Jordan O'BrienWho needs a speaker for their TV in this day and age? Well, certainly not LG’s latest concept TV at CES 2017 – as the 65in OLED panel utilises a new technology called Crystal Sound.
Similar to Sony’s newest OLED, which also forgoes traditional speakers, this concept TV uses a pair of tiny speaker drivers to vibrate the entire screen to produce a sound. The difference between Sony and LG, however, is that Sony has the confidence to ship the technology on a consumer-ready product, while LG is not yet ready, revealing its offering as simply just a concept.
LG claims that the Crystal Sound displays should make for a more immersive audio experience, as the sound comes directly from the screen – rather than from below it or beside it. It’s why projection screens are often acoustically-transparent as it makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience.
For the pure audiophile TV speakers have never been great and the same can be said of Crystal Sound, for the time being. A dedicated speaker set-up will obviously yield better results, while a wafer thin OLED screen being used as a speaker membrane won’t bring much depth or volume to the sound.
LG says that it will continue to develop the product, so who knows, maybe there will be a future for this sort of technology – after all, over on Sony’s stand there already is.