CES 2018 saw Samsung present The Wall, a 146-inch concept TV built out of microLED technology. Now the S. Korean company says the TV is set to become an actual product, with mass production starting on September 2018.
According to the Korea Herald, the TV will find use in both commercial and consumer markets, with applications including luxury mansions, hotels, shops, stadiums, museums and convention centres. Interestingly, Samsung insists the Wall is a "display" or "screen," not a TV, since the technology allows for a custom set based on the number of display pieces customers want to attach to a, well, wall.
“We wouldn’t need to use the word TV for upcoming products,” Samsung tells the Korea Herald. “Consumers will be able to do anything they want with displays or screens that they feel comfortable with, just like mobile displays.”
In addition, the consumer version will be different from the one seen at CES-- described as "luxury" for home entertainment, it will be 30mm thin, down from the 80mm of the prototype seen at show.
MicroLED technology lies somewhere between OLED and regular LED. Like OLEDs, microLEDs are light-emitting, negating the need for a backlight, have a high 10000:1 contrast ratio and "true" blacks. However microLEDs are built using inorganic materials, meaning they last longer and suffer less from pixel burn-in than organic-based OLEDs, at least according to Samsung.
Go Samsung Ready for Mass Production of MicroLED Displays (The Korea Herald)