 

[Guest]

Sorry to break it to everyone, but OLED technology is by far the cheapest we have had in televisions. I am not going to sit here and spew out technical jargon to try and make myself look intelligent when anyone can do research and learn about it. The only reason televisions are so expensive when they first come out is because the manufacturing cost has not been realized and the major brand companies know people will pay whatever the cost to own the latest and greatest.