12 months after spruiking the need for consumers to dump their old HD TVs for a new 3D TV, LG Australia is now trying to convince consumers that they need to upgrade their TV again, this time to a Smart TV, that will deliver IP content, applications and superior 3D TV technology, to that developed by Samsung, Panasonic and Sony.
This is the same Korean company that this time last year, was sacking senior management in Australia, including their MD, Marketing Director and Sales Director after the company was exposed by Choice Magazine and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, for misleading consumers for the third time, about the performance of their products.
To date LG Australia has refused to discuss how they managed to avoid a multimillion dollar fine or what impact their appliance scandal has had on the company in Australia.
The new LG Smart TV range will be available on TV models sized from 32-inch to 55-inches and above. They will have expanded multimedia capabilities and Internet access. You get standard TV functionality along with video on demand, web browsing and customisable apps via a new software interface that delivers access to a web browser. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and several new services that LG is expect ted to announce today.
The new range will also feature Smart Share technology that allows wireless streaming of content from compatible devices. The TV comes with LG’s proprietary magic motion remote that uses motion-sensing technology to offer simple point and click control of various functions.
At today’s launch in Sydney, LG is tipped to announce that PlayJam’s new online TV games service that will be bundled with all future LG Smart TVs and Blu-ray players. The service, which is the largest game download service for internet-enabled TVs can be launched from inside LG’s own Netcast platform.
Australian users will also get access to an expanded Telstra, BigPond TV service. It’s also tipped that LG has signed up several new IP content providers.
LG who is also set to spruik their new 3D technology in an effort to kick start demand for 3D TVs in Australia claim that a key benefit of their technology over the Samsung offering which was announced last week in Australia, is their new Cinema 3D technology which is delivered using “shutter-glasses”.
“The crucial difference between the two technologies is the way the screen creates and transmits the 3D image – one using a ‘flicker’ type technology with battery-operated shutter-glasses that synchronously ‘shutter’ the image shown to each eye,” said an LG executive.
LG claims that a comparative test and survey was conducted among analysts from 33 securities firms and the overall result was a 57.1 percent approval rating for Cinema 3D against a 35.7 percent rating for the Samsung offering.
Analysts marked viewing comfort as the highest rated attribute of LG’s technology finding the ‘flicker’ effect of rival SG technology the aspect most in need of improvement.
“This is a strong endorsement of LG’s technology and its decision to explore ways to make 3D viewing experience more comfortable and enjoyable for our consumers,” the executive said.
The experts were also fairly bullish in their prediction of the market size for 3D TV in 2011 estimating global sales of almost 12 million units for this year and while believing that the two technologies will coexist in the short term, there was a leaning from analysts towards LG’s Cinema 3D technology prevailing in the end.
