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At $25K, LG’s 97-inch G2 OLED is actually a bargain

Caleb Denison
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No doubt, the LG 97-inch G2 OLED is crazy-town expensive for a TV, but considering what it does? It’s actually a bargain.

Look, I’m not here trying to convince anyone reading this article that anyone needs a $25,000 TV — that’s LG’s job. This is really about me helping to make sense of a world that’s really hard to understand for anyone who isn’t really wealthy. This is me justifying a somewhat extravagant luxury for a demographic of onlookers who might love to own a 97-inch OLED TV, but who have zero shot of doing so until such a thing doesn’t cost as much as a compact car.

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Also, let’s just be honest, talking about outrageously expensive AV gear is just super fun for me. So, you know, thanks for the indulgence. Here we go.

No projector can touch it

I reckon that statement may trigger some AV geeks out there. Yes, my brethren, I know that Sony’s GTZ380 projector can go toe to toe with the LG G2 OLED in terms of HDR brightness, but that projector starts at $90,000, and that’s before the cost of a screen, installation, and sound system.

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Sure, we could step down to Sony’s half-as-bright-but-still-very-impressive VPL XW7000ES projector which, at $27K, gets us a little closer to the G2’s asking price, but we still need a screen, installation, and sound.

My point is that a high-performance 97-inch TV is not only going to beat the pants off of any comparably priced projector/screen setup in terms of performance, but it’s going to be easier to use and more reliable. Very little is built into a projector — certainly no streaming apps, or casting capabilities. And while TV speakers generally aren’t awesome, projectors come with none at all.

LG 97-inch G2 OLED with colorfol paint on screen
Image used with permission by copyright holder

By all accounts, the 97-inch LG G2 OLED is one of the best ways to get a truly high-performance, big-screen experience at home with a minimum of hassle, and I think that’s worth paying for.

It’s not ridiculously expensive

As far as first-ever, groundbreaking TVs go, the 97-inch LG G2 isn’t priced that high. Consider what the first consumer 4K TV cost when it was introduced 10 years ago. Sony’s 84-inch Bravia XBR-84X900 LED TV, also introduced at CEDIA Expo, ran $25,000 at the time. That’s 13 inches less of inferior TV technology for $25,000 — and that’s 2012 dollars. Adjusted for (recently insane) inflation, that’s roughly equivalent to $32,250 in 2022.

LG Signature Series rollable OLED TV R (65R9)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s not just batsh*t-crazy outrageous, either

Were someone to proclaim that a $25,000 97-inch TV was obscene, I would feel the need to help them adjust their perception by pointing out that LG’s rollable OLED TV, the OLED R, is a mere 65-inches in screen size and costs a whopping $100,000.

I’m sorry, what were you just saying about the $25,000 TV? Oh, that you’d like to have four of them? Good call.

Sounds like a bargain to me.

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Caleb Denison
Caleb Denison
Editor at Large
Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…
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