LG Electronics USA joined forces with Netflix for the official launch today of LG’s 2015 4K ULTRA HD (UHD) OLED and LED TVs, home audio products, monitors and projectors at a joint event in New York City.
At LG’s “Dare to See OLED” event, coinciding with Netflix’s 4K streaming premiere of their much-anticipated original series Marvel’sDaredevil on April 10, LG announced pricing and availability for its 2015 hero product, the 65-inch class (64.5 inches measured diagonally) EG9600 Art Slim Curved 4K OLED, available nationally later this month.
The official introduction of LG’s 2015 4K UHD TVs coincides with the first designations for the Netflix Recommended TV program, which helps consumers identify televisions that offer both the best Netflix experience and superior smart TV performance overall. LG announced that its new 2015 EG9600 4K UHD OLED Smart TV and UF9500 PRIME 4K UHD Smart TV with a wider color gamut that delivers a broader range of purer colors, as well as the UF8500, UF7700 and UF7600 4K UHD LED Smart TV series all featuring webOS 2.0, were designated Netflix Recommended TVs based on Netflix’s rigorous, criteria-based smart TV evaluation program.
LG’s Smart TVs are the first and only 4K UHD TVs to be designated as Netflix Recommended TVs, in large part due to LG’s updated webOS 2.0 platform, which delivers a faster and superior smart TV performance, as well as a streamlined user interface – both important factors in achieving the best Netflix experience possible and qualifying as Netflix Recommended TVs.
A key feature of LG’s 2015 TVs, webOS 2.0 offers simple switching to let users quickly shift to any content that they’d like, as well as simple discovery to help find new sources of entertainment, including the GoPro Channel app, which was launched exclusively on LG webOS Smart TVs earlier this year. LG also announced that its 2014 webOS-enabled Smart TVs will receive a software update later this year, allowing current webOS users to experience the improved webOS 2.0 platform without having to purchase new hardware.
Present and Future
At the “Dare to See OLED” event, LG and Netflix previewed exclusive footage from Marvel’s Daredevil in stunning 4K resolution on LG 4K OLED TVs and brought together some of the foremost innovators and experts in technology, streaming media and entertainment to engage in a thought-provoking panel discussion on the intersection of these fields.
- Moderated by noted industry analyst Shelly Palmer, FOX 5 New York’s on-air tech expert and frequent speaker at technology and media conferences, panelists included:
- Scott Mirer, Vice President, Device Partner Ecosystem, Netflix
- Matt Lloyd, Director of Photography, Marvel’s Daredevil
- Pete Putman, President, ROAM Consulting LLC
- Tim Alessi, Director of New Product Development, LG Electronics USA
“Our Spring 2015 TV introductions represent an incredibly wide range of screen technologies – from the best TV display on the market today, OLED, to the intense color capabilities of our new PRIME 4K LED TVs, with four times the resolution of Full HD – all featuring LG’s fast and simple webOS Smart TV platform,” said David VanderWaal, vice president of marketing, LG Electronics USA. “We’re excited to gather leading minds of these fields to discuss the relationship between technology and entertainment, along with the growth trajectory we can expect to see in years to come.”
Scott Mirer, vice president, device partner ecosystem at Netflix, said, “Since the initial launch of webOS, LG has led the way in making streaming services, including Netflix, easier to access and faster to launch. We are pleased to designate LG’s latest 4K UHD TVs with webOS 2.0 as Netflix Recommended TVs, offering a superior experience for Netflix members.”
The panelists engaged in a thoughtful and energetic discussion on a range of topics related to technology and entertainment, including the elements of picture quality and the evolution of 4K, the shift in the new TV viewing paradigm to streaming content, and the future of TV viewing generally.
“Black is important, no question, as well as grayscale reproduction,” explained Pete Putman, president of ROAM Consulting LLC. “For every shade of gray that you can see, there are thousands of possible color combinations. OLED gives you the grayscale reproduction to see all of those color combinations from deep black to full white.”
The session culminated with LG and Netflix revealing an exclusive sneak peek at the new Netflix original series, Marvel’s Daredevilpremiering globally on April 10.
Matt Lloyd, director of photography for Marvel’s Daredevil, noted regarding OLED technology, “I’ve not seen anything comparable to it, even in the color suite, from pure black, all the way to 100 percent luminance. To be able to look at something on set and make the decisions we made, knowing and trusting they would look like that on this screen, is incredibly empowering.”
Today’s Viewing Medium
In conjunction with the panel, industry insiders had a chance to experience LG’s newest home entertainment products first-hand. First previewed at the 2015 International CES®, the new product line up features 4K UHD OLED and LED TVs, home audio products, and monitors. LG recently announced pricing and availability for the full range of TV models, including:
- EG9600 – UHD OLED (Netflix Recommended)
- UF9500 – Prime UHD TV (Netflix Recommended)
- 65-inch class (64.5 inches diagonal) model 65UF9500: $4,499
- UF8500 Series – 3D UHD LED with Cinema Screen (Netflix Recommended)
- 65-inch class (64.5 inches diagonal) model 65UF8500: $3,199
- 60-inch class (59.5 inches diagonal) model, 60UF8500: $2,999
- UF7700 Series – UHD LED (Netflix Recommended)
- UF7600 Series – UHD LED
- 55-inch class (54.6 inches diagonal) model 55UF7600: $1,999
- 49-inch class (48.5 inches diagonal) model 49UF7600: $1,699
- 43-inch class (43 inches diagonal) model 43UF7600: $1,399
- EC9300 Series – Full HD OLED
- 55-inch class (54.6 inches diagonal) model 55EC9300: $3,499
- UltraWide Monitors
- 34-inch class (34 inches diagonal) 21:9 UltraWide IPS LED Monitor model 34UM67: $649
- 29-inch class (29 inches diagonal) 21:9 UltraWide IPS LED Monitor model 29UM67: $449
Pricing for LG’s MusicFlow Smart Wi-Fi audio lineup will be announced later this month.
For more information regarding LG’s 2015 lineup and Netflix Recommended TV, please visit http://www.lg.com/us/tv-audio-videoand www.netflix.com/recommendedtv respectively.
