Roku has announced that it’s getting into the TV hardware game with the launch of its very first, Roku-branded LCD TVs. What’s more, there may be more to come as the company also released a new OLED reference design for manufacturers interested in building Roku TVs.
The OLED announcement at CES 2023 is a notable milestone for Roku, which has created similar reference designs for partners to base their own TVs on for 2K, 4K and 8K LCD TVs in the past. According to the company, the OLED reference model is available immediately to all interested partners and will enable “best in class streaming” at a range of price points. Roku added that the design will ensure “superb picture quality, inky black levels, outstanding contrast, highly saturated colours, smooth motion and superior viewing angles.”
It sounds like an awful lot of must-have characteristics, but we should note that Roku hasn’t revealed any specifics regarding the details of the design. That said, Roku’s VP of Business Development Tom McFarland promised that “in addition to the beautiful picture quality and our simple and easy-to-use operating system, the Roku TV program enables many of the top TV brands to offer consumers a wide variety of models and sizes to choose from.”
With Roku simultaneously making its own move into TV hardware, the possibility of the company making its own OLED-branded television cannot be ruled out somewhere down the line. For now though, anyone who wants a Roku TV will have to make do with its lower-priced LCD TV models, which will be available in small sizes starting at just 24-inches (priced at $119, or about £98), all the way up to 75-inches (costing $999, or £830).
For that money you’ll get a reasonably capable LCD TV that’s outfitted with the company’s popular Roku OS TV platform, which is known for its slick user interface, complete catalogue of apps and other features.
Roku has penciled in a spring 2023 release date for its TVs, but didn’t provide much detail about their specifications. What we do know is that it will offer a range of models, starting with the entry-level Select series, which are regular HD TVs, and a Plus series with 4K resolution.
The Roku Select TVs will come with a Roku Voice Remote, while the Roku Plus TVs will instead have a Roku Voice Remote Pro model, though it didn’t specify what the differences are.
The company also spoke of an expanded audio ecosystem, with the TVs able to integrate with its own, Roku-branded wireless soundbar. They’ll also support Roku features such as Find My Remote, Private Listening and more. From all that we’ve heard, we can expect these TVs to compete with other lower-cost Roku TV models from brands such as Toshiba, Hisense and TCL.
In other words, the Roku TVs certainly aren’t going to rival LG’s or Samsung’s flagship televisions, but they may be a decent option for those buyers who’re looking for a decent budget-priced option. All the more so if they happen to own other Roku devices.
