Go big or Go home isn’t a catchphrase that any TV brand can own, because they are all doing it – but Samsung has a secret weapon when it comes to the long-term future of the TV in our homes and that’s their advanced progress on Micro LED TVs which as we discovered at IFA in Berlin, are coming to Australia this year.

After Samsung’s press conference at IFA in Berlin which focussed a lot on food, and cooking and for good reason from an Australian perspective with their launch of cookware for Aussies being a key announcement for the company, I took a wonder around their booth – which, by the way, is enormous and probably the greatest demonstration of Samsung’s product and ecosystem they put on anywhere in the world.

Anyway, I had a look through the TV section to make sure I’d had eyes on the stunning 98” Neo QLED 8K – but whenever I’m at these shows I’m always drawn to Samsung’s Micro LED TV display.

For the uninitiated, Micro LED is the technology that powers Samsung’s “The Wall” TVs, and is a high quality pixel dense version of the advertising billboards you see around that are all digital. Just LED lights that turn on and off and display a picture, but in the case of Micro LED those “LED Lights” are utterly tiny.

The technology is actually packed into squares, lets call them blocks. These blocks are assembled into the shape of a screen, and together create a big-screen for you to watch.

But – Whenever I’ve seen them, at any brand’s Micro LED display – I’ve stood, I’ve watched and I’ve spotted the seam between those blocks.

Not at IFA. Samsung has clearly worked harder than ever to really advance this technology and I thought to myself, this looks consumer ready, this looks like something I could have at my home and not be frustrated by the blocks being visible all over the TV.

So, I grabbed some time with Jeremy Senior, Vice President, Consumer Electronics at Samsung Australia who looks after Appliances, TVs and such – and asked him the simple question – when can Australian’s buy a Samsung Micro LED TV. His answer shocked me – “we will have the ability to sell this as a bespoke order in fourth quarter of this year.”

Basically what that means is, the factories are doing what they need to do, Samsung Australia has made their way to the front of the supply queue and if you’ve got the cash – you can get one.

It’s not the kind of thing you’ll see on display at Harvey Norman though, Senior telling EFTM “this isn’t a product that we’re gonna be putting on a shop floor, simply given where it is in its evolution at the moment, it’s a very premium product.” But they will sell you one, if you want it – “we’ll be selling it in a considered fashion with individuals who are interested in buying it.”

Again, let me translate – it’s going to be very expensive, but if have the cash, and ask the right person, they’ll order you one.

Leaving aside that early adopter buy-in, just why do we need a TV that could be as big as 140 inches? Well, Jeremey Senior makes a good point, saying “a panel screen (LCD etc) can only go so far, and it’s also about wanting to make sure that ultimately with Micro LED you’re not fixed to having to display it in a rectangle, you can make the Micro LED screen fit the space that you have available.”

And there’s one big reason why this whole product range is appealing for the long term as Senior points out “we do know that Australians love big TVs more than any other country in the world. And the bigger we go, the more challenges we are going to have getting into people’s homes””

How does Micro LED solve that challenge? Simple – “The benefit of Micro LED is that you can break it down to move it and transport it, making even the bigger screen easy to get into people’s homes “

So there we have it, 98 inches, 100 inches, that’s child’s play compared to what’s coming – dream big, you never know – Samsung’s Micro LED might be the answer.

For now, it’s a Lotto winning situation, but down the track, Micro LED could become just another Premium TV type!

 

TrendForce 2023 Global LED Video Wall Market Outlook and Price Cost Analysis
Release Date: 28 September 2022
Language: Traditional Chinese / English
Format: PDF
Page: 238

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