Few of us have 20 grand sitting idle in our bank accounts to indulge in an 84-inch, 4K Ultra HD television, so thankfully LG has chopped the price down to size for its two latest models.
LG announced the immediate availability of two new Ultra HD (or UHD) televisions unveiled this week at a VIP event at the Video & Audio Center retail store in Santa Monica, Calif.
Unlike the company's 84-inch monster that carries a $19,999.99 (about £13,238/AU$22,092) price tag, the latest Ultra HD LA9700 series is priced for the moderately wealthy instead of only the filthy rich.
"With a wider range of sizes at more attractive prices, even more consumers can enjoy the amazing picture clarity that Ultra HD TVs provide," LG Electronics USA Senior Vice President Jay Vandenbree said.
Not-so ultra price
LG's Ultra HD LA9700 series includes a 55-inch (54.6-inch diagonal) 55LA9700 model priced at a still-hefty $5,999.99 (about £3,971/AU$6,628), as well as the 65-inch (64.7-inch diagonal) 65LA9700 for $7,999.99 (about £5,295/AU$8,837).
Samsung, you may recall, recently announced the availability of its own 65- and 55-inch UHD models. Those sets, launched in South Korea, were priced at about $5,659/£3,715/AU$5891 for the 55 incher and about $7,869/£5,166/AU$8,192 for its bigger brother.
UHD offers a 3840 x 2160 resolution, which packs four times the number of pixels into its display than current 1080p HDTVs. For now, the sets are only available in So Cal, and a U.S. roll out at Video & Audio Center stores is forthcoming. We'll keep an ear out for international availability.
LG's LA9700 series also marks the debut of the latest H.265 high efficiency video coding (HEVC) decoder, which offers a bit of future-proofing when the day comes that content providers begin implementing the higher-res standard.
- Read more about LG's first foray into Ultra HD with its 84-inch TV.
