Do you live in an airport hanger and/or have really bad eyesight? Then you’ll want to be first in line for LG’s new lineup of Direct View LED (or DVLED for fans of combined acronyms) TVs..
These start at a relatively modest 108 inches, but ‘go big or go home’, right? That means you’ll be wanting the 325in 8K model, which, according to CNET, will not only set you back NZ$2.4 million, but weigh in at 2,339 pounds. That’s around the weight of an adult black rhinoceros, and only less ostentatious in the home.
The TVs are mainly 16:9 affairs, but LG will also make you one with a curious 32:9 aspect ratio. Why? So you can watch two or more different programmes side by side, like in the image below.
Oh, precariously balancing an iPad on your knees not good enough for you, millionaires?
To make screens this big, LG is doing something a little different from your standard set. Rather than having an LCD layer for the pixels and LEDS for lighting, these sets just use LEDs or MicroLEDS (depending on the model) which create the light, colour and image themselves. It’s similar to what Samsung does with it’s ‘The Wall’ TV.
That gives this an inherent advantage over projectors which require semi darkness to function: LG’s DVLED sets sit around the 1,200 nit mark. It should also mean you’re getting plenty of contrast for your buck… although I’m going to uncontroversially posit that it won’t be millions of dollars’ worth.
A side effect of all those LEDs is that these TVs generate a lot of heat, and it’s telling that LG has chosen to include the BTU ratings like you’d find on a heater or air conditioner. The 108in model puts out 6,288 BTUs per hour, while the 325in powerhouse generates a pretty toasty 56,592.
At least you won’t have to keep the heating on. It’ll pay for itself in a few hundred years.
