A reader by the name of Roy Harris mentioned that he had read about LG having a 21:9 TV that looked amazing. It was large, it was UHD, and it looked like it could challenge the world of projection. Problem is, later he couldn’t find anything about it and had no idea where he read about it from. So he asked us what we knew about it, and if it was going to be available.
The answer, was nothing. It somewhat sounded familiar, but it was something we hadn’t poked our heads into just yet, and as he said, information was pretty dry when you didn’t have a model number to look for.
We couldn’t get any information out of LG about it for some reason, but the deja vu of knowing we had seen something about it at some point, led to a road trip of breadcrumbs. At the end of the trail was Fry’s Electronics, and the 105UC9. A massive 105-inch TV that looks more like two TV’s put together side-by-side. The 21:9 ratio truly shines with this TV. It doesn’t just stop there. It is a 4K UHD TV (although Fry’s displays it as being a higher resolution due to the extra width), and it is curved. One of the few curved TVs that really makes “the curve” more than just a marketing gimmick.
It’s a great TV, and we wanted to tear it apart. Sadly, we have never had any interaction with Fry’s in our history, and they were not ready just yet to play ball with the press when we asked to hook various gadgets to it to see what it can accomplish (*insert evil grin*. Thus, we were stuck to the demo content that was playing, and no toying with the calibration. They were no fun, but we fully understood and didn’t push the point. Our calibration tests are much better performed behind our own doors, and not in the middle of a retail store (sometimes the inner geek just wants to come out no matter the location).
What we can say, is that the 105UC9 is an amazing TV. It really does feel larger than life in front of you, and the curve actually does compliment it. The detail in the picture was superb and the extra pixels could very easily bring a different kind of enjoyment out of movies (the new “wide”). We can’t say that the 21:9 format will replace 16:9, as the extra height has it’s benefits all the same, but it was fun to experience.
Colors were very accurate, and there wasn’t any noticeable motion trail in fast moving images. Just a whole lot of yum. The only issue with this TV, is that you won’t be getting your hands on it any time soon.
The TV is just a demo, showing off LG technologies. An all-in-one wonder of things available and things to come. That doesn’t mean it isn’t available per-say, as it does have a price tag on it. Either made quite high to prevent people from asking, or it simply does just cost that much. Regardless of it the price is real or not, at $99,999, it is likely that you won’t be breaking the bank to get one any time soon.
LG isn’t the only company showing off a TV of its kind though. Samsung has their UN105S9 TV, which is also 105-inches, 21:9, curved, 4K and amazing. Their price tag isn’t any better as it comes in at $120,000 (you better start saving).
