Abt Unveils Huge, Cutting Edge LG TV

LG Electronics introduced an 84-inch TV powered by some of the most cutting edge, "Ultra High Definition" (UHD) technology, during a launch party at Glenview's Abt Electronics store on Thursday night. 

They made at least one sale during the event with a man named Neal who said he was shopping for TVs at the store unaware of the event. He asked to keep his last name out of print. 

"I'm a videophile," Neal said. "Things I pay attention to are color, saturation."

"I can't find a flaw with it," he added.

The launch party demonstrated the TV functioning at its highest capacity — incredibly rich and detailed 4K video ran in a loop to highlight the TVs utmost potential, 3D glasses were passed around to demonstrate the machine's 3D functionality, beautiful 2D landscapes and slow motion baseball footage played in crisp, surreal detail. 

John Taylor, an LG vice president at the event said the excitement around today's Ultra HD technology reminds him of the industry buzz around the earliest HD tech that TV companies started developing in the late 80s. 

And the difference between UHD and traditional HD is rather obvious. The rich clarity of footage on the 84-inch compared to an HD at a comparable size feels like the difference between DVD and VHS. It just looks better. 

Quality isn't cheap, though. Abt is selling the TV for $16,999.00 and Neal, the shopper who bought one on Thursday, said he made the plunge because watching Blu-rays and sports was important to him. 

"I watch movies, I don't buy fancy truffles," he said. "I save up money all year long."

Billy Abt, one of the retailer's co-presidents, was at the event and said the store sells a larger screened Sharp television, but that one displays images at 1080p resolution, a fourth of the UHD's potential. 

"If you stand up close to [the UHD], you don't see the pixels. There are so many pixels," Abt said.

Eight million pixels, according to LG.