Why are larger TVs more expensive?

asim18

asim18

asim18

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Surely it should costs less to make larger pixels.

4K is roughly 10 million pixels. Now if you cram 10 million pixels into a 40 inch screen it's technically more difficult than fitting 10 million pixels into a 75 inch panel, because it's a lot easier it should be cheaper, no? Yet they cost 3 times more than a small TV.

Basically a small tv is like having a retina display because higher pixels per inch, but when it suits them this feature of packing lots of pixels into smaller space is a epic feature worth loads of money!

Appreciate if anyone can explain or has any insight into this, thanks.
 
I understand what you're saying about miniaturisation being a factor in cost with most technology nowadays, but there is still an element of the physical material required to produce the item when it comes to TVs, as well as many others. A simple thought experiment; would a 20ft wide TV be more expensive or less expensive than a 42"? Why? The answer should really be quite obvious. There are loads of other factors that I'm sure make a larger difference, like economies of scale applying to the sizes most in demand, (as well as the practice that happens with computer hardware, where the same components are manufactured, and then bits are disabled and sold at a cut price despite costing the same amount to produce) however it shouldn't come at too much of a surprise that physical size will have a part to play, with all other things being equal (features etc), with what is essentially now well proven and simply technology.

Excuse my terrible editing, it's late and it's quite a simple concept so I'm not going to worry too much about it :p
 
Bigger TV = More Materials needed = More Expense.

The "pixels" are larger so will cost more to produce, the material they are mounted in is obviously bigger, the way the Pixels are lit (LED, Side Lit LED, OLED, Full backlight etc) means more/bigger/brighter lights etc, the extra wiring, components, power supplies etc and it's these costs which ramp up.
 
Bigger TV= more materials, heavier shipping weight, bigger shipping box, less of them fit on the ship= more expensive

Really small 4K display= lots of panels get rejected because it's harder to make a 24" 4K high quality display than a 65" one... = more expensive.

Also we get screwed for monitors because they know they can screw us for monitors. That definitely factors in.

Also this:

ianh said:
Bigger TV = More Materials needed = More Expense.

The "pixels" are larger so will cost more to produce, the material they are mounted in is obviously bigger, the way the Pixels are lit (LED, Side Lit LED, OLED, Full backlight etc) means more/bigger/brighter lights etc, the extra wiring, components, power supplies etc and it's these costs which ramp up.
Click to expand...

BTW in 1994 or 1995 my uncle payed well over $2000 for a high end 35" CRT TV. Let that sink in. The TV my mom got me for my room when I was like 8 years old back in 1990 was about $400 (+ VAT) for a 14 incher. It wasn't even a trinitron. And it didn't have RCA inputs. Just coax. I played SNES and N64 on that thing for the next eleven years. Do you know what it's like playing Super Mario 64 when Mario is only an inch and a half tall on the display? Oh and the 14 incher's power supply died in 1993. That was a costly repair. Folks didn't know about surge protection back then. It was a simpler time.

We have it pretty good now. You can get a 55" 4K TV in my country for under $500. That's like 320 pounds. I'm not complaining.
 
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Previous posters have mentioned various factors that increase production cost with larger monitors, but I haven't seen the other obvious factor mentioned - what people will pay. Even if a 70 inch TV cost the same to make as a 40 inch TV it would still be sold at a far higher price simply because it can be. Things will be sold for as much as enough people will pay for them...and enough people will pay more for larger TVs. The further up the market you go, the less the price reflects the production cost, on the whole.

CPUs are probably the most obvious example to us. CPUs of the same model cost exactly the same to make but the price can vary a lot depending on clock speed.
 
Bigger TV's, say 55"+ tend to sell less so you also work against economies of scale. And as you get a bigger screen it's more likely that faults will start to creep in too so your successful yield also starts to drop as well.
 
I believe bigger TVs still sell less because they are expensive.
Bigger = more expensive is something baked into our retail psyche.so retailers can also get away with charging more.

Also i believe it is physically challenging to produce uniform panels as they get bigger etc
 
Premium product for a better home cinema experience = premium price.

Just as a standard class ticket gets you from A to B on the train but first class costs more and offers more comfort.

Market pricing!
 
When you look at the resolution of premium smartphone screens, the difference between a 4K 55" and a 40" panel isn't significant.
 
They cost more because people are prepared to pay more Pure and simple.

I doubt if any of these TV's cost more than $50 a pop at the factory gate in China when they roll off the line.
 
The more materials idea doesn't really compute because you're forgetting there is a MASSIVE markup/margin. As said, the cost to produce these TVs is probably no more than £50, if it's 20% larger by volume then it shouldn't cost more than £20 extra. To manufacture something that requires maybe 20% more plastic shouldn't increase the final price by £1000-2000


Vern1961 said:
Premium product for a better home cinema experience = premium price.

Just as a standard class ticket gets you from A to B on the train but first class costs more and offers more comfort.

Market pricing!
Click to expand...

I'm not comparing premium vs non premium. I'm comparing SAME model, premiumness is a constant not variable, the variable is 40 inch vs 75 inch.
 
MissChief said:
it's more likely that faults will start to creep in too so your successful yield also starts to drop as well.
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this larger screens have lower yield (usually random manufacturing defects on screens, like silicon chips)


eg
(iTers News) - LG Display said that 8.5 pieces out of every 10 OLED productions today are commercially sellable, as it has attained a yield of 85% - the ratio of between marketable and total production.
The 85% yield has helped LG to cut production costs of OLED panels by 60%, paving the way for TV makers across the world to widely adopt OLED screens for their premium TV line-up.
Kang In-byeong, CTO of LG Display said “It took 10 years to push LCD production yield up to 80%, but it took only 2 years to attain 85% in the production yield for OLEDs. This will make sweeping changes in global display panel market, promising to make once expensive luxury OLED TVs affordable choices soon. ”
Click to expand...

thats why 55" oled prices tumbled
 
Orionaut said:
They cost more because people are prepared to pay more Pure and simple.

I doubt if any of these TV's cost more than $50 a pop at the factory gate in China when they roll off the line.
Click to expand...
Raw material is not the only cost if you are a screen company and you make none in a year you will still pay out billions (or hundreds of million)

If you make 1 less screen it might save you £50 in raw material but your operating costs will still be the same.
 
asim18 said:
We're not talking about building a house or a ship. This is electronics where higher density is more difficult/expensive.
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If you think that cost of a device is inversely proportional to size, you're wrong. Certainly size can be a factor, but holding up mobile phones and and saying that because they're more expensive and happen to be small that larger things will be less expensive is really not good logic. The main reasons are as have been stated above multiple times, the biggest I think was posted by someone else and that's "because they can", which is a result of consumer demand and a product range. Take a look at phone storage. Does it cost £100+ for an extra 16gb of storage? Of course not, but that doesn't mean the value of having that extra storage built in isn't worth £100+ to the customer, therefore that's what gets charged. It's really simple business strategy.
 
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