THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

James Drummie, Product Manager at AWE Europe, explains why the industry needs to think differently to avoid reaching the limit on supersized TVs.

For years we’ve seen manufacturers racing to launch the biggest and best TVs, and this year is no different. But we are now hitting a size limit for flat panel TVs, and manufacturing isn’t the issue – it is the size of our doors. The box size of a 100in screen is probably the upper limit of what will fit into most living rooms. Various manufacturers make screens of this size, for example Sony has a 100in (FW-100BZ40J) and LG a 97in OLED. The demand exists to go even bigger, but to do this, manufacturers must think outside the box!

The obvious way to go bigger than 100in is to use a projector. But, for many installs, this is simply not possible. This could be to do with a lack of light control, restricted ability to run cabling, low ceilings or light fittings, or joists being in the way. There are a couple of ways to overcome these challenges and go bigger (and in some cases, MUCH BIGGER).

The first is to use an ultra-short throw projector with an ambient light rejecting screen. Hisense has pioneered the Laser TV market with its L9 models, which use triple laser technology to produce incredible colour quality and brightness. In fact, Hisense L9 claims 107% of BT2020 with 3,000 lumens. What makes this different from other ultra-short throw projectors is that it comes packaged with a screen, so it’s ready to go.

Your size options with the Hisense L9 are 100in or 120in. Both screens are ambient light rejecting so can be used much like normal TVs, with lights on or without blinds or curtains. To make it even more TV-like, both options include built in speakers, a TV tuner and even come with a normal TV remote. Starting from £3,999 for the 100in version, this option makes supersized TV accessible to the masses.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have Micro-LED screens. These screens are made up of lots of small panels that are put together on site, which means that any restriction due to door size is no longer a factor. On demo at Sony HQ there is an enormous 220in Crystal LED screen, which is full 4K and has so much brightness that even in full daylight you can see a fantastic HDR image. Thanks to its modular structure, with Micro-LED there’s no real limit to size.

What about the future? I don’t have a crystal ball but here’s what I hope we will see. We’ve already experienced rollable OLED TVs from LG. These currently unroll out of their stand and retract when not in use. I’d like to see this technology used slightly differently. Imagine ordering a 135in TV and it arrives in a tube. How cool would it be to simply unravel it and stick it to the wall? We don’t know what’s around the corner, but we do know that whatever’s next is going to be amazing.

Whilst we wait for Micro-LED to become more affordable, or for rollable OLED to become a thing, the only way to get that three-metre-wide image is to use a projector.

But size isn’t everything. The most remarkable thing to have happened in the TV space this year is the launch of QD-OLED. This takes all the best things from quantum dot LED screens and combines it with the power of OLED. Up until now OLED TVs have struggled with the brightness required for great HDR. To counter this, LG OLED uses red, green, blue and white subpixels. This means that on the very brightest parts of the image the white pixel kicks in to give that HDR pop we’ve come to expect. The downside is that it washes out the colour on the brightest part of the image.

QD-OLED differs by going back to the three-sub pixel system. But rather than taking a white OLED and putting filters in front to create the colour, they use quantum dots instead. This time blue OLEDs are used as they have the most energy. And rather than filtering out twothirds of the light, the quantum dots change the wavelength to either red or green so none of the energy is wasted, making QD-OLED brighter and more efficient than W-OLED. Currently Sony has QD-OLED screens available as 55in and 65in. So, right now, if you want ‘the best’ TV you’ll have to stick to these more modest sizes.