Samsung, LG compete in premium TV market with new products

Samsung and LG are neck and neck in Korea's premium TV market, with LG Electronics saying Thursday it will roll out the world's first wireless organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV starting in Korea.

LG Electronics' new 97-inch LG Signature OLED M which is the world's first wireless OLED TV, will launch in Korea next week. [LG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung and LG are neck and neck in Korea's premium TV market, with LG Electronics saying Thursday it will roll out the world's first wireless organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV starting in Korea.

LG unveiled the 97-inch LG Signature OLED M at CES 2023 in Las Vegas in January, which instantly garnered attention for its hassle-free slick design that is cords-free except for the power cord on the rear.

LG said the new OLED TV comes with a Zero Connect transmitter box that sends video and audio signals, up to 4K resolution and with a 120 Hz refresh rate, wirelessly to the screen.

The cube-shaped box can be placed up to 10 meters away and still transfer data smoothly to what LG described as the "world's first consumer TV with Zero Connect technology."

The company said it developed an algorithm that helps minimize transmission errors or disruptions and identifies the optimal transmission path for signals.

The model allows greater flexibility in arranging gadgets and designing homes and creates a cleaner viewing environment with no entangled wires snaking around the house, according to the company.

LG said the Signature M was possible thanks to the company's OLED technologies and know-how that it has built over the past decade.

It is LG's fifth Signature OLED since the first arrived in 2016, with the Signature OLED R released as the world's first rollable TV in 2020.

The Signature OLED M's price starts from 43.9 million won ($34,000) and shipping will begin July 20.

Samsung Electronics launched the 98-inch Neo QLED 8K TV in Korea on Thursday. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

On the same day, Samsung Electronics launched its 98-inch Neo quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED) 8K TV, expanding its lineup of super-large TVs to a total of three products, alongside the Neo QLED and the QLED. It is Samsung Electronics' biggest TV offered for households.

Samsung said sales of the 98-inch TVs in the first half of this year doubled compared to the year before.

The price of the 98-inch Neo QLED 8K TV starts from 49.9 million won.

BY JIN EUN-SOO, YONHAP [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]