Whenever LG Electronics unveils a TV, success is almost guaranteed, be it the roll-up TV it had showcased at this year’s edition of CES in Las Vegas or the new OLED AI ThinQ televisions that were unveiled in Delhi last week.
When LG first showcased its OLED TVs in 2012, it was a display revolution. It showed that the company had vision and in the next few years the huge investment it had made paid off.
Powering the new launches is a whole lot of AI, top-of-the-line image processing and a souped-up smart platform. And let’s not forget, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. The Telegraph sat down with Younchul Park, director, home entertainment, LG Electronics India, before the launch to discuss the range that includes various Smart, LED, UHD, NanoCell and OLED AI ThinQ models.
What’s the one unique aspect of your new range of television sets?
This is a range of new-generation TVs, 32 to 77 inches, all powered by AI, in terms of both picture and sound. These have Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. Before it was only about watching a TV but now it is about communicating with the sets. Let me explain the AI part. I love mangoes. Now I can ask my TV the varieties of mangoes presently available. This can also be done by months. For March I am recommended mangoes from Vijayawada, with April comes Alphonso, May brings Himsagar. This is more like a conversation. Everything is built into LG’s new range… there’s a good amount of machine learning that takes place. AI and deep learning are integral part of the interface. When you watch a cricket match, the TV will know what kind of screen brightness you prefer.
And one can access Netflix as well as Prime Video?
You can directly access YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix or Hotstar. Also, Apple AirPlay 2 support is available.
Pictures: LG Electronics
What’s the future of TV?
TV will get positioned as one’s IT hub. For example, you watch cricket on Hotstar on your mobile phone. As soon as you arrive home, you can immediately move to the LG TV. There is the LG dashboard through which you can connect with the washing machine, air conditioner or lights. This is about helping one another (product verticals) instead of cannibalisation. This is the future.
Are people buying bigger TVs?
People who are watching, say, 32-inch TVs are moving to, say, 55-inch-and-above models. With technology improving, the optimal distance between the viewer and the set has narrowed. India is a big “replacements” market. People are directly moving from 32-inch to 55- or 65-inch sets. And then there are people who are moving directly from CRT to OLED. All this is happening across the country. Talking of bigger TVs, our goal is to take cinema to people’s homes.
What’s the average lifespan of a TV?
The average in India is five years but I don’t look at this as a problem. People who changed their TVs five years ago may change theirs this year and those who did it four years ago, will do so next year. The cycle never stops. LG is also providing software updates and this means people can enjoy the TV year after year.
Tell us about your R&D here...
A lot of our R&D operations are in India. Here a lot of work has been done on the software part. Also, I would like to point out that our TVs are part of the Make In India initiative.
