TVs should be square again
The first time I experienced how great movies can be, even at home, was 2019 when I got my OLED Television (A 55″ LG B9 that i still use.) It wasn’t about the 4k resolution. But the perfect contrast of pixel accurate dimming and true HDR performance truly changed the way I saw movies.
Today i saw one of the best displays ever in full action because I watched the Blu-Ray version of Oppenheimer on a 11″ iPad Pro with the new dual layer OLED technology. And sure, the accuracy, brightness and contrast levels of the iPad are insane. But it also highlighted a flaw with even the best TVs on the market. The aspect ratio.
The iPad, since its inception, has had a 4:3 display – something very close to the IMAX spec of 1.43:1. And H O L Y S H I T did it make a difference to experience the whole screen being used. Even with 16:9 OLED TVs, where letterboxing at least doesn’t lead to grey letterboxes, just less distracting black ones, it always feels weird to lose so much screen size that you actually paid for.
Sure, making televisions 4:3 again, like back in CRT times would mean letterboxing would happen way more often, because most content is widescreen. But I would also argue, that high-end TVs should aim for the highest end experience. And the highest end movies are produced for IMAX. And after what I saw on my tiny iPad today all I could think about was a true IMAX movie on my TV.
That made me realise something: Every time I’m thinking about upgrading my TV I think about upping its size from 55″ to at least 65″, if not bigger. But honestly, I don’t need it to go wider. 16:9 content that fills out the whole display feels more than big enough. But being taller would truly make a big difference to me.
Receivers already rolled out »IMAX Enhanced« features to be compatible with IMAX sound. Disney+ is even advertising as IMAX enhanced (streaming bitrates vs. Blu-Ray quality is another discussion, because streaming looks really bad – except Sony Bravia Core.) So why is no TV manufacturer jumping on the IMAX bus?
Sure, the sub 1.000 euros Samsung Frame buyer doesn’t and tbh shouldn’t care. It doesn’t make logical sense to worry about this specific edge case and I also get that I’m talking about a niche that only caters to people who are willing and able to spend unnecessary amounts of money on watching roughly 3 movies a year in the best possible quality.
But these people exist. Who do you think is buying 3, 4, 5.000 euro televisions? Who are the people spending thousands on their sound systems – or even just their receivers? The audiophile community caters to the most extreme niches imaginable, with insane systems and even tons of snake oil. Why isn’t this a thing for televisions? Why isn’t Sony or even Bang and Olufsen or Loewe building a ridiculous TV specifically for IMAX content? Instead they are putting concreteon the back of their devices.
Just give me a square TV you cowards. I promise I will dream about buying it (but only dream because I would never justify the 4.000 or more that thing would cost. But at least let me dream.)