Each summer, the consumer electronics industry gets together in New York for CE Week, a sort of “family reunion” that bridges the gap between the big International CES conventions held during January in Las Vegas each year. It’s an opportunity to break news on big new technology developments and launch long-anticipated products with media and analysts looking on. Today, in anticipation of CE Week’s kickoff tomorrow, LG has launched its 2014 Ultra HD television lineup, complete with pricing so aggressive, the choice to step up to Ultra HD just got a whole lot easier.
The new lineup, made up of seven different screen sizes across three model series, is LG’s third generation of Ultra HD televisions. Given the technology is still in its “toddler” stages, it’s surprising to see that pricing has slipped down so quickly.
All of LG’s Ultra HD televisions this year will feature the company’s IPS panel, which Digital Trends has noted offers superior off-axis performance and generally excellent color accuracy. Every UHD model will also sport LG’s newly-developed webOS-based smart TV platform, which we recently reported as being a groundbreaking development in Smart TV platforms – the system is remarkably pleasant and easy to use. As a bonus, anyone who purchases an LG Ultra HD television by August 16 will get a 12-month free subscription to Netflix, which now streams a handful of TV series and movies in Ultra HD resolution.
Here’s a breakdown of the series, sizes and pricing:
The UB8500 series is LG’s most competitively priced of the three series launched today. The two screen sizes in this series provide LED edge-lighting with local dimming, webOS smart TV platform and H.265 (HEVC) decoding of Ultra HD content, which is necessary for watching streaming Ultra HD content from services like Netflix. Expect a 20-watt speaker system and a basic, yet attractive TV stand and thin bezel with this series. A 49-inch and 55-inch model will be priced $1500 and $2000, respectively.
The UB9500 series maintains the aforementioned features, but steps up the style a bit and throws in a more powerful, 35-watt 2.1 speaker system, which adds a subwoofer for more powerful bass. This series boasts 55- and 65-inch screen sizes priced at $2,500 and $3,500, respectively.
LG’s flagship series for 2014 is all about “big” – both big picture and big sound. For this series, LG partnered with Harman Kardon to develop audio solutions that will rival most sound bars and sound bases. Screen sizes include 65, 79 and 84-inch models with 70W 4.2, 90W 5.2 and 120W 5.2 audio (respectively), priced at $4500, $8000 and $15,000, respectively.
Digital Trends does expect a massive 98-inch model later this year, but LG isn’t offering details on that model at the moment.
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