Samsung Electronics has revealed that its highly anticipated, consumer-grade 110-inch MICRO LED TV is now available to preorder at the Harrods Department Store in London.
Samsung first unveiled its MICRO LED TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The company says it is based on its most advanced and impressive display technology yet. MicroLED uses microscopic, self-illuminating LEDs to produce extremely vivid colours and increased brightness control and contrast, resulting in an incredibly detailed picture that many say is superior to OLED. It has other advantages too, such as no risk of image retention and a modular panel structure that makes it easier to create much larger screen sizes. One of Samsung’s earliest MicroLED models, built for commercial use, measured a whopping 292-inches for example.
Lucky buyers will also be delighted by the TV’s hand-crafted engineering, and its embedded Majestic Sound System, which is said to produce immersive 5.1 channel sound with no need for an external speaker. The Samsung MICRO LED TV also performs a neat trick with its Multi View feature that enables the screen to be split into four pictures at once. So the 110-inch model can be divided into four separate 55-inch screens. It means that if you want to watch a couple of different channels, play games and also keep an eye on front door CCTV camera, you’ll be able to do so. Each of the four sections have their own separate volume control too.
The Samsung MICRO LED TV is a luxurious model no doubt, and that may explain why no pricing was reported. What we do know is that it will be very, very expensive, with reports earlier this year suggesting a price tag of more than £100,000. So you’ll probably need to be a Bitcoin investor or a Premier League footballer if you want to entertain the idea of actually buying one.
Samsung’s choice of Harrods as its launch partner for the MICRO LED TV isn’t really a surprise, as the company previously partnered with the luxury department store on the launch of its first Micro LED display, called The Wall Luxe, which is still on display at the store. And of course, Harrods is associated with the kind of rich and famous buyers that Samsung is eager to target.
“The arrival of the MICRO LED screen is the latest addition to our already impressive Samsung collection at Harrods, following 2019’s Samsung store launch at Harrods, and the arrival of The Wall Luxe,” said Annalise Fard, director of home and technology at Harrods. “We know the MICRO LED screen will be a must-see for Harrods tech lovers and film and T.V. buffs alike.”
Samsung has said in the past that it believes MicroLED will one day become a mainstream display technology though, and the company has also promised to launch smaller versions of 99-inches and 88-inches later this year, as well as a 76-inch model some time in the future.
A smaller model should help to bring down the costs a little, but the main hope for an affordable MicroLED TV lies in Samsung’s efforts to reduce the number of steps involved in manufacturing them. In February it was reported that Samsung is looking to apply a technique known as RGB (red, green and blue) one-chip transfer technology. If Samsung is successful, the technique would increase the size of each individual chip used in the MicroLED displays, and that should make it possible to transfer them onto printed circuit boards more easily, thereby minimising production defects and improving yields. But for now it’s a work in progress, and most experts say it will be some years before MicroLED will become affordable enough to go mainstream.
In the meantime, Samsung enthusiasts that don’t own a luxury yacht will at least be able to console themselves with one of the company’s new Neo QLED range of TVs based on Mini-LED technology that uses thousands of miniaturised, but alas, regular LED pixels to enhance local dimming.
