Rolling screens and voice activation: How prestige televisions have reached a new frontier

Because we are basically suckers, consumers have become inured to the idea of planned obsolescence and are happy to accept the idea that a smart phone, while it might still at least make calls two years after we buy it, will be far too uncool to be seen dead with in public by then.

When it comes to our ever-expanding TV screens, however, it often seems the tech is moving so fast that in the few minutes after you’ve bought a new one, you’ll spot an even more lushly colourful and thinly sliced version as you’re on your way out of the showroom.

LG recently showed off its Signature OLED R TV, which can roll itself up into a tiny box. However, it is not yet confirmed for Australia.

I was also boggled by its new 8K televisions, with 8K screens that have four times the pixels of 4K ones, or 16 times the pixels of a full HD television.

When watching a flyover of the New York skyline, you could actually see the people inside the skyscrapers.

This cutting-edge wondrousness would be slightly more impressive if there was actually any 8K content available to watch.

In an attempt to find the best new TV so far this week, I agreed to be locked in a room for 18 hours with the LG AI ThinQ SUPER UHD TV, an experience that left me feeling like I was denying my children a proper upbringing with their comparatively low-fi, drab TV.

Not only can you use the Google Assistant to speak to your television, and ask it for anything you desire, but its Alpha 7 Gen 2 Intelligent Processor makes watching sport at home feel more photorealistic – and more comfortable – than actually being at the game.

It is only when you find genuinely 4K-quality content on Netflix that you realise how totally immersive and jaw-droppingly beautiful a modern SUPER UHD television can be. Unfortunately it made my TV feel so obsolete I had to go home and throw it into the street, so until 8K becomes more widely available, this is the tech your eyeballs are looking for.

Where to put it

It is perhaps the ultimate test of any television to put it on a wall next to a truly spectacular view and see how long it takes people to be lured away by Game of Thronesin HD.

This beautiful Bronte home with giant windows provides the perfect setting for a new OLED TV.

Alexander Phillips of Phillips Pantzer Donnelley has scheduled a June 15 auction with a $5 million bidding guide.