For as long as I’ve been covering TVs, TV makers have been pushing the narrative that people appreciate bigger screens – a pretty safe assumption, honestly – and that’s why they’ve continually introduced larger screen sizes. larger to meet demand.
A few years ago that meant a big push for 75 inch TVs. Then 85 inches. This year, we’re taking a look at 97-inch displays from LG, TCL, Samsung, and more.
But are we ready for such large screens? Do we even have the space and the budget for them, or are these TVs just for the ultra-rich?
Here are the hidden issues of buying a screen the size of your wall.
2022 is the year of 100-inch serial televisions
The continued rollout of increasingly larger screens has, so far, truly been a blessing for moviegoers. We were able to get 65- and 75 inch televisions for less than two thousand in the last few years, and now we see 85 inch televisions close to reaching that price point as well.
This brought down the cost of 55 inch televisions and 40 inch televisions, all the way down the line.
It’s very reasonable to expect the same to happen when these monstrous new 100-inch TVs hit the market – they’ll lower the cost of other TVs in the lineup, which is, unequivocally, a good thing. .
AT CES 2022, we got our first glimpse of some of this super dumb news. TCL unveiled a 98-inch QLED TV, while LG unveiled a 97-inch OLED G2. Samsung says its MicroLED TV will now be available in three new “user-friendly” sizes of 110, 101 and 89 inches.
I’m obviously excited about these TVs for a number of reasons (they serve as incubators that will help develop several new technologies like MicroLED) but I don’t think most of the world is ready for them – myself included.
The real cost of owning a wall-mounted TV
So what’s the deal with bigger screen TVs? Well, if you can get them delivered and set up in the screening room of your Hollywood mansion, then not much.
For most of us, however, that’s probably not the case. In the United States, some 43 million households pay rent instead of owning their own homes. In the UK, nine of the country’s 67 million people live within the London limits. Essentially, there’s not a lot of room in either of those places for a 97-inch screen that has to go down every time the lease is up.
There’s also the assumption that many of us may even afford these TVs in the first place, which might not be the case given the five-figure sums these TVs bring in.
We don’t have exact pricing details for the LG 97in G2 OLED, but chances are it won’t be affordable. Last year’s 77-inch OLED G1 is currently selling for $ 3,999 / £ 4,799 (around AU $ 6,000), meaning the 97-inch will likely be double or triple the cost considering the difficulty of producing OLEDs in the new larger screen size.
Heck, even the most user-friendly TCL XXL series isn’t that easy on the budget. So far we’ve seen that the 98-inch QLED R754 TV costs $ 7,999 (around £ 5,900, AU $ 11,200), and that’s before you factor in a warranty and setup.
No matter how you slice it up, these TVs are going to be expensive, at least for the foreseeable future.
Ultra short throw projectors might be a better solution, honestly
OK, so 100 inch TVs probably aren’t the ideal fit for most people due to price and size restrictions, but do you know what might work? Ultra short throw projectors or laser televisions.
Ultra short throw projectors offer the image performance of traditional projectors and they can sit up against the wall instead of requiring a cumbersome ceiling mount system.
Models like Samsung’s premiere offers all the modern specifications and conveniences of a 4K smart TV. For $ 3,500 / £ 3,999 (around AU $ 4,900), you get a maximum screen size of 120 inches and a 2.2-channel speaker system. You’ll miss the color vibrancy of an equivalent QLED TV, but by no means will you be able to come close to that screen size for this price.
Granted, there are some conceptual designs that should solve the space issue I pointed out – like LG’s new roll-up OLED TV – but these are not yet quite ready for the general public.
At the end of the day, there is always a trade-off to be made when purchasing new technology. You can either have something trendy and expensive, or something older and cheaper. You fork out for a big screen TV or save money by buying something at a more reasonable price. However, you can’t suddenly change where you live just to put up a 100-inch TV, nor is it easy to suddenly change your budget from two thousand to almost $ 10,000.
If you have the housing stability, space, and budget for those new full-size displays, that’s wonderful. But, for the rest of us, 100-inch TVs are not yet the future we’re ready for.
- Interested in higher resolution instead? Check out our guide to the best 8K TVs
