LG’s wireless 97-inch OLED TV is full of surprises

I was covering TVs the time CES: for years, so it takes a lot to surprise me. I’ve seen some wild screens like that to wrapand they are so big mostly video walls, but they usually come after several rounds of prototyping, which blunts the shock. When I walked into LG’s room at a Las Vegas hotel, what I saw across the room came big surprise.

And I mean big. It is a 97-inch OLED TV and remains the largest OLED TV in the world. And since OLED delivers the best picture quality available, it’s pretty damn impressive in person at that size. But it was no surprise… LG introduced it last year. The jaw drop for me came when the LG rep told me beautiful, massive 4K: the image was broadcast wirelessly to the TV.

Wireless TV is real, and it’s coming this year.

Read more: It the biggest tech trends we saw at CES. Also, here it is CES highlights till now.

Across the room from the TV sat a wireless transmitter box. On the back of the box were standard HDMI: plugs and a few other connections, and one HDMI cable ran to the Blu-ray player. The image on the screen was from a Blu-ray disc sent wirelessly – and flawlessly, to my eye – from the box to the TV. The top of the box can be rotated to point the internal antenna at the TV.

The TV itself had no video inputs at all, just bare metal where TV inputs are normally found on the back. The idea is to cut down on wires, the age-old bane of a beautiful TV set-up. You, the person who can afford a 97-inch OLED TV, keep your AV gear inside the closet out of sight, along with the transmitter box that everything connects into. All that’s left of the TV is the power cord, which LG has cleverly hidden inside one of the legs of the stand.

Of course, any number of TV stands can also hold your gear. But the wireless connection allows the TV to stand alone, which looks impressive on one of LG’s easel stands (pictured above) and can greatly simplify wall mounting.

LG says the box can be located up to 30 feet away from the TV. I asked if the wireless connection was a potential risk, especially if you’re sitting between the box and the TV, and company representatives told me it wasn’t because it uses the same technology as standard Wi-Fi routers. They also said it won’t affect other Wi-Fi traffic. Signal can set up to 4K, 120 Hz resolution, which is pretty much the maximum for today’s games. It’s also the highest resolution and frame rate most TVs can handle, including LG’s regular 4K OLED models.

The box has three HDMI inputs, which is surprising since most high-end TVs have four, but it doesn’t hurt in my book. The rest of the ports are typical of a TV: antenna, two USB, Ethernet and optical digital output, as well as a serial port for home automation control.

Wireless TVs have been sold in the past, and wireless technology has also found its way into projectors. You can also buy wireless HDMI extenders for $100 or less, but they typically can’t handle that much bandwidth. This is the first time I’ve seen it built into a TV in years. A company called Displace TV also showed off a wireless OLED model at CES, but it’s a 55-inch battery-powered display designed for portability.

In addition to the 97-inch size, LG will release its wireless OLED, called the M3 series, in 83-inch and 77-inch sizes. LG says it will arrive in 2023, and pricing, like the rest of LG’s 2023 TVs, is still to be determined. For reference, LG charges $25,000 for its standard, wired 97-inch OLED TV and $2,900 for its 77-inch TV, so regardless of size, the M3 won’t come cheap.

In addition to the M3, LG was also introduced Three other series of cable OLED TVs at CES 2023.

This product was selected as one of the best products of CES 2023. See other Best of CES 2023 award winners.