Big-screen TVs are everywhere at CES 2025, but I doubt they’ll replace projectors anytime soon
At CES 2025, it’s been all about the big-screen TVs. Several TV brands have confirmed new 100-inch-plus TVs including Hisense, Samsung, TCL and LG. While this isn’t Hisense or TCL’s first rodeo into the 100-inch TV world, Samsung announced a 115-inch version of its Samsung QN90F Neo QLED TV as part of its 2025 Neo QLED lineup. LG also revealed a 100-inch model of its QNED85 as part of its 2025 QNED TV lineup, throwing its hat in the 100-inch ring.
These brands, all responsible for making some of the best TVs on the market, have experience with larger screen sizes before, with CES 2024 and 2024 in general seeing a mass increase in 98-inch sized TVs. But CES 2025 is taking things a step further, breaking the 100-inch barrier.
Hisense also revealed a 116-inch, RGB mini-LED TV, called the 116-inch UXN, to add to its already stacked 100-inch TV lineup, including the 110-inch UXN, 100-inch U8K and more. It even announced a 136-inch MicroLED TV that it says will be consumer-ready, due for release in 2025, with a 163-inch version to follow.
While the demand for big screen TVs seems to be on the rise, it does beg the question – are these TVs going to become the go-to, big screen option for home theater fans, replacing projectors? Honestly, I don’t think so. Not yet anyway.
It’s all about the money
While we don’t yet have confirmation on the pricing of the majority of the announced big-screen models, we can look at other, currently available models for an idea. The prime example is the Hisense 110-inch UXN. A mini-LED capable of 10,000 nits peak brightness (though based on my testing of it, it’s closer to 3,000 nits sustained peak brightness when measured on a 10% window), the 110UXN costs roughly $15,000 / £20,000, so is very much a premium TV.
For the cream of the crop of larger screen TVs, such as the 97-inch LG G4, you’ll be looking to pay $24,999 / £24,999. This is far beyond most people’s budgets and means larger TV screens sit out of reach.
For this, you could easily get one of the best 4K projectors, including the ultra-premium JVC DLA-NZ800, which costs $14,999 / £14,999, and a large screen, up to 150-inches, to go with it. Even dropping down to the still excellent Sony XW5000 (which I had experience with at my previous retail job) which costs $4,999 / £4,999, and adding a decent sized screen to this and you’re still way off the premium TVs above.
Even the LG CineBeam Q, one of the best ultra short throw (UST) projectors, can hit over 100-inch projection for under $1,000 / £1,000. So why would you opt for anything other than a projector at these 100-inch sizes?
Cheaper, big screen TVs – for and against
OK, so above I picked some of the most extreme examples of big-screen TVs. The truth is there is a crop of 100-inch mini-LED TVs, one of the better panel types for bigger screens, out there for under $5,000 / £5,000 – some for as low as $2,000 / £2,000.
The Hisense U8K, one of 2023’s best mini-LED TVs, is one of those budget sets, retailing for around $3,999, but we’ve seen it as low as $2,599 during Black Friday before. For a mini-LED TV of this quality, which we praised for its detail, brightness and contrast, that’s a bargain at this size.
I even tested a 100-inch Hisense U7K against the Hisense L9H Laser TV (UST projector) to see which was better if you wanted a big home theater screen on a budget, and although I chose the L9H projector, the U7K mini-LED TV came very close and even bested the projector in some areas (namely during brighter viewing conditions).
There’s also a score of cheap, big screen QLED and LED models from Hisense, TCL, Samsung and more, for as low as $1,299 / £1,299, which is significantly cheaper than what you would have to fork out for a decent projector and screen. Of course, it’s crucial to make sure these TVs have the right type of lighting – edge-lit TVs are best avoided, as I discovered testing a 75-inch budget Samsung.
However, the overall issue with these cheaper, big screen TVs, is they can have noticeable flaws. This could be poor backlight control, resulting in backlight blooming, and poor black uniformity (the ability to display dark tones evenly across the whole screen), something similarly priced projectors are unlikely to suffer from.
The other problem is, for how much you would spend on one of the ‘better’ affordable big screen TVs, such as the Hisense U8K or a more premium set, you could easily get a very good ultra short throw projector. The Hisense PX3-Pro, which costs around $3,499 / £2,499 and earned four-and-a-half out of five in our review, thanks to its excellent HDR picture quality and high versatility, is a prime example of this.
Final thoughts
While it appears that big screen TVs are indeed here and could be the future of home theater viewing, they ultimately aren’t going to replace projectors anytime soon. To get the very best quality from a large screen TV, you’d need to spend more than you would for a very good 4K or UST projector and an even larger screen (over 130 inches, say).
Don’t get me wrong, some of the big-screen TVs we’ve seen here at TechRadar, myself included, are certainly impressive and rival the most elite of projectors. But until these big-screen TV prices reduce, they’re not going to dethrone the projector for those looking for the best bang-for-your-buck home theater.
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At CES 2025, it’s been all about the big-screen TVs. Several TV brands have confirmed new 100-inch-plus TVs including Hisense, Samsung, TCL and LG. While this isn’t Hisense or TCL’s first rodeo into the 100-inch TV world, Samsung announced a 115-inch version of its Samsung QN90F Neo QLED TV as…
