Consumers and experts alike are still picking up their dropped jaws after Samsung revealed its new 105-inch 4K curved TV and its certifiably absurd price point of $120,000 last week. And they may just want to leave them there now that LG has joined the party, announcing its own 105-inch, 5K 21:9 curved Ultra-HD TV is ready for pre-order, starting in South Korea. In its press release for the mega-screen, LG explains that it expanded the width of the TV to amass 11 million pixels for a resolution of 5120 x 2160, trouncing both consumer and industry 4K resolution, hence the “5K” labeling.
We had a chance to witness the 105UC9’s incredible immersive capabilities at CES in January and were thoroughly impressed with the display’s ability to draw us into an awe-inspiring, theater-like experience. Like the Samsung monster, LG’s version curves into a cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio, to create a Cinemascope-shaped screen that does an excellent job of emulating the experience of sitting back and absorbing a humbling, all-encompassing blast of audio-visual stimuli at high-end movie theaters.
So far there’s been no official word from LG on the TV’s estimated price in the U.S., though some sites have attempted to come up with a USD estimate by translating the Korean version of the press release. Engadget, Gizmodo, and TechRadar each report that the Korean release indicates a pre-order price of 120 million Korean Won, a figure that comes out to about $117,000 ($3,000 less than the comparable panel from Samsung). One immediate difference between the two behemoth TVs is LG’s inclusion of audio in its model. The 105UC9 has a built-in 7.2 channel, 150W sound system that incorporates LG’s Ultra Surround concept developed in partnership with Harman Kardon.
LG’s been sitting on this golden egg since it first revealed the goliath way back in December 2013, and at that time the TV maker released pricing details alluding to a potential MSRP of $70,000. It appears that the price may have grown a bit since then, perhaps because of the monstrous price tag Samsung has ascribed to its 105-incher. But either way, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for any official specifics: “Prices and exact dates of availability will be announced locally,” according to the release.
LG will purportedly begin shipping its panels within the next few days in Korea, and promises the TV will be rolled out in other markets “from the fourth quarter.” We will update this post with any further information we receive in regard to U.S. release dates and pricing.
(note: since first revealing the screen in December 2013, LG has changed the device’s model name from 105UB9 to 105UC9)
