Why a Curved TV?

Before 2013, curved screen projection displays existed, like the screens at Cinerama or a planetarium. Then, the first curved TV came to the commercial market in 2013 from LG and Samsung. After that, consumers learned why a curved TV improved some aspects of the viewing experience and detracted from others. Curved TVs were also lauded as some of the best TVs in the market.

What Is a Curved TV?

As the name implies, a curved TV has a curved screen instead of a flat one. These TVs are often wide, ultra-wide, or super ultra-wide. These widths refer to aspect ratios, with wide being 16:9, ultra-wide being 21:9 and 64:27, and super ultra-wid e being 32:9 and 18:5. These screens provide a larger field of view, meaning they take up more of what you see than a regular wide-screen TV. They became largely popular when TV went digital.

The glass for a curved screen was initially manufactured by bending a piece of flat glass, but these screens often featured clouding and distortion. Because the glass was not intended to be bent, the glass became harder to see through. Newer curved TVs feature a specially made compound of glass that allows the screen to be bent from the start.

Many consumers expect that they cannot place curved TVs on the wall. For people who prefer to mount their TVs on the wall, this belief could be a deterring factor. However, the entire TV is not curved, just the screen. Because the mounting holes line up correctly, consumers may mount a curved TV on the wall.

Advantages of Curved TVs

Brands state that curved TV screens provide a more immersive experience with a wider field of view. They believed that by curving the TV, you would be surrounded more by the image, making it feel like you were in that world. These TVs put the display both in front of you and in your peripheral vision. Because of this field of view change, curved TVs may be especially useful for watching sports or playing games.

Additionally, curved TVs may allow a greater range in viewing angles, though this belief is not always accurate. Some people saw significant decreases in the image quality of a flat-screen TV compared to a curved one at greater viewing angles. Off-center viewing also affects how the image is perceived, causing more significant disparity at greater angles.

Finally, curved TVs may offer minimized glare from the lighting around the TV. Many LED TVs are impacted by ambient light. You may keep wondering why do digital TV channels disappear if you have an LED TV or an earlier model. This issue stems from the fact that the light comes from behind the TV screen, lighting up the liquid crystal display. For users to have the best experience, they would want to watch in lower lighting situations. People who enjoy watching TV outside, for example, would find that the curved display may result in less glare than a flat TV.

Disadvantages of Curved TVs

Curved TVs are often more expensive because of the technology used on the glass. Initially, curved TVs used glass that manufacturers bent to curve. More recently, manufacturers make the glass curved instead of bending flat glass. When they bent flat glass, there was more distortion.

However, there is still some geometric distortion based upon the curved surface and the viewing angle. Flat screens also suffer distortion at a certain point, but curved ones have more significant distortion at specific viewing angles. Although Samsung and LG were the pioneers in the United States for curved screens, Samsung makes the only models available now. As a result, curved screens did not catch on as they expected they would.

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