I attended CES 2015 last week, and—like every year—I saw at least 100 HDTVs on the show floor.
There were more 4K screens than ever before, and many new models featured promising technology like OLED panels or quantum dots/nanocrystals. But it seemed like for every cutting-edge HDTV with a new, fancy, and still developing technology to represent the future of television, there was also a curved HDTV.
Samsung is still pushing its curved screens hard, most other major manufacturers offer at least some form of curved screen, and even newer and lesser known HDTV companies like Haier and Hisense showed off their own curved screens.
This is the third year I seriously looked at curved HDTVs, including testing a couple in the lab (the LG 55EA9800 and 55EC9300, incidentally, earned our Editors' Choice distinction for their excellent pictures). I've been giving curved HDTVs a chance, but they haven't really lived up to expectations, and the two LG screens owe their scores for the panel technology used, not the curve.
Let's be completely honest: Curved HDTVs are pointless. They're silly. They're unnecessary. And they certainly haven't made a case to justify their much higher price tags compared to their flat siblings. They just don't offer any compelling value for the premium they demand.
I'll be the first to admit that curved HDTVs are striking. We've come to expect flatness from our screens, and the idea that they can be curved while remaining incredibly thin and bright is technically impressive. You're probably reading this on a flat screen, and you've probably been using flat screens for the last decade. Curved screens look neat. That's all they do.
It seems like curved HDTVs are being pushed for the same reason 3D HDTVs were pushed a few years ago: to justify paying more for higher-end models while waiting for the next big technological innovations to come out. A curved screen stands out. It's a bullet point you can market. It's a striking design you can show off. It's an extra thing you can use to charge more for your HDTV. Those things have been vital over the past few years because of the current state of HDTV technology and the advances on the horizon.
4K is finally getting within reach of consumers. But while Netflix and Amazon are now offering 4K content, it is still rare and 4K is not yet a must-have feature when the vast majority of content is still in 1080p or lower.
OLED is the most technically promising new panel technology, and the real reaoson the LG 55EA9800 and 55EC9300 got a PCMag Editors' Choice. However, there are still clearly issues of scaling and production, and while LG has many more OLED HDTVs (all of which will be 4K) on the way this year, most other HDTV manufacturers have been reticent to adopt the new technology.
HDTV manufacturers put out new models every year, but the really big leaps in technology only happen once or twice a decade. A few years ago, 3D was offered as the big reason to get a new, higher-end HDTV. You saw how that worked out: Few users cared about 3D, and the feature ultimately became just another bullet point for model tiers instead of a must-have aspect strewn across the front of the box. Now, with the big jumps still a few years away from being affordable and widespread, curved screens are the new shiny novelty to justify paying more.
Curved HDTVs might become a viable form factor in the future, as an alternative to flat panels, but it will be an almost purely aesthetic choice. As it is, they don't offer any firm benefit over flat panels, and that isn't going to change any time soon. It's an expensive gimmick that looks cool, but that's about all you get. They're not compelling or worth the higher prices they demand.
If you want to be on the cutting edge, look at 4K. Look at OLED. Heck, once we've actually tested it, look at quantum dots/nanocrystals. These represent the future of HDTVs and making how we watch television a better experience. Curved screens are not, even if they look cool.