The up and coming Austrian TV brand Thomson is looking to muscle into the European market for super-sized TVs with the launch of its latest, 100-inch LED model featuring the Google TV operating system.
Thomson is looking to capitalise on a trend towards bigger televisions that has accelerated rapidly in the last couple of years. Consumers are eagerly embracing super-sized TVs of 90-inches and above in a scramble to transform their living rooms into mini-theatres.
Just a few years ago, it used to be that most living room TVs maxed out at around 65-inches, and that seemed pretty huge already for many of us. But these days, many people see such TVs as rather piddling, with 75-inch, 85-inch, 98-inch and now even 100-inch-plus TV sizes now becoming somewhat standard.
The trend is being accelerated by the falling prices of televisions in general, particularly those with LCD displays, which have become extremely cheap to manufacture as a result of China’s dominance of that industry.
Of course, 100-inch TVs are not that far off the scale of your average projector, but they provide a key advantage in that the picture quality is far superior, and there’s no need to try and darken the room first.
Thomson is an emerging brand based in Austria. It’s owned by a company called Streamview, and thus far it has made a name for itself in the market for streaming sticks, selling a range of high-quality yet affordable dongles that transform older boxes into smart TVs.
The Thomson 100QG7S14 is a 100-inch Google TV that features a 4K Quantum Dot panel with direct LED backlighting. The panel has a 144Hz refresh rate, and the TV comes with a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports, making it a good looking option for console gamers. Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound are also onboard.
Other features include Google Cast, meaning it has Chromecast-like screen mirroring functionality, and there’s a backlit remote control thrown in. Google TV means access to hundreds of apps.
With the launch of the Thomson 100QG7S14, the company is looking to compete with the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi, TCL and Hisense, which all sell a range of televisions in jumbo sizes.
According to FlatPanels HD, this is just a taste of things to come, for Thomson also has plans to launch some very price-competitive OLED and Mini-LED TVs later this year. The company appears determined to become a force in the European TV market, but it’s not clear if it has plans to sell its televisions and streaming sticks in further-flung countries.
Thomson said the 100QG7S14 TV is the flagship model within its 2025 QG7 series TVs, and there are many smaller sizes to choose from if you’d rather keep a bit of space to walk around in your living room, with the smallest starting at 43-inches.
Just be aware that while the 100-inch model is certainly priced favorably compared to rival offerings of the same size, it’s still not exactly cheap. Thomson said it will be priced at anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 euros (between ₤2,545 and ₤3,399), depending on the country.
