The Wall from Samsung: 146-inch modular telly – CES 2018

The Wall by Samsung is not a corporate Pink Floyd covers band, but the world’s first consumer modular MicroLED 146-inch TV. This was revealed at Samsung’s First Look event at CES 2018.

Being told of a MicroLED display, I was expecting something tiny.

The Wall could not be further from being a mini anything.

The Wall

This new TV tech from Samsung can create truly gigantic screens. So, the name of the TV is entirely appropriate: The Wall.

MicroLED is based on Samsung’s Cinema Screen technology, designed for movie theaters.

The Wall is the more domestic version, measuring at a mere 146-inches diagonal. Don’t worry though, moneybags, it can get even bigger if needed.

Modular TV

Yup, the size is pretty much up to you because it’s modular.

Jonghee Han, President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics stated:

It can transform into any size, and delivers incredible brightness, colour gamut, colour volume and black levels. We’re excited about this next step along our roadmap to the future of screen technology, and the remarkable viewing experience it offers to consumers.””

Unlike traditional LED-based LCD TVs, which use a liquid crystal layer and an LED backlight, MicroLED uses an array of millions of individial, tiny LEDs to create the image.

It’s very similar to the technology used in scoreboards and jumbo screens, but scaled for home use. A big, expensive home.

Samsung says the 146-inch size was chosen to comply with the standard ceiling height. I don’t think they’ve seen a London flat before.

Because each LED can turn on or off individually, MicroLED has the potential for infinite contrast, just like OLED TVs.

The Wall can achieve a searing 2,000-nit brightness, so that combination should produce breathtaking pop, especially for HDR sources.

While the set can achieve DVI-P3 color, Samsung has yet to specify a resolution for the 146-inch TV.

AI Technology for 8K Picture Quality

Samsung also featured the world’s first QLED TV featuring 8K AI technology. This will be launched internationally, starting with Korea and the US during the second half of 2018.

This AI technology upscales standard definition content to 8K resolution. It employs a proprietary algorithm to adjust screen resolution based on picture quality characteristics of each scene.

This continuously improves picture quality and easily transform any type of content from any source into a high-resolution 8K.

Price and availability

Beyond saying it would ship this year, no pricing or availability for MicroLED was announced.