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LG launches world’s first curved 4K OLED TV

lg 77ec980v

LG's 4K OLED TV will come in 77in and 65in screen sizes with a price of £20,000 and £6,000 respectively

LG has launched the world’s first curved 4K OLED TV. The TV will be available in 77in and 65in screen sizes from October 2014 and will cost a massive £20,000 and £6,000 respectively. 

“The 77in (77EC980V) and 65in (65EC970V) Ultra HD 4K OLED TVs combine LG’s proprietary WRGB OLED technology and Ultra HD 4K screen resolution (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) for a whole new level of picture quality,” said LG. “Filling the viewer’s field of vision with gorgeous, high-contrast images, the stylish curved screens are supported by a beautiful ribbon stand.”

OLED TVs have long since been hailed as the “future of TV”, but TVs which use this technology are only just starting to come to shop floors. The main advantage is that OLED displays don’t require a backlight, therefore creating much deeper blacks than existing LCD displays, and is much more energy efficient than either LCD or plasma technology, creating great pictures using a fraction of the power. OLED displays also have superior viewing angles, as OLEDs create light rather than block it like LCD panels. There’s no visible colour shift either, even when you’re looking at the TV right at the edge of the screen.

We saw the TV for ourselves last night at LG’s official launch event, and the 77in model was certainly impressive. The screen is surprisingly slim for such a huge display, although the slight curve makes the set much thicker at the back. We weren’t able to play around with LG’s smart features, but the 4K demo reels looked stunning. Colours were incredibly bright and vivid and the level of detail on show was astonishing. As lights flashed up and down a cityscape of Hong Kong, we were able to see each individual office building window in perfect clarity. 

LG 4K OLED TV

As you’d expect from such a high-end TV, you’ll be able to smooth out action scenes using LG’s Motion Estimation Motion Compensation feature to create artificial frames, and LG also claimed that its True 4K Engine Pro will be able to upscale SD, HD and Full HD content to “near-4K picture quality”. There’ll be a super resolution feature, too, to prevent blurred images from appearing during the upscale process. 

LG did in fact show a small clip from The Hobbit during its demo reel, but we had concerns over just how effective its upscaling technology will be in the final product. Bilbo’s face had messy alternating patches of smooth skin and detailed stubble and we noticed lots of blocking and noise as he scrambled over mountains of coins in Smaug’s cave. Still, we’ll have to wait until we get our hands on a final review sample before we can deliver a final verdict.

LG also announced it will be releasing its Software Development Kit (SDK) to help developers create new apps for the company’s webOS smart TV service with greater ease and efficiency. 

“One key reason behind selecting webOS as our next smart TV operating system was because of its history and origins as a developer-friendly platform,” said Dr. Scott Ahn, LG’s Chief Technology Officer. “We feel it’s very important for platform owners, such as LG, to assist developers in creating apps that are highly maximised for our products. In an industry where there is no single dominant standard, expanding the webOS TV ecosystem is a top priority for LG.”

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