Samsung’s massive, in both price and size, micro-RGB TV is barely two weeks old, but it’s making waves for those two factors as well as the promised visual quality. The 115-inch Micro RGB Samsung Vision AI Smart TV – yes, a long formal product name for sure – is out in Korea right now for 44.9 million KRW and will soon be up for order in the United States at $29,999 with more markets to follow.
I had the chance to check one out in person at Samsung’s new headquarters in New Jersey. While it wasn’t a formal testing session, it was clear from my first look that Samsung’s micro-RGB tech here is creating immersion on a grand scale with picture quality to rival even the best OLED TVs.
I also had the chance to view it after seeing the similarly sized and priced, but notably different 115” Class Samsung QN90F Neo QLED 4K TV. And while that TV looks sharp and bright, the new micro-RGB TV’s picture is much more controlled and realistic. Samsung even created a custom Micro RGB AI Engine to handle visuals in the $30,000 TV, specifically for the likes of upscaling and enhancing colors.
The tech here is reflected in the name of the product category – micro-RGB TV – and it’s the first consumer release from Samsung. It uses micro-scale LEDs for the TV’s backlight, which is comprised of individual, quite tiny red, green, and blue modules. That’s the key difference here – like the best mini-LED TVs, it still uses the core principles of LCD technology, but swaps white or blue backlighting for red, green, and blue micro-scale LEDs that can be more accurately controlled. All, of course, in a quest to deliver the best picture quality.
So while this isn’t at the same level as Samsung’s The Wall microLED tech, the 115-inch micro-RGB TV is a stunner, with the ability to produce vivid, rich, and crisp colors that don’t skew super bright and end up oversaturating or blowing out a particular visual. While Samsung only had test content running on the micro-RGB TV, it looked great from all angles, not just a direct head-on view. Even at extreme angles to the left or right in the lifestyle set-up space, the micro-RGB delivered a vivid view, with reds and blues especially popping.
Having also seen the 115-inch Neo QLED 4K TV, I can confidently say it outperformed it in terms of visuals, at those angles and even head-on. It simply looked a step above, offering more accurate, realistic interpretations of colors that could still pop and get bright without skewing them out of reality. It has more than four times the dimming zones compared to top mini-LED TVs, and significantly greater color accuracy.
Contrast points for more stark or ones that require black were a bit more minimal in the test footage. However, since it can turn off those individual LEDs, it didn’t offer lesser performance there.
Of course, Samsung’s 115-inch micro-RGB TV won’t be for everyone. $30,000 is a lot for a TV, especially a first-generation of sorts, and even though it’s still LCD-based, the excitement here is around the use of individual red, green, and blue micro-scale LED modules in the backlight. The pictures here don’t really do justice to the experience of viewing this, but I’m really excited about where micro-RGB is going. It does undercut Samsung’s own The Wall, which is true microLED and costs a ton more, so seeing that bits of that tech are starting to trickle down might make for more exciting developments in this space.
Alongside it being Samsung’s first micro-RGB TV, this 115-inch size also comes with the brand’s VisionAI tech onboard for smarter features – like asking what something is while you’re watching content – but also handles the upscaling to ensure content looks great on this grand scale. You’ll also find Samsung’s Art Store here, and you do get access to a rotating allotment of photos and art to display, even if you don’t subscribe. Although I didn’t get to try any gaming or watch F1 races, the TV does support a 144Hz refresh rate.
If you get the chance to see this TV in person, I would take the opportunity to – it’s certainly one of the best I’ve seen in quite some time.
For now, Samsung’s 115-inch micro-RGB TV is available in Korea at 44.9 million KRW and will soon be available in the United States for $29,999. You can sign up for more details on that launch here, and the company has confirmed it should roll out to more markets in the coming months. Just make sure you have the space for it.
Add Comment