It was 2018 and Samsung unveiled its 146-inch 'The Wall' microLED TV. Last year at CES 2019, it revealed a smaller 75-inch version. At CES 2020, it is announcing "home-ready" 75 to 150-inch models.

Samsung's flirt with microLED
At CES 2020, Samsung announced its "home-ready, modular MicroLED, which combines next-generation screen technology with unprecented customization capabilities. Consumers are now able to personally experience how Samsung’s design and innovation engineering teams have reimagined the TV".

Modular microLED is an interesting concept but few consumers are probably interested in assembling their own TVs. Previous versions of the microLED modules, targeted for businesses and luxury homes, have been prohibitively expensive to both acquire and have assembled.



Samsung says that its new MicroLED models for 2020 exist in 75, 88, 93, 110, and 150-inch (8K resolution) display sizes. The 88 and 150-inch models have a slim 'infinity design' that "removes all four sides of the bezels for a finish that blends right into any wall".

It also said that its microLED TVs offer best-in-class picture quality due to the self-emitting nature of microLED. Like OLED, each pixel in an microLED TV - not to be confused with miniLED in LCD TVs - produces its own light, which enables the TVs to deliver wonderful HDR pictures. Samsung claims that its microLED technology can now reach peak brightness of 5000 nits.

It all sounds very exciting - that is why we awarded the original 2018 version our 'Best of CES' - but after three CES shows of Samsung showcasing microLED, it is all starting to look more like a concept than a real product. In the eyes of consumers, will Samsung's The Wall ever be more than vaporware?