Credit: Samsung
Samsung delights in scoring splashy headlines at CES with its mammoth micro-LED displays, with the company springing a humongous 292-inch model of “The Wall” on CES attendees back in January. But while its earlier micro-LED panels arrived in modules that needed to be professionally assembled, its new 110-inch MicroLED TV will come ready to watch, right out of the (giant) box.
Slated to ship globally in the first quarter of 2021, the Samsung MicroLED TV is based on micro-LED display technology: self-emitting pixels that offer vivid colors and perfect blacks similar to OLED, because they can be turned on and off individually. Unlike the organic pixels in OLED panels, however, micro-LED panels are not susceptible to burn-in.
Samsung has been touting its micro-LED-based “The Wall” displays for a couple of years now, with the company offering sizes from a crazy-big 292-inch panel down to a more reasonable 75 inches.
Previous versions of Samsung’s micro-LED displays have been saddled with a couple of key problems. For starters, due to the difficulties inherent in micro-LED manufacturing, the displays usually arrive in separate modules that must be assembled by a professional installer. Second, Samsung’s micro-LED displays are prohibitively expensive (think six figures), which means they’ve been aimed mainly at business and luxury customers.
Enter the 110-inch MicroLED, a TV that promises to fix the first problem with Samsung’s micro-LED displays by eliminating the need to assemble multiple panels. Instead, the new TV comes as a complete, prefabricated unit, with Samsung boasting that it has developed a new production process to streamline micro-LED panel manufacturing. With this new set, you’ll need only to take it out of the box, plug it in, and turn it on—although, given that we’re talking about a 110-inch TV, removing it from the box could prove to be quite the operation.
Whether the MicroLED TV addresses the second problem with Samsung’s micro-LED displays—the exorbitant price tag—remains to be seen: Samsung has yet to reveal pricing. (Honestly, we’re not holding our breath for affordability.)
Samsung promises that the MicroLED will deliver “stunning,” “bright,” and “vivid” images, thanks to a new Micro AI Processor. It’s worth noting, however, that this 110-inch TV is only capable of 4K maximum resolution, not 8K like Samsung’s larger “The Wall” displays or its pricier LED-based QLED TVs.
The MicroLED will boast a near bezel-less display with a 99.99-percent screen-to-body ratio, Samsung says. In addition to watching one giant image, you’ll also be able to split the display into four 55-inch screens, ideal for NFL Sunday Ticket junkies.
Besides the images, Samsung says the TV’s integrated Majestic Sound System with Object Tracking Sound Pro functionality can crank out realistic (if virtualized) 5.1-channel sound without the need for external speakers.
All very impressive, but we’ve yet to see (or hear) the 110-inch MicroLED in action, nor do we know how much Samsung plans to charge for its giant new set. Given that Samsung’s 98-inch Q900 QLED TV, an 8K set based on traditional LED technology, goes for a breathtaking $60,000 (and that after a 40-percent discount), we’re steeling ourselves for the MicroLED’s eventual price tag.
