Skip to main content

Sony’s insane 16-foot Crystal LED screens will cost more than a Ferrari

Image used with permission by copyright holder

When it comes to high-end video options for your living room, most folks find themselves deciding between a high-resolution big screen TV — perhaps Samsung’s $15,000 85-inch 8K QLED, or LG’s $29,999 88-inch 8K OLED — or a serious home theater projector, like Sony’s $60,000 4K SXRD that can throw a superbly bright image up to 150 inches in size. But these options now pale in comparison to Sony’s latest announcement that it will start selling its MicroLED-based Crystal LED screens to consumers. Very, very wealthy consumers.

Recommended Videos

Sony Crystal LED is the technology behind the mind-blowingly big 16K, 17-foot-tall display that Sony showed off earlier this year. That staggering size is achieved through the combination of much smaller MicroLED panels, stacked into virtually any ratio of rectangle you can imagine. Samsung has also created MicroLED displays. The company’s The Wall is an 8K 292-inch MicroLED behemoth that has a similar ability to scaled up and down in size.

The biggest benefit to MicroLED technology — other than its ability to scale to huge sizes — is that it offers the perfect black levels and color performance of OLED screens, with the kind of brightness that bests even the brightest QLED panels. In short, it’s truly commercial-theater-grade display technology, which is why we were left with the impression that Sony had no intention of selling its Crystal LED technology to consumers. In fact, the company said that when the screens would hit the Japanese market later this year, they would be used in commercial applications like a research center for a cosmetics group.

And yet, at this year’s CEDIA expo in Colorado, Sony announced that Crystal LED displays are now available through custom installer channels. In other words, anyone with the means can buy one. What kind of means? A single 360×360-pixel module will cost $10,000 according to TechHive. If that’s true, a configuration capable of displaying a mere Full HD (1080p) image at 120 inches will require 18 modules, putting the price at $180,000. Want a 4K-capable display? You’ll need 16 feet of wall width, for a 220-inch screen that uses 72 modules. Yup, that’s $720,000.

But wait, there’s more. Sony’s technology happily scales all the way up to the same staggering 16K, 790-inch size that we thought would remain the exclusive domain of commercial movie theaters or perhaps industrial settings. At that size, you’ll need 576 modules according to Sony, and enough money to finance the $5,760,000 all of those modules will cost. We’ve reached out to Sony to confirm this pricing and will update this article once we hear back.

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Skullcandy wireless earbuds have an insane discount today
Skullcandy - Indy Evo True Wireless In-Ear Headphones - True Black

Over the last decade or so, noise-canceling technology has become a staple of Bluetooth headphones and earbuds. If you’ve been looking for a pair of in-ears to filter out unwanted noise in your home or workspace but don’t want to remortgage the house (some earbuds and headphones are very expensive), brands like Skullcandy are a great middle-ground between entry-level and premium audio. 

As it turns out, the Skullcandy Indy Evo TWS Earbuds are actually on sale this week. Purchase at Woot to score these buds for only $35. The MSRP on this model is $140. That's a $105 discount!

Read more
Wiim’s tvOS app is another slap at Sonos
Wiim Home app for tvOS.

Wiim, the wireless audio company that has been making big inroads into a market once dominated by Sonos, quietly launched a version of its Wiim Home app for Apple TV owners earlier this month. Though not groundbreaking by any means, it's yet another example of how this wireless audio upstart is moving at an incredible speed when compared to its main competitor.

Sonos and Wiim have a similar approach when it comes to the mobile apps for iOS and Android that are used to control their respective products. Sonos -- despite its horrendously botched redesign that continues to plague owners with issues -- has a more sophisticated set of features, but one thing it has never done is develop a version of its app for either tvOS or Android TV.

Read more
This 75-inch Hisense TV is brand-new and is already 20% off
Hisense 2025 ULED TV U8 Series.

When it comes to affordable TVs, one brand we recommend time and time again is Hisense. One of the main reasons is Hisense doesn’t settle for “budget-friendly” picture quality and features to match its low prices. Hisense TVs punch well above their weight class in many ways, so we were excited to discover a brand-new Hisense 4K model is already on sale! 

Right now, when you purchase the Hisense 75-inch U8QG 4K ULED, you’ll only pay $2,000. The MSRP on this model is $2,500, so you're saving $500 you can spend on soundbar deals.

Read more