If you’ve got some spare change lying around and you happen to be in the market for a new big-screen TV, then perhaps you should be looking at LG’s latest moving picture viewer, the 105UC9 which launched in the country this morning.
For a cool R1 million you can get yourself a curved 105 inch IPS display with a cinematic aspect ratio of 21:9 and a mind-blowingly high 5 120×2 160 resolution. The TV sits on a 7.2 channel virtual surround sound speaker system which acts as the base and stand for the 105 inch monster.
It takes around four to six weeks for your LG 105UC9 to be delivered from the date of order so, in order for LG to keep pitchfork-wielding customers at bay an 84 inch UHD TV is included in the purchase price and delivered immediately. Once the 105UC9 arrives on their doorstep, customers can keep the R250 000 84 inch TV for ‘free’ as a “value add”, according to the folks at LG.
The 105 inch television was first announced at CES in January 2014 and, like the rest of LG’s 2014 smart TV range, runs on the WebOS operating system, something which will be instantly familiar to only the most avid smartphone geeks out there. WebOS is a near-defunct smartphone operating system developed by Palm; yes, the same guys who used to make Palm Pilot personal assistants. It was acquired by HP to be used on the company’s smartphones and tablets but was later open sourced and then sold off to LG.
From our initial hands-on time with the 105UC9 we can confirm that the WebOS operating system absolutely flies, switching from one application to another with the minimal fuss we would expect from a TV with a seven-figure price tag. As advertise, curved displays – particularly those that can crank up their brightness to extremely high levels – definitely do help to alleviate some of the issues with glare normally associated with LED TVs in bright sunlight. The launch event took place in a brightly lit room with loads of natural light and the LG 105UC9 managed to easily outshine the competing sunlight.
With two units already sold before the launch, LG South Africa clearly has a market for insanely large televisions; the only trick now is to find a wealthy benefactor in time for Christmas to give them a third sale.
