- You can’t afford it
- You don’t have room for that
- It’s probably pretty cool, though
When we saw Samsung’s world’s first 130-inch RGB TV in person in January, we thought it looked stunning, but it wasn’t clear whether it would actually go on sale — at the time, Samsung said it was just a concept, but now there are more rumors that it might happen.
But now a new report suggests that if it becomes available to buy, it will cost very, very expensive.
A huge TV in “expensive” shock, I know. But there is a significant increase in production costs between the current 115-inch/116-inch panels and the 130-inch ones, so there will likely be a very significant cost for early adopters.
How much will a 130 inch TV cost?
The current flagship extra-large TVs are 116-inch models, such as the Hisense 116UX, which had an introductory price of $29,999 / £24,999 / AU$39,999.
According to research firm Counterpoint, reported by FlatpanelsHD, the cost of a 130-inch LCD panel is almost 1.5 times that of a 115-inch panel.
It’s tempting to take the calculator and multiply the cost of the Hisense 116UX by 150%, but the panel is only part of the cost of a TV. While this is a significant part of the overall nomenclature, other factors come into play, including the processor, the audio system – in the Samsung’s case, 14 built-in bass units – and the cost of engineering and building the frame for such a large and heavy panel. Some of them may cost more than a 115-inch TV, others may cost the same.
(If you’re wondering about the raw value proposition here, a 130-inch screen is 27% larger than a 115-inch screen in terms of surface area – so a 50% higher price for 27% more screen.)
It’s clear that the first 130-inch LCD TVs will be out of reach for most of us, but their role isn’t really to sell in large numbers: early flagships are there to showcase new technologies and to burnish brands’ reputations as market leaders, so they’re only really bought by the wealthiest early adopters.
As we said about Samsung’s 130-inch prototype, “it’s a big, flashy showcase.” Each new generation of television technology started with exorbitant prices, then became much cheaper in a relatively short period of time as manufacturing improved and became more efficient.
Assuming you’re in the market for one of the newer TVs, there’s also the issue of performance. The advice “never buy a 1.0 product” is an old technology principle, and it also applies to TVs: for example, when we reviewed the Hisense 116UX, we noted that it had screen uniformity issues and struggled with some dark scenes.
With each new wave of TV technology, we’ve seen panels and the TVs that house them improve over time – and prices drop – and it’s quite likely that the same thing will happen with these even larger flagships. So, at first, a high-end 130-incher might be between $40,000 and $45,000 – but later, who knows? Maybe you’ll only pay a bargain $20,000. I will have two!
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