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

I have been covering TVs at CES for years, so it takes a lot to surprise me. I’ve seen some wild screens like that roll upand ones that are this big basically video walls, but they usually come after a few rounds of prototypes that dull the shock. However, when I walked into LG’s suite at a Las Vegas hotel, what I saw across the room was 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 provides the best picture quality available, it’s pretty damn impressive live at this size. But that wasn’t the surprise… LG introduced it last year. It was a shock to me when the LG representative told me the beautiful, massive 4K the image was beamed to the TV without cables.

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

Read more: The the biggest tech trends we saw at CES. Other than that, here they are CES highlights so far.

Across the room opposite the TV was the wireless transmitter. On the back of the box they were standard HDMI plugs and a handful of other connections, and one HDMI cable went to a 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 an internal antenna at the TV.

The TV itself didn’t have any video inputs at all, just bare metal where the TV inputs on the back would normally be. The idea is to reduce wiring, that age-old nonsense of nice TV installations. You, the person who can afford a 97-inch OLED TV, put your AV equipment away in a cabinet out of sight, along with the transmission box that plugs everything into. That leaves just the power cable to the TV, a wire LG cleverly hides in one of the stand’s legs.

Of course, any number of TV stands can also accommodate your equipment. But wireless allows the TV to stand on its own, which looks impressive on one of LG’s tripod-like 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 hazard, especially if you’re sitting between the box and the TV, and company representatives told me it wasn’t because it uses technology similar to standard Wi-Fi routers. They also said it won’t be affected by other Wi-Fi traffic. Signal can handle up to 4K, 120Hz resolution, which is pretty much the max for today’s games. It’s also the highest resolution and frame rate that most TVs, including LG’s normal 4K OLED models, can handle.

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

In the past, wireless TVs were sold, and wireless technology has also appeared in projectors. You can also buy wireless HDMI extender kits for $100 or less, but they usually can’t handle such a high bandwidth. It’s the first time in years I’ve seen it built into a TV. A company called Displace TV also showed off a wireless OLED model at CES, but it’s a 55-inch battery-powered screen that’s designed for portability.

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Check out LG’s booth at CES 2023

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

In addition to M3, LG also presented three other cable OLED TV series at CES 2023.

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