[While telepresence rooms, virtual and augmented reality, IMAX theaters and simulation rides, and computers, virtual assistants and robots, are more often the focus of presence scholarship, television has for decades been arguably the most common and personal presence-evoking technology. And it’s evolving to be even more effective, as illustrated in this short story from Digital Trends about Samsung’s latest models. See the original story for a 2:56 on-site video report, and coverage in Techradar for the second image below and more information including the fact that the smaller (!) 75-inch model is called “The Window.” –Matthew]

Samsung’s blistering 219-inch Micro LED TV will cook your eyeballs, blow your mind

Caleb Denison
January 7, 2019

You don’t have to be a K-pop fan to enjoy Samsung’s new 219-inch Micro LED TVs. But it probably helps. Because at this size, whatever’s on TV pretty much looks like real life. And you’d better believe Samsung is blasting some pop culture from home on it.

That’s what we learned after witnessing the goliath TV for ourselves at CES 2019. If you’re shopping for your own house, Samsung’s 75-inch Micro LED probably makes more sense. But if you wanted to see a spectacle from CES, this is it.

Like all Micro LED screens, the black levels are true, but the brightness at this scale is what really blows you away. When there’s a picture of the sun coming over the horizon, it’s blisteringly, almost uncomfortably bright. And the color gamut is outstanding.

The screen is made from modular panels that Samsung has stitched together to make a TV of almost unprecedented size. One of the things that we complained about last year was that we could see the lines. This year, Samsung condensed everything. The LEDs are closer, so they get a little bit more play, and more importantly, the seams are smaller. The stitching together is much better than it was before.

If you get really close, you can absolutely see the seams. But that’s not how anyone watches TV. Step back, then step back some more.  When you get to about 6 feet, you can no longer see the seams, and that’s still way too close to comfortably watch, anyway. This is a legitimate display technology. You could forgo a conventional projector and get a much, much brighter image.

In fact, that’s already happening. Samsung has theaters across the U.S. and in Korea that use this type of screen technology. It’s 4K, not 8K, but at this size, you won’t be bothered. It looks amazing, and the contrast is off the charts.

At CES 2019, it doesn’t get much bigger than Samsung’s 219-inch Micro LED display.