LG Electronics is best known for its premium OLED TVs, but the company’s display making expertise spans much more than that. It’s also one of the pioneers of a newer, more exciting technology called MicroLED, and it’s this that provides the foundation of its latest, most stunning new home cinema display.
It’s called the LG Magnit Active Micro LED TV, and it is absolutely gargantuan, measuring 136-inches diagonally, offering a projector-like experience that promises unparalleled picture quality.
Unlike its previous Magnit TV models, which were also based on MicroLED tech, the Magnit Active Micro LED TV is the first to feature Active Matrix technology, enabling more enhanced pixel control to reproduce scenes more realistically than anything else before it.
Some readers may be familiar with MicroLED display technology, even if they don’t actually own such a display. Very few people do, because although it’s said to be superior to OLED, its cost is vastly superior too. In other words, they’re very, very expensive, but if you have the cash, you may consider that the Magnit Active Micro LED TV is a worthwhile investment.
MicroLED goes beyond OLED, with self-emissive pixels that don’t require the organic compounds that can limit brightness and degrade over time. It works much the same way, with each pixel generating its own light, but it can achieve much higher brightness to deliver exceptional contrast and the deepest blacks.
With the Magnit Active Micro LED TV, LG is adding Active Matrix control into the mix for the first time. Whereas traditional “passive matrix” systems control pixels by rows or columns, the Active Matrix tech allows each of the millions of tiny pixels to be controlled independently of every other, meaning that imagery can be reproduced far more realistically on this TV.
As a result, LG is claiming a world-beating 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, which should translate to some of the most refined 4K resolution details ever seen on a TV – even one as large as this, at more than three metres wide and 1.7 metres tall. The company also noted that the Magnit Active Micro LED TV has been certified by TÜV Rheinland for Colour Consistency Wide Viewing, which means it’s able to replicate accurate pictures with uniform colour and contrast at the widest viewing angles.
LG had a lot to say about the Magnit Active Micro LED TV, explaining that it has used its proprietary surface treatment tech to enable even deeper blacks and minimise the impact of ambient light on colour accuracy. Moreover, it has refined its modular design, so the gaps between the MicroLED panels that make up the TV are barely visible.
The company said it’s powered by its most advanced α9 AI Processor 6th Generation chip, which applies AI algorithms to analyse whatever content is being fed into the TV in real time, so it can optimise the picture on screen on a scene-by-scene basis. According to LG, the chip is able to recognise different elements such as people, faces, objects, backgrounds and text and refine and sharpen these individually, while stripping out any noise in the signals. It promised that it helps everything to look much more natural compared to any other kind of TV picture.
All of the expected features, such as seamless gaming and Dolby Vision HDR support are on board, enhanced by the display’s 144Hz refresh rate, while the sound is generated by integrated speakers on both sides of the TV. LG said this is a 4.2-channel built-in sound system that delivers a total of 100-watts of sound. The HDMI ports support enhanced Audio Return Channel to support lossless playback.
As always, LG’s webOS software is there, providing access to streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime, as well as the company’s own free but ad-supported LG Channels streaming service. Alternatively, users can take advantage of Apple AirPlay 2 and Miracast to mirror content from iPhone and Android devices.
The LG Magnit Active Micro LED TV launched in South Korea today, and is expected to roll out in the United States next, followed by Europe and the U.K. Unfortunately, the company has not said anything about how much it intends to charge for the TV, but given its luxury status, it’s very likely that if you have to ask, you almost certainly can’t afford to buy one.
LG said it will also launch a “scaled” version of the TV, meaning bigger, for business applications, as well as a fully modular Active Micro LED video wall.
