Remember when TVs used to be boxy things that barely fit on a table? Well LG’s new flagship TV W might as well be from a different universe, let alone a different era.
Yep, the 77W7 is one skinny son of a gun, so much so that LG has dubbed it “the world’s first Wallpaper TV”.
To be honest, when you invent the category yourself you can call a TV anything you like, so we don’t put too much stock in that – but it is exceedingly svelte for its 77in screen size: a mere 2.67mm. In fact, it’s so skinny that it doesn’t even use a traditional screw-based wall mount, but fixes to your wall via magnets.
But that’s not all… Because if there’s one thing we can always count on CES for, it’s a load of new TV launches, and LG is packing in more pixel-packed flatties than most of its rivals. Here are the highlights of the range, starting with the aforementioned 77W7.
LG SIGNATURE 77W7
The Signature models are LG’s highest specced TVs, sitting right at the top of the range and doubtless commanding a price that’ll bring tears to the eyes of anybody who isn’t a member of the 1 per cent.
The 77W7 is special even by those standards though. As well as being ridiculously thin and mounting to wall via magnets, it packs in every bit of tech you could desire: OLED, 4K (naturally), support for all current forms of HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10 and new Hybrid Log-Gamma and Advanced HDR by Technicolor), and the new webOS 3.5 Smart TV platform.
That’s interesting enough in its own right, bringing as it does a bunch of new video streaming stuff to the fore – including 360-degree videos. Quite how well those’ll work on a TV remains to be seen, but top marks for effort, LG.
Oh, and there’s Dolby Atmos audio too, which comes out of a separate soundbar speaker (the TV’s too skinny to have its own integrated audio, of course).
LG 65G7
A step down in the TV range is the 2017 G7 OLED set, which aside from the expected 4K HDR support and ultra-wide viewing angles is the first TV ever to offer built-in Dolby Atmos speakers.
Atmos is surround sound gone wild, basically, delivering sound effects that appear to come from above the viewer’s head. If you’re looking for a telly that wraps you in sound, this 65 incher could be the set to beat.
The only question on our lips? How well can integrated TV speakers create the Atmos experience (which usually comes out of dedicated home cinema speakers)? Time will tell, audio fans.
LG 75UJ6570
Promising to be a bit more affordable (not to mention less power-hungry) than the above models, this 75in non-OLED, non-HDR screen uses standard IPS LCD display tech. But LG says that it’s made vast improvements to performance across the board and will outperform Samsung’s quantum dot screens when it comes to colour reproduction.
We’ll have to see about that, of course, but it seems that LG has taken on board some reviewers’ criticisms of IPS tech when it comes to black levels and contrast and made tweaks to compensate.
LG’s model numbers may change between CES and when they land here, as they often do for a South African release, but they should all be packing the same impressive specs and tech. There’s no word on pricing yet, but don’t expect any of them to come cheap. Or even mildly expensive. Hell, let’s be honest – they’ll cost a fortune.
