Bendy or barmy: Why your next TV will be curved For a while it looked like the future of television was fairly clear-cut. Full HD would beget 4K Ultra HD and at some point in the future, presumably when we all owned flying cars and had relatives commuting to Mars, that would evolve into 8K Super Hi-Vision. Apart from trifling things like resolution, colour gamut and frame …
The pincushion effect is noticeable, on a wide screen with a short projection distance the edges of the image bow outwards noticeably, curving the screen fixes this, I'm not sure the light striking the screen at different times is relevant but it would be a side effect of fixing pincushion distortion by curving the screen and sounds good in marketing literature.
Was pincushion distortion, if it exists outside curved TV sales meetings, reduced by the old fashioned curved (outwards) CRT screens ?
Yes. When TVs moved from scanning an angle of 90degrees to 110, to allow a wider and flatter screen without getting deeper, the correction circuitry for things like pincushion distortion got much more complex. Anywhere that you're projecting the image of a sphere onto a non-spherical surface will result in pincushion distortion. It's particularly awkward with colour TVs that have three guns (RGB) in a triangular pattern, since each gun needs it's own, different, correction.
I think the angle of the curve and the displacement of the screen are being grossly overestimated.
How to affix to a wall:
In the back middle it will essentially be flat, so you will affix it the same way you would any regular flat TV.
And on the subject of hazards; Would you really affix a huge TV to a wall where things sticking out slightly can create a constant sense of danger?
Having seen these curved sets in the shops, it's not just the distorted image you're supposed to see that bothered me. The inevitable reflections from dark areas of the screen are all massively distorted as well, so my viewing companions all looked like they were in a fun house hall of mirrors. Most disturbing.
"Quick lads, 3D didn't work. What can we come up with to sell more TV's?"
Engineers spent 30 years trying to get rid of the curve on TV screens. Now these geniuses want to bring it back! It's the same design mentality that put a square steering wheel into the Austin Allegro.
Curve's the other way, at least that's something!
Personally I think it's extremely vulgar looking. Surely these days most people, if they've got a properly planned room, will want to get a thin TV and wall mount it out of the way with nicely hidden cables.
We simply don't have big enough living rooms to require a curved screen.
It depends on the territory, maybe... it reminds me of the reviews of the first MS Kinect, with many UK reviewers suggesting the sensor was tuned to a larger living room than they possessed.
Purely anecdotal, but I get the impression many US homes are larger than UK houses.
Yes they are - outside the largest cities. I've lived and worked in a number of different states in the US and it is common for people with no kids (or 1 or 2 young 'uns) to live in 2, 3, 4 or even 5,000 square foot houses. One of the artifacts of this is that is hard to find furniture fior those of us who live in small flats in New York - all the sofas are 9 feet long and 4 feet deep.
What's interesting is that as the average new build house in the UK has got smaller and smaller and meaner, the average new build in the US is enormous. I didn't know there was such a thing as a 6 car garage (incorporated into the house) until I went to Nebraska. Workmanship and finishes are shockingly poor, though, and most of these houses will be literally falling down after 25-30 years. I'll be very interested to see what the far suburbs of large American cities will look like in 20 years.
I get the impression many US homes are larger than UK houses.
True enough. Apparently 2,000 square feet is pretty average for a US house. That's around 180 sqm, which is bugger all compared to Australian houses. Our pretty average 4 bed suburban, single level mind, comes out at 268 sqm, sitting on a 1,500 sqm plot. Aussies really are not impressed by size.
Means we have 2x40 inch monitors in the study, 55s in the bedrooms and a 65 in the 'media room'.
Bloody ridiculous for two people but there you go.
Even so I can't imagine we'd find a use for a bendy telly, although with the screens getting bigger it might be useful for getting em through doors or round corners!
:o)
Actually, the woman in white had the only interesting curves, cough...
Just when we were getting to a point where screens are large enough to actually make *sense* as wall decoration as well as TV (well, OK, presently for those with a fat wallet, but bear with me) some &%ç$ dolt comes up with the idea of curving them. I bet the guy used to work for Microsoft where he was responsible for the MS Office ribbon interface.
/grumble
Creating sweet spots that restrict the positions available for viewing is only one problem of a curved screen. You also lose a major advantage of the OLED screen being very thin.
Big screens will struggle to find a home if they don't fit un-obtrusively close to the wall and allow freedom to view from as much of the room as possible. Big TV for personal viewing doesn't fit well for a mass market.
We are going to need big screens to have any chance of appreciating 4k let alone the emerging 8k. They will also need to become mass market to pay for the development and production setup.
My guess is that the curve is an early gimmick to stand out in the shop. I wouldn't want a curved screen, but I'd really like a 4k/8k OLED
This wouldn't be much good for many of the front rooms I've been in, as there's rarely a sofa plonked directly in front of the TV, at a decent viewing distance from the screen. Plus, you'd have the same problem of older content being played through the modern viewing tech looking weird, as SD does through HD kit now.
BUT, for a dedicated games room with PS4, this would be frigging awesome. Imagine a full on racing seat with the latest Logitech Driving Force GT, plugged into a PS4 with the next Gran Turismo, all parked in front of a curved 78" 4k screen....
Time to buy a bigger house
BUT, for a dedicated games room with PS4, this would be frigging awesome. Imagine a full on racing seat with the latest Logitech Driving Force GT, plugged into a PS4 with the next Gran Turismo, all parked in front of a curved 78" 4k screen....
Or you could... drive a car.
I sit close to the computer screen, maybe i could do with a curved monitor, not sure, would need to test ... for tv, this is great if you only ever have 1 invite (and want to cuddle) or the misses watching it with you (close to you on the sofa) - for any of use, this tv screen sucks.
So, bottom-line, this tech sucks for 99% of us, thanks! It would make a good penthouse tv, literally, for the place.
I also sit close to the screen, Currently using a 32" TV as a monitor.
The problem I now have is that the edges are about double the distance from my eyes than the center of the screen which is enough to mean I can't read them without moving my head.
Maybe this is a solution, but it'll be a good few years till I can afford to try it.
Without wanting to get into long discussions this seems like a rehash of arguments about quadraphonic systems that give perfect sound reproduction as long as you sit in one place in the room. I'd estimate most people watch TV at 20 degrees from the perpendicular and will find these a frustration.
That's OK though. Many people won't notice. A friend of mine has invested a decent amount of cash ina nice sound system. I guess the biggest goodness comes from some nice speakers. But he goes to some effort to buy media that has surround sound. However, due to the shape of his room, the focus of the sound is on the middle seat of the sofa, and he always sits in one armchair by the telly.
Even though he's fully awre where the sweet spot is, that still doesn't override sitting in the most comfy chair. And he's one of the few people I know who will sit down and just listen to some music, while not doing anythine else at the same time.
I really think that many of these technology companies massively overestimate most consumers' level of giving-a-damn about the shiny features. Even the ones who actually understand the technical aspects will sacrifice perfection for more comfort, convenience or lower price.
Nice to see a little innovation but I can't see this catching on in a big way. 4K won't even take off until you can pick one up for around the £200-£300 or future equivalent. Given as most content in future will be streamed in whatever definition your system will cope with there will be no "forced" uptake of beyond HD. From what I have seen the "full HD" experience worth less to consumers than the "nice big thin TV" - so the drivers that changed living rooms from CRT to LCD/Plasma do not exist for LCD/Plasma HD to 4K or 3D or Curved or a combination of the three.
I may be wrong but what would be nice is a little more innovation in the Audio department - flat screen TVs have terrible to dire sound quality.
Actually improved built in speakers may me one benefit. There will be more space for something a half-decent size behind a curved screen than in a thin flat panel.
Whether they'll use that space or not is a different question.
I still don't want want though, just finished getting my TV mounted flat on the wall and connected to proper external speakers.
Id be more impressed if they designed a decent remote connection dock for all the cabling instead of having it all hanging off either the back or the side of the screen.Something with a small easily concealable flat cable that connected to the screen from several meters away thus eradicating the need for everything to connect directly.
The only reason the screens are curved is to sell TVs to stupid people who have to have the latest thing. In the '70s Hi-Fi used to change colour from Silver to Black then to Champagne and back again. TVs are good quality now, the resolutions are fine with most people so they distort the picture to invent a new must have feature. I'll buy when common sense returns to the manufactures.
A pair of curved desktop monitors sounds very cool, though I wonder if my eyes don't actually benfit from the variation in distance from looking around the screen? Not as much as just looking over the top, obviously, but being in that intense period of having just got my first 3DS XL I'm all too aware of what a fixed stare can do to your eyesight.
As has been mentioned, it's the audio argument all over again of a 'sweet spot' vs more than one viewer. Purely targetting the 'early adopter' segment and ignoring the mass-market is not a strategy that convinces me of success. But worse, it's the TV industry again inventing a new thing for which there is inadequate demand, at a time when the whole world is very short of disposable income. I wonder if it'll pan out any different this time...?
Michael Zoeller, Samsung’s European sales and marketing topper, made it clear that his brand was on a mission to change the shape of television. Having made design as important to buyers as image quality, he was confident that the time was right to make 4K UHD synonymous with curves. “There’s a lot of research out there that says the human eye is naturally drawn to strong curves,” he argued. “Our curved TVs aren’t just beautiful, they’re works of art!”
Excuse me? What did you say? I can't hear you over the sound of whalesong!
By the way old chap, you're wrong. People buy the flat panels for the nice picture - and possibly to go on the wall. The design really doesn't come into it. It's the price. I'll admit for 2 screens at the same price, people might pick on the thinner one, or one with the smallest bezel. And go for that above picture quality too!
But that should actually scare you, Dear Marketroid. Because if people are picking tellies on prettiness of surrounding plastic bits, rather than quality of screen, then you are absolutely fucked if you're hoping they're all going to rush to upgrade to 4k.
I've seen people quite happily watch in some horrible combination of settings where the TV is displaying some weird zoomed out semi-widescreen with bars on top, bottom and sides - while the original widescreen broadcast has first been compressed into 4:3 by the Sky box. So the picture covers only half the screen - and is hideously distorted via converstion through 3 different ratios. They hadn't even noticed until I pointed it out. Personally, I found it was un-watchable. Apparently I was wrong...
If you need a new TV today, get a mid range Full HD box.
Cause, if memory serves, an article on El Reg recently mentioned that the 4K standard has not yet been finalised. So why would you even think of buying a 4K tv today, curved or not, if it could be rendered obsolete in less than a year.
Anyone else feel that once you go above 50 inches its a case of which organ do I sell next? I wish they would tailor TV's to external hard drive and gaming enthusiasts. I want a TV which will play every format. Even VLC from 2011 can play everything, from cameras to downloads! But my 50 inch Samsung from 2013 won't, and they refuse to ship an update that will address it! Samsung have a Live Chat service, but you can't add your name to a request for a update.... Instead they deny there's a problem and tell you to reset the TV! Gee, Thanks!
The Samsung overall is a pretty good TV, but you can't officially browse files on external drives larger than one 1TB. In reality, 100GB - 300GB is the max, as the TV begins to struggle with drives of 500MB and above without resetting or taking an age to scroll through file names. Samsung claim they put the same firmware on all of their TV's regardless of cost, which I think is pretty poor.
In addition, they need to strengthen the screen. If you have a expandable / retractable wall mount, as its all too easy to break the screen and the warranty won't help you!
Overall, I'd like to see a TV that's heavily geared towards gamers, not just a simple gaming mode setting. I want something offering much higher levels of customisation especially when a PC gaming rig is connected. I think they're missing out on a captive audience here. What-- Curved...4K... 8K...3D...Smart... No thanks!
I think you're looking in the wrong places, look for returned tvs on sale, manufacturer refurbished ones, other refurbished options are hit and miss but manufacture refurbished from a place you trust can be an excellent resource. Also enthusiasts with money, they go through new kit every few years unless it's particularly exceptional, find where they sell the old stuff online, usually in forums where there's enough people about to ensure a certain level of trustworthiness. The kit will be a few years old, but top of the line.
If you want a smart TV you really need to just use an HTPC or another box connected to the TV, afaik no one does good smart TVs with updates. I'm sure you know the Chromecast plus a video converter is a pretty good and cheap solution. I'd love to see something like an Intel Nuc sized computer with software included with hardware and software based on open standards that you could just slot into a TV and replace it's brains. That way you could buy a smart TV brain from someone who cared enough to update it and swap it for a new one when chips got faster
"I'd love to see something like an Intel Nuc sized computer with software included with hardware and software based on open standards that you could just slot into a TV and replace it's brains. That way you could buy a smart TV brain from someone who cared enough to update it and swap it for a new one when chips got faster"
Samsung has kinda done that with the evolution kit for 7 and 8 series.
I recently watched Waterloo Bridge using my DVD player; the one Vivian Leigh thought was her best film. B&W, monaural sound, probably fairly rubbish picture definition. A truly gripping film. I think it had something to do with the screenplay and the quality of the acting, but I might be wrong.
I believe if you're looking up to a wall mounted screen you've mounted it to high. I don't have it here, but I believe the THX spec states that your eye level when seated should be roughly a 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the screen. That's the height I've got my 46" at and it feels great. I expect a curved one would too for up to 3 people if it was sufficiently large.
Now I'm waiting eagerly for the first story about some rich early-adopters mansion being burned down after a fire was started by one of these sets focussing sunlight into a sofa filled with the finest toxin-spewing tinderbox foam China can produce. 105 inch diagonal is a pretty massive surface area, and you can bet the screen is gonna be glossy as hell for that vivid colour reproduction they love so much.
“Our curved TVs aren’t just beautiful, they’re works of art!”
And who cares? People don't buy a TV to to look at the TV itself, they buy it for the pretty pictures it shows and ease of use.
Maybe people cared back when it was a big box that filled a chunk of real estate in the room, but now that it's just a screen and bezel that fits on the wall, who cares?
Ah, I see the problem he's trying to solve here! All the TVs now look alike, and This is the attempt to make theirs stand out, even if it downgrades ease of use, like those @&#$% smart TVs.
Call me again when they (the TV and media player) can playback The Hobbit in it's native 48FPS. I look forward to higher dynamic range. Higher frame rates (120FPS support would be nice). Refresh rates above 120Hz. Infinite black levels. No motion judder or blur. No clouding or halos. High contrast. Doesn't lose it's brightness after a year or two's usage or pixels going bad. Doesn't have color uniformity issues. Motion interpolation that doesn't have nasty artefacts. Doesn't have image burn or retention issues. Doesn't have a PSU or caps that buzz or need a fan that makes a noise after a few months use. I am not even interested in all the so called 'Smart' TV crap.
4K without much in the way of content isn't much use either although I agree it does look nice when you get it. Besides 4K isn't even true 4K which is why we get the UHD moniker.
Until then you can stick your curvy TV's up your curvy bottom hole!
I don't have a TV, so when I go where there is one on I tend to notice how people actually watch.
Much of the time, they don't. It's on, and they are aware of it, but they are talking, moving about, checking email, texting, whatever.
This is where 3D falls apart. It only works if everybody puts their daft glasses on and sits down and watches - which you may not be able to get the whole family to do for a film or a game or soap opera. Half the people are only vaguely interested, so when a text arrives, they take the glasses off to attend to it, and can then no longer just glance at the screen for updates as they used to.
Same problem applies if there is a "sweet spot".
All these gimmicks don't relate to the way people actually utilize a TV set.
I'm currently running a 24" 21:9 screen in flipped portrait (vertically) dedicated to a tall thin app I need open 24/7. I have a touch screen overlay for it so I can react to it quickly when I need to. I'm totally satisfied with my Sharp Aquos SE94-U Special Edition 46", List was something like $3900 but I got it manufacturer refurbished 16 months after it debuted as Sharp's top of the line model at CES at tigerdirect.com for $700. For my next TV I know I definitely want 3D, but that purchase could be 5-7 years out. There's enough content now to make 3D worth it, but it's just I don't need to purchase another TV.
4K, 8K Curved screens??? It is a load of rubbish until you have the content providers and broadcasters across the globe actually providing the ability for consumers to watch their show in those formats. The manufacturers have run out of crap to stick into TV's and they think this hype will get people to stump up the cash to but these, basically, white elephants.
In fact people will, they still fall for the Nigerian scams so why not this one :-)
This is typical of what happened here in Australia, but from a different camp, the broadcasters had a wet dream about HD so they pushed for it although there was no HD content available and it took quite a number of years for that to change.
For the rest though, I'm not interested, and a bent screen will never be on my list.
My current TV was bought in 2005 and it's working fine. Pixel Plus means the image is very good and people who see it for the first time still comment on that.
For my next TV my needs are simple : it needs to look at least as nice as what I have now, and have an Ethernet connector I can plug into my home network to stream films from my media NAS. No connecting to Internet, no complicated user interface and nothing more difficult than "show image from this source".
Make something like that and I will happily buy it.
Try to flog me some bendy "smart" thing that incessantly nags me to connect to the Internet or is a nightmare to use and I will leave it in your shop.
Curved - looks utterly stupid unless you are sat right in centre front of it. Great for the minority with home cinema rooms I suppose but for most of us with a TV in the corner of a room and a wide range of viewing angles they make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
As for 4k. I'll buy one shortly after I get the robo eye upgrade which allows me to distinguish such small pixels from the other side of my living room.
Why your next TV will be curved
The only plausible reason would be "no flat television sets are for sale". True, at the rate at which I purchase new TVs, that's possible. But it seems unlikely.
the new Samsung 4K fleet is undeniably beautiful of form
No, it isn't.
Huh. Not only was denying that possible, it was easy.
I don't know why people who write about TV sets these days find it necessary to tell their readers what they want. Surely we can figure that out for ourselves? Even Consumer Reports has started lecturing its readers: "If you're in the market for a new TV, make sure you get one that's at least X" and has 3D capability." Screw you, CR.
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