While LG’s stand was very large, there were only a few new products. We were extremely glad to see that the company’s massive 3D video wall didn’t make an appearance this year – it always caused a traffic jam at the front of the hall!
Like Samsung, LG was showing a flat version of its 105″ TV (the 105UC9), aiming at signage use. The 5k-resolution screen uses an IPS panel and has 10-point IR touch, with 450 cd/m² of brightness; sub-25ms response time; and a 120Hz refresh rate. It will be released in the UK in Q4, or sooner if LG can manage it.
Iterating on an existing display, LG showed a large unit for use in store windows and high ambient light, which is now supplied as a closed-frame model without branding. It has 2,500 cd/m² of brightness and can operate in temperatures up to 110°, without blackening.
The HDBaseT Alliance and LG were both promoting the new LS75A series, which consists of 42″, 47″ (at the stand) and 55″ screens. These units will optionally have HDBaseT ports and OPS slots. A version will also be released with speakers – a first for LG signage.
Transparent displays have been present on LG’s ISE stand for several years, but the units on show this year had a greater colour gamut. LG has begun to use an RGBW sub-pixel structure; it calls panels using this technology ‘M+’ (for more details on this see our LG Display Report from CES – LG Display Pushes OLEDs and New LCD Materials). Transparency is improved by 60% using an RGBW structure. Another addition is the use of touch on LG’s transparent and mirror displays.
An important promotion for LG this year was the partnership between Signagelive and the company’s WebOS unit. The companies worked together to develop a WebOS-compatible version of Signagelive’s SoC software, which is HTML5-based. The software provides full support for various content formats. Displays with the software will not need external media players.
Administrators of, for example, digital menu board networks can use the Signagelive/WebOS platform to manage content locally, centrally or remotely on a display-by-display or network-wide basis, using any HTML5 browser.
New partnerships will be announced throughout the year, including with Scala and Onelan.
Finally, we heard that LG will be investing in Bluetooth beacons this year, placing them in several models to provide information on the display. Certain screens will also gain the ability to create a ‘Soft Access Point’ – that’s LG marketing speak for a WiFi hotspot.
