I as soon as dreamed of proudly owning a 100-inch ...

Ever since flat-screen television sets first hit the scene within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, producers have been attempting to push the boundaries as to how large of a panel they’ll feasibly promote to customers.

It did not take lengthy for a standardized set of dimension courses to emerge: 42, 50, 55, 65, and 75-inch TVs are commonplace, whereas smaller and bigger fashions may also be readily bought at many shops.

In recent times, nonetheless, firms have been making an attempt to one-up one another within the super-massive TV area, as is the case with the current HiSense 116-inch Mini-LED panel, which was showcased on the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) again in January.

For the longest time, I used to be firmly within the ‘greater is best’ camp, hoping to at some point outfit my lounge with the largest TV display screen I might handle to suit by my door body. The enchantment is obvious: a extra immersive house cinema expertise, and rather more display screen actual property for having fun with TV exhibits, video video games, and extra.

For as nice as a home theater setup sounds on paper, full with an imposing 100-inch centerpiece show, I’ve come to understand that the concept is each impractical and antiquated – here is what led me to this dedication.

Huge flat-screen TVs are impractical

On the entire, house theater setups are costly and space-consuming affairs

Hisense

To place it merely, flat-panel TV units turn out to be a logistical nightmare anyplace above the 65-inch dimension. Any bigger, and it is a real problem to suit the product into a typical car, lug all of it the way in which house, and set it up inside a typical lounge area.

It is also necessary to think about that bigger TVs aren’t all the time higher TVs. The larger the display screen, the extra unfold out every particular person pixel is, which signifies that decision and movie crispness will take successful. That’s, until you are prepared to dish out cash on a very high-end mannequin.

These high-end supersized TVs are prohibitively costly, too — Samsung’s 110-inch Micro LED model prices $150,000, and the aforementioned Hisense 110-inch Mini-LED panel is at the moment listed at $15,000.

On high of all this, you will must have a leisure or lounge that is bodily massive sufficient to comfortably home a TV of such a grand show dimension. Samsung offers a helpful ‘recommended viewing distance for your TV’ assist web page which outlines optimum setup circumstances — for a TV with a 98-inch display screen dimension, the corporate recommends a viewing distance of 9.8 ft (3 meters).

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As of late, higher options can be found

Why hassle with a 100-inch TV when projectors and headsets are readily in the marketplace

Pocket-lint / Samsung / XREAL

Even with all these impracticalities and pricing issues in thoughts, the attract of an enormous and opulent TV house theater setup has, till lately, overridden my extra cheap instinct. If I could make a 100-inch TV work, why not bounce on the chance?

There are two components which have since modified my outlook on super-massive TVs as an entire: a want to cut back the presence of digital litter in my house, and the existence of sensible augmented actuality (AR) glasses and transportable projectors.

Except for taking over a considerable amount of bodily room, I discover most trendy large-screen TV units to decrease the ‘heat and comfy’ enchantment of most residing areas. All-black show panels, low-cost shiny plastic outer casings, and fixed mud assortment make me yearn for the picket and knob-filled CRT TVs of yesteryear.

It is maybe unsurprising, then, {that a} new class of painting-style tv units has began to take off — Samsung’s The Frame is a wonderful instance of a tech product attempting to organically blend in with its environment, and client reception appears to be positive.

Then, there’s the existence of AR glasses and transportable projectors, that are product classes which are a viable consumer-facing different to the big-screen TV way of life and all its issues.

The XREAL Air 2 Pro, for instance, is a $400 pair of AR glasses that supply a 130-inch spatial show, full with a 46-degree area of view. They plug instantly into your present devices by way of USB-C, price a fraction of a super-giant TV’s price ticket, and might be stowed away in your nightstand drawer.

Miniature projectors have come a good distance in recent times, too. Samsung’s The Freestyle is maybe the perfect example: its compact and transportable design is right for nomads like myself, and it may rework any residing area right into a 100-inch house theater setup in seconds. At $800, it is not an affordable product, nevertheless it’s additionally a fraction of the price of a conventional XL TV setup.

With all these components in thoughts, I’ve come to see my TV-free lounge setup as an asset versus a disappointment. As of late, I really feel extra inclined to economize for an eventual buy of AR glasses or for a mini-projector, whereas sparing the necessity to reserve bodily area in my home for an enormous flat-panel show.

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