19 ms·

Xiaomi launches 49-inch 4K TV for $640

130 points by stats_lly 12y ago

RamunasM 12y ago
Site says it's 47 inch?
- linc01n 12y ago
  They just announced it 4 hours ago. MITV2 http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv is 49-inch. They haven't updated their english site yet.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - nrzuk 12y ago
    For the lazy people like me https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...
bryanlarsen 12y ago
49" is fairly small for a 4K TV; you have to sit quite close to be able to perceive the resolution difference and get the IMAX fill your peripheral vision effect. [1] gives an ideal distance of 1 to 2 meters. Gamers often do sit that close, so it would be interesting to see how well it does as a monitor replacement, like the 39" Seiki's that some are using. 49" UHD is the same as 4 24.5" 1920x1080 panels so would not need any sort of scaling in legacy operating systems. 1: http://referencehometheater.com/2013/commentary/4k-calculator/ http://referencehometheater.com/2013/commentary/4k-calculato...
- TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
  Amusing experiment: have people hold their two index fingers in front of them aligned with the sides of their TV, with their elbows bent an 90 degrees. I find people tend to sit progressively further away from a screen the larger it is, so the screen size proportional to their field of vision remains the same.
jbverschoor 12y ago
And how would one order that?
- bartkappenburg 12y ago
  http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-fashion-Xiaomi-TV-3D-android-super-TV-root-HMID-47-IPSSnapdragon-600-MPQ8064-Quad-Core/1640139661.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-fashion-Xiaomi-TV-3D-andr... Although I wouldn't trust that completely...
  - sjaaktrekhaak 12y ago
    Thats the old version (v1).
    - bartkappenburg 12y ago
      you're right
nardi 12y ago
Is this actually possible? Can they really make a 49-inch 4k screen with a Snapdragon processor, etc., for $640?
- galuggus 12y ago
  No retailer good relationships with the factory bulk buying No marketing costs
willholloway 12y ago
I use a Seiki 50" 4K display for coding and it was a revelation. I love all the bezel-free screen real estate and I would never go back. For watching full screen video, I just drop the resolution down to 1920x1080 to overcome the 30hz limitation the display currently has. More competition in the ~50" 4K space is welcome news.
- xur17 12y ago
  I use a 39" 4k Seiki, and I've been very happy with it too. Paid $420 about a month ago (it's $500 from Amazon right now), and it's a pretty amazing amount of real estate without a bezel. 30hz is a little annoying for some tasks, but for coding and other static applications, it really doesn't bother me.
  - dmm 12y ago
    If you flash the 39" with the 50" firmware you get true 120Hz at 1080p. It also changes the scaling to a simple 1 pixel to 4. Anybody considering the Seiki should know that it uses an unusual pixel format, BGR. So to get subpixel rendering to work be sure to run the subpixel setup program if you use windows or configure fontconfig if you use linux.
  - xhrpost 12y ago
    I've recently done the same. Still trying to get my work environment set up decently. We need some sort of user group for people doing 4k programming to exchange ideas, tools, methods, etc.
    - alex_c 12y ago
      Seems like a good idea: http://www.reddit.com/r/4kmonitors/ http://www.reddit.com/r/4kmonitors/
  - silasb 12y ago
    What do you mean "without a bezel," do you just take it off?
alex_lx 12y ago
Very chip, but you would need a little(I mean very much) luck to buy it.
- TheCondor 12y ago
  Why is that?
  - alex_lx 12y ago
    In the early sale, there's not enough XiaoMi TV been produced, objectively or subjectively. if you want to buy one, you would have to rush to buy it. it needs some luck.
- RobotCaleb 12y ago
  Is that a reference to Goodluckbuy?
hellbreakslose 12y ago
whats the refresh rate on it, couldn't find where it says about it.
- linc01n 12y ago
  "H.264、H.265支持到4K@30帧/秒". 4k@30fps
DoubleMalt 12y ago
I'd love this as my primary monitor for work. Finally the perfect Monitor for a tiling window manager.
rasz_pl 12y ago
It isnt 4K! Samsung and LG to create a 47” 1920x1080 Full HD
- sjaaktrekhaak 12y ago
  It is, check the Chinese site: https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...
  - MCRed 12y ago
    Different display completely than the one linked here.
userbinator 12y ago
47" 1920x1080 Full HD television Am I looking at the wrong link?
- sjaaktrekhaak 12y ago
  Yeah, check https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...
riobard 12y ago
As for all the too-good-to-be-true Xiaomi products, you have to enter a lottery draw before you can actually buy one. The chance of winning is pretty slim.
- adouzzy 12y ago
  You can easily find a all new resale with 10% more on Taobao. It is still a reasonable price. You can consider Xiaomi outsources retails.
highace 12y ago
I would love a massive 40-50"+ monitor with the standard PPI of 94. Loads of space, with no worrying about scaling issues or ridiculously tiny fonts/icons/etc.
- lnanek2 12y ago
  Yeah, honestly, my favorite coding monitor is 37" 1080P cheapo Vizio TV placed a like five feet away. The eyes are most relaxed at far distances. 4K to me sounds useless, but hey, maybe it will drive down prices and if I'm stuck with one I can half the res. or scale I guess.
madaxe_again 12y ago
Where does this say that it's 4k? Everything on the linked page says it's 1080p, which is NOT the same thing as 4k. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution Edit: Yeah, Ok, I just scrolled down, and realised the actual link for the TV in question is https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...
- reedlaw 12y ago
  It's clear from the Chinese version of the site that it's 4K: http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv
  - MCRed 12y ago
    That's a different display. Look on the tech specs page for the chinese one: http://www.mi.com/mitv#params http://www.mi.com/mitv#params and compare it to the OP: http://www.mi.com/en/mitv#fullspecs http://www.mi.com/en/mitv#fullspecs For example, the CPUs are different, one's a snapdragon 1.7GHz, the other is a Cortex A9, 1.4GHz. (Different GPUs too.) Not to mention one explicitly says it's 1920x1080, while the other is "4K".
    - reedlaw 12y ago
      You're right. There's a number "2" after the name of the TV in Chinese. Maybe the Chinese site is the second generation Mi TV.
      - MCRed 12y ago
        The price on the Chinese page is 3999 yuan, which translates into $641, indicating this is the model the OP meant. So it looks like the OP linked to the wrong page by mistake and got version 1 instead of version 2.
    - agileT 12y ago
      The tv on chinese page is MiTV 2, which is the second-generation MiTV, while the one on en page is MiTV, which is launched several months before. It seems that MiTV 2 in en page has not updated yet.
mwill 12y ago
I see a few people in this thread saying you would need an amount of luck to actually get one of these, can anyone shed some light on why? And possibly what someone might do to actually get one shipped out to Australia?
- akfanta 12y ago
  Whenever they release a new gadget, they make the announcement and then make you to wait. Their online shop has this queuing system which is super hard to get in whenever they make a new release. And it usually get "sold out" in a matter of minutes or even seconds. The majority of the consumers won't get hand on it months after its initial release. And interestingly, when this happens, usually the component price has dropped quite a lot where the price/cost ration is far less impressive. However, they still get to keep the reputation that they sell "quality" stuff at an insanely low price. The whole process sounds like a shady business to me, but apparently they grow super fast with this kind of strategy. So yeah, I guess what do I know.
- galuggus 12y ago
  xiaomi creates hype through scarcity. Last year I wanted a xiaomi box (a bit like apple tv but optimized for China) They only release x amount of units on a certain day at a certain time on a monthly basis. These will be sold out in seconds. I'm pretty sure most of these items are bought by scalper bots then resold on taobao.com etc. I never successfully managed to order and eventually bought on the secondary market for a small markup This is great for xiaomi. They create hype and each of their sales are a sellout. The next month they come out with a slightly improved version of their product based on user feedback As their founder said Electronics are like seafood you don't want it hang around a warehouse too long to sum up your chances of getting on of these from xiaomi.com are really really low
chrisBob 12y ago
Does this have a TV tuner? I thought a tuner was the difference between a TV and a monitor.
bhauer 12y ago
Does this display offer a 60 Hz refresh rate at 4K via either modern DisplayPort or HDMI 2? As I mentioned in "4K is for Programmers" [1] and its follow-up [2], the 30 Hz refresh offered by the current generation of 4K televisions is the principle deficiency when using them as monitors. 30 Hz is of course workable, which is precisely why 4K is for programmers, after all. :) But all of us would take a 60 Hz option in a heartbeat if it were available. That said, I prefer the 39" form factor offered by Seiki for 4K. Around 50 inches, a computer's display should be 8K+. [1] http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers [2] http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers-redux http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers-redux
- boobsbr 12y ago
  "This site does not support Internet Explorer 8 or older." Au contraire, IE does not support your site. Actually, I can't even test if at least it renders the page in text mode because you blocked it, end of conversation. I'm at work and our desktops were migrated from XP this year and we're stuck with IE 8, beucase it's "compliant" (with what, I wonder). I can't even load the cached page from Google... This is very annoying, the site is just a blog, not a complex webapp that must ensure correct rendering and JS execution.
  - bhauer 12y ago
    Sorry about that. I'll make it a point to remove that too-forceful block soon. In the meantime for what it's worth, you can read the ramblings via the RSS feed: http://tiamat.tsotech.com/tiamat.rss http://tiamat.tsotech.com/tiamat.rss
blueskin_ 12y ago
Anyone put its traffic through Wireshark to see what it's up to yet?
- zo1 12y ago
  Why? Are you implying that it's going to do something nefarious because it's made by an Asian/Chinese company? How would you feel if people said that about American products? Maybe I should be scared about getting irradiated from American products because Americans have killed a metric ton of people using nuclear weapons within the last century?
  - freehunter 12y ago
    It's not unheard of for smart TVs to snoop on you. LG did it.
  - cincinnatus 12y ago
    Don't be an ass. https://spideroak.com/privacypost/cloud-security/is-your-smart-tv-spying-on-you/ https://spideroak.com/privacypost/cloud-security/is-your-sma...
    - zo1 12y ago
      You could have just linked to the article in question, rather than calling me an "ass". But thanks.
      - RobotCaleb 12y ago
        Don't be intentionally obtuse, then. Ass is a bit ambiguous.
        zo1 12y ago
        What on earth are you going on about? What exactly was I obtuse about? And for that matter, what is ambiguous about calling me an "ass"? Especially in the tone the OP used it, which was as some sort of insult because he disagreed with my opinion.
royjacobs 12y ago
Xiaomi is a really interesting company. This TV announcement is just one in a long line of recent products that promise high quality devices for low prices (recently announced Mi Pad, Wi-Fi Router, etc). I own a Xiaomi MI2s phone which cost me about 200 euros to get shipped from a Chinese webshop and it's been working perfectly. They even update their phone OS (MIUI, based on Android) with weekly builds that are installed OTA. Lei Jun (their CEO) really wants Xiaomi to become the Chinese Apple. Not sure if wearing black turtlenecks and hiring Hugo Barra will get them there, but I'm curious to see what they'll do next.
- MCRed 12y ago
  I find the "Chinese Apple" to be a curious desire. Which characteristics do we choose from the two? "high quality devices for low prices", is very chinese, but Apple is known for high quality prices based on innovative technology. If he wants to build a company that makes high quality products based on innovative technology at low prices, then he could find great success. Alas, in my experience, no companies besides Apple are actually interested in consistently producing innovative products. This "Mi" site is full of derivative devices using off the shelf technology (android, for instance) in moderately nicely designed plastic cases.
  - szatkus 12y ago
    I think he meant scale. Competing with Apple in Apple's niche isn't good idea.
- nodata 12y ago
  Maybe, but you sound awfully like a marketing department!
  - royjacobs 12y ago
    Thanks, I guess? :) I don't want to sound like I'm astroturfing, but I genuinely think they're interesting. Maybe I should clarify: I don't think they are at the same quality level as, say, Apple. The phone is still plastic galore and MIUI certainly isn't as elegant as iOS. However, amidst all the Chinese companies that are churning out cheap electronics, Xiaomi doesn't seem to be content to "just" churn out clones. Except, maybe, one of their new routers that has a design copied from an iPad stand.
MCRed 12y ago
Article link should be to here: http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv This article is linking to a 2K tv: From main page: "Mi TV is virtually frameless. We use one of the best panels from Samsung and LG to create a 47” 1920x1080 Full HD television with a super slim profile and an 8.4mm frame" From specs page: "Size47" Resolution1920×1080(1080P)" Maybe $640 is a great deal for an android TV with all these features? I don't really know, but it's a very different thing from a $640 4k TV, like the Seiki.
eculic17 12y ago
Is it just me or are they advertising it can run popcorn time a the bottom of the page?
polshaw 12y ago
NB the linked page is currently for the MiTV 1 (1080p, 47"), but the topic is about V2;[1] On the SOC side, it's 4x cortex A9 @ 1.45Ghz with Mali 450 MP4 GPU-- h265 decode at 4K/30fps, 2GB RAM supports miracast, airplay, dlna, widi, SMB, dual band ac wifi, USB3, micro SD, bluetooth 4 (BT LE remote with finder). 15.5mm thick and 6.2mm bezel. It has everything, except the HDMI version is conspicuous in its absence-- so I'm guessing it's not 2.0, which is required for 60fps at 4K. Also not completely clear if it could actually play back 4K 3D-- perhaps this would work with h264, but for h265 it states 30fps. Released on the 27th in China, no mention of elsewhere. 1. http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&p...
- devy 12y ago
  Yup. The English version of the MiTV link is an old content description for MiTV 1. However, the Chinese version of the web page does mention about 4K display on MiTV2. http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv
- rsync 12y ago
  "On the SOC side, it's 4x cortex A9 @ 1.45Ghz with Mali 450 MP4 GPU-- h265 decode at 4K/30fps, 2GB RAM" Is this because it is a "smart" TV, or should I expect all computer monitors to have this degree of complexity these days ? I'd like my monitor to be as dumb as possible, thanks.
  - wmf 12y ago
    It's definitely a TV not a monitor.
    - pekk 12y ago
      The difference is more marginal than ever.
  - q3k 12y ago
    Look into NEC “commercial-grade” displays [1]. They're basically brilliant LCD displays with nearly no bezel, simple software & OCD (usually not much more than picture adjustement), control via RS232... They're not cheap, though. [1] - http://www.necdisplay.com/category/large-screen-displays http://www.necdisplay.com/category/large-screen-displays
brianbreslin 12y ago
Any idea if this would be sold in the US?
BaconJuice 12y ago
how do you get one of these?
drzaiusapelord 12y ago
Do I want Android TV? Yet another clunky interface, yet another clunky remote, etc? I recent got a Chromecast and now manage my TV via my tablet or laptop. I get a better experience with my tablet and would love to see TV's shipping with Chromecast built-in. I retired my Boxxee and I no longer think about buying a Roku or AppleTV.
vishaldpatel 12y ago
I wonder how America's Apple will respond to this.
- wmf 12y ago
  They won't because they don't make TVs and they don't respond to competition.
  - dublinben 12y ago
    I don't know. The hideous mock-up of a 4.7 inch iPhone 6 that's been floating around certainly looks like a transparent response to the trend of larger Android phones. Apple themselves admit that growth is coming from phones they can't compete with[0]. Their $600+ phones with 4 inch screens have been surpassed in both resolution and price. [0]http://9to5mac.com/2014/04/06/why-apple-has-to-make-bigger-screen-iphones-in-its-own-confidential-internal-slides/ http://9to5mac.com/2014/04/06/why-apple-has-to-make-bigger-s...
- Synaesthesia 12y ago
  We will probably have a 4k iMac soon, maybe 4k cinema displays too.
- lttlrck 12y ago
  Whatever it is its safe to say it won't be 30hz.
mimighost 12y ago
This looks interesting. Will it come to US?
dang 12y ago
We changed the url from http://www.mi.com/en/mitv http://www.mi.com/en/mitv, which as countless users have pointed out in this thread, did not show the TV in question.

130 points by stats_lly 12y ago

RamunasM 12y ago

Site says it's 47 inch?

linc01n 12y ago
They just announced it 4 hours ago. MITV2 http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv is 49-inch. They haven't updated their english site yet.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- nrzuk 12y ago
  For the lazy people like me https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...

bryanlarsen 12y ago

49" is fairly small for a 4K TV; you have to sit quite close to be able to perceive the resolution difference and get the IMAX fill your peripheral vision effect. [1] gives an ideal distance of 1 to 2 meters. Gamers often do sit that close, so it would be interesting to see how well it does as a monitor replacement, like the 39" Seiki's that some are using. 49" UHD is the same as 4 24.5" 1920x1080 panels so would not need any sort of scaling in legacy operating systems. 1: http://referencehometheater.com/2013/commentary/4k-calculator/ http://referencehometheater.com/2013/commentary/4k-calculato...

TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
Amusing experiment: have people hold their two index fingers in front of them aligned with the sides of their TV, with their elbows bent an 90 degrees. I find people tend to sit progressively further away from a screen the larger it is, so the screen size proportional to their field of vision remains the same.

jbverschoor 12y ago

And how would one order that?

bartkappenburg 12y ago
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-fashion-Xiaomi-TV-3D-android-super-TV-root-HMID-47-IPSSnapdragon-600-MPQ8064-Quad-Core/1640139661.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-fashion-Xiaomi-TV-3D-andr... Although I wouldn't trust that completely...
- sjaaktrekhaak 12y ago
  Thats the old version (v1).
  - bartkappenburg 12y ago
    you're right

nardi 12y ago

Is this actually possible? Can they really make a 49-inch 4k screen with a Snapdragon processor, etc., for $640?

galuggus 12y ago
No retailer good relationships with the factory bulk buying No marketing costs

willholloway 12y ago

I use a Seiki 50" 4K display for coding and it was a revelation. I love all the bezel-free screen real estate and I would never go back. For watching full screen video, I just drop the resolution down to 1920x1080 to overcome the 30hz limitation the display currently has. More competition in the ~50" 4K space is welcome news.

xur17 12y ago
I use a 39" 4k Seiki, and I've been very happy with it too. Paid $420 about a month ago (it's $500 from Amazon right now), and it's a pretty amazing amount of real estate without a bezel. 30hz is a little annoying for some tasks, but for coding and other static applications, it really doesn't bother me.
- dmm 12y ago
  If you flash the 39" with the 50" firmware you get true 120Hz at 1080p. It also changes the scaling to a simple 1 pixel to 4. Anybody considering the Seiki should know that it uses an unusual pixel format, BGR. So to get subpixel rendering to work be sure to run the subpixel setup program if you use windows or configure fontconfig if you use linux.
- xhrpost 12y ago
  I've recently done the same. Still trying to get my work environment set up decently. We need some sort of user group for people doing 4k programming to exchange ideas, tools, methods, etc.
  - alex_c 12y ago
    Seems like a good idea: http://www.reddit.com/r/4kmonitors/ http://www.reddit.com/r/4kmonitors/
- silasb 12y ago
  What do you mean "without a bezel," do you just take it off?

alex_lx 12y ago

Very chip, but you would need a little(I mean very much) luck to buy it.

TheCondor 12y ago
Why is that?
- alex_lx 12y ago
  In the early sale, there's not enough XiaoMi TV been produced, objectively or subjectively. if you want to buy one, you would have to rush to buy it. it needs some luck.
RobotCaleb 12y ago
Is that a reference to Goodluckbuy?

hellbreakslose 12y ago

whats the refresh rate on it, couldn't find where it says about it.

linc01n 12y ago
"H.264、H.265支持到4K@30帧/秒". 4k@30fps

DoubleMalt 12y ago

I'd love this as my primary monitor for work. Finally the perfect Monitor for a tiling window manager.

rasz_pl 12y ago

It isnt 4K! Samsung and LG to create a 47” 1920x1080 Full HD

sjaaktrekhaak 12y ago
It is, check the Chinese site: https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...
- MCRed 12y ago
  Different display completely than the one linked here.

userbinator 12y ago

47" 1920x1080 Full HD television Am I looking at the wrong link?

sjaaktrekhaak 12y ago
Yeah, check https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...

riobard 12y ago

As for all the too-good-to-be-true Xiaomi products, you have to enter a lottery draw before you can actually buy one. The chance of winning is pretty slim.

adouzzy 12y ago
You can easily find a all new resale with 10% more on Taobao. It is still a reasonable price. You can consider Xiaomi outsources retails.

highace 12y ago

I would love a massive 40-50"+ monitor with the standard PPI of 94. Loads of space, with no worrying about scaling issues or ridiculously tiny fonts/icons/etc.

lnanek2 12y ago
Yeah, honestly, my favorite coding monitor is 37" 1080P cheapo Vizio TV placed a like five feet away. The eyes are most relaxed at far distances. 4K to me sounds useless, but hey, maybe it will drive down prices and if I'm stuck with one I can half the res. or scale I guess.

madaxe_again 12y ago

Where does this say that it's 4k? Everything on the linked page says it's 1080p, which is NOT the same thing as 4k. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution Edit: Yeah, Ok, I just scrolled down, and realised the actual link for the TV in question is https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv&edit-text= https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&...

reedlaw 12y ago
It's clear from the Chinese version of the site that it's 4K: http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv
- MCRed 12y ago
  That's a different display. Look on the tech specs page for the chinese one: http://www.mi.com/mitv#params http://www.mi.com/mitv#params and compare it to the OP: http://www.mi.com/en/mitv#fullspecs http://www.mi.com/en/mitv#fullspecs For example, the CPUs are different, one's a snapdragon 1.7GHz, the other is a Cortex A9, 1.4GHz. (Different GPUs too.) Not to mention one explicitly says it's 1920x1080, while the other is "4K".
  - reedlaw 12y ago
    You're right. There's a number "2" after the name of the TV in Chinese. Maybe the Chinese site is the second generation Mi TV.
    - MCRed 12y ago
      The price on the Chinese page is 3999 yuan, which translates into $641, indicating this is the model the OP meant. So it looks like the OP linked to the wrong page by mistake and got version 1 instead of version 2.
  - agileT 12y ago
    The tv on chinese page is MiTV 2, which is the second-generation MiTV, while the one on en page is MiTV, which is launched several months before. It seems that MiTV 2 in en page has not updated yet.

mwill 12y ago

I see a few people in this thread saying you would need an amount of luck to actually get one of these, can anyone shed some light on why? And possibly what someone might do to actually get one shipped out to Australia?

akfanta 12y ago
Whenever they release a new gadget, they make the announcement and then make you to wait. Their online shop has this queuing system which is super hard to get in whenever they make a new release. And it usually get "sold out" in a matter of minutes or even seconds. The majority of the consumers won't get hand on it months after its initial release. And interestingly, when this happens, usually the component price has dropped quite a lot where the price/cost ration is far less impressive. However, they still get to keep the reputation that they sell "quality" stuff at an insanely low price. The whole process sounds like a shady business to me, but apparently they grow super fast with this kind of strategy. So yeah, I guess what do I know.
galuggus 12y ago
xiaomi creates hype through scarcity. Last year I wanted a xiaomi box (a bit like apple tv but optimized for China) They only release x amount of units on a certain day at a certain time on a monthly basis. These will be sold out in seconds. I'm pretty sure most of these items are bought by scalper bots then resold on taobao.com etc. I never successfully managed to order and eventually bought on the secondary market for a small markup This is great for xiaomi. They create hype and each of their sales are a sellout. The next month they come out with a slightly improved version of their product based on user feedback As their founder said Electronics are like seafood you don't want it hang around a warehouse too long to sum up your chances of getting on of these from xiaomi.com are really really low

chrisBob 12y ago

Does this have a TV tuner? I thought a tuner was the difference between a TV and a monitor.

bhauer 12y ago

Does this display offer a 60 Hz refresh rate at 4K via either modern DisplayPort or HDMI 2? As I mentioned in "4K is for Programmers" [1] and its follow-up [2], the 30 Hz refresh offered by the current generation of 4K televisions is the principle deficiency when using them as monitors. 30 Hz is of course workable, which is precisely why 4K is for programmers, after all. :) But all of us would take a 60 Hz option in a heartbeat if it were available. That said, I prefer the 39" form factor offered by Seiki for 4K. Around 50 inches, a computer's display should be 8K+. [1] http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers [2] http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers-redux http://tiamat.tsotech.com/4k-is-for-programmers-redux

boobsbr 12y ago
"This site does not support Internet Explorer 8 or older." Au contraire, IE does not support your site. Actually, I can't even test if at least it renders the page in text mode because you blocked it, end of conversation. I'm at work and our desktops were migrated from XP this year and we're stuck with IE 8, beucase it's "compliant" (with what, I wonder). I can't even load the cached page from Google... This is very annoying, the site is just a blog, not a complex webapp that must ensure correct rendering and JS execution.
- bhauer 12y ago
  Sorry about that. I'll make it a point to remove that too-forceful block soon. In the meantime for what it's worth, you can read the ramblings via the RSS feed: http://tiamat.tsotech.com/tiamat.rss http://tiamat.tsotech.com/tiamat.rss

blueskin_ 12y ago

Anyone put its traffic through Wireshark to see what it's up to yet?

zo1 12y ago
Why? Are you implying that it's going to do something nefarious because it's made by an Asian/Chinese company? How would you feel if people said that about American products? Maybe I should be scared about getting irradiated from American products because Americans have killed a metric ton of people using nuclear weapons within the last century?
- freehunter 12y ago
  It's not unheard of for smart TVs to snoop on you. LG did it.
- cincinnatus 12y ago
  Don't be an ass. https://spideroak.com/privacypost/cloud-security/is-your-smart-tv-spying-on-you/ https://spideroak.com/privacypost/cloud-security/is-your-sma...
  - zo1 12y ago
    You could have just linked to the article in question, rather than calling me an "ass". But thanks.
    - RobotCaleb 12y ago
      Don't be intentionally obtuse, then. Ass is a bit ambiguous.
      - zo1 12y ago
        What on earth are you going on about? What exactly was I obtuse about? And for that matter, what is ambiguous about calling me an "ass"? Especially in the tone the OP used it, which was as some sort of insult because he disagreed with my opinion.

royjacobs 12y ago

Xiaomi is a really interesting company. This TV announcement is just one in a long line of recent products that promise high quality devices for low prices (recently announced Mi Pad, Wi-Fi Router, etc). I own a Xiaomi MI2s phone which cost me about 200 euros to get shipped from a Chinese webshop and it's been working perfectly. They even update their phone OS (MIUI, based on Android) with weekly builds that are installed OTA. Lei Jun (their CEO) really wants Xiaomi to become the Chinese Apple. Not sure if wearing black turtlenecks and hiring Hugo Barra will get them there, but I'm curious to see what they'll do next.

MCRed 12y ago
I find the "Chinese Apple" to be a curious desire. Which characteristics do we choose from the two? "high quality devices for low prices", is very chinese, but Apple is known for high quality prices based on innovative technology. If he wants to build a company that makes high quality products based on innovative technology at low prices, then he could find great success. Alas, in my experience, no companies besides Apple are actually interested in consistently producing innovative products. This "Mi" site is full of derivative devices using off the shelf technology (android, for instance) in moderately nicely designed plastic cases.
- szatkus 12y ago
  I think he meant scale. Competing with Apple in Apple's niche isn't good idea.
nodata 12y ago
Maybe, but you sound awfully like a marketing department!
- royjacobs 12y ago
  Thanks, I guess? :) I don't want to sound like I'm astroturfing, but I genuinely think they're interesting. Maybe I should clarify: I don't think they are at the same quality level as, say, Apple. The phone is still plastic galore and MIUI certainly isn't as elegant as iOS. However, amidst all the Chinese companies that are churning out cheap electronics, Xiaomi doesn't seem to be content to "just" churn out clones. Except, maybe, one of their new routers that has a design copied from an iPad stand.

MCRed 12y ago

Article link should be to here: http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv This article is linking to a 2K tv: From main page: "Mi TV is virtually frameless. We use one of the best panels from Samsung and LG to create a 47” 1920x1080 Full HD television with a super slim profile and an 8.4mm frame" From specs page: "Size47" Resolution1920×1080(1080P)" Maybe $640 is a great deal for an android TV with all these features? I don't really know, but it's a very different thing from a $640 4k TV, like the Seiki.

eculic17 12y ago

Is it just me or are they advertising it can run popcorn time a the bottom of the page?

polshaw 12y ago

NB the linked page is currently for the MiTV 1 (1080p, 47"), but the topic is about V2;[1] On the SOC side, it's 4x cortex A9 @ 1.45Ghz with Mali 450 MP4 GPU-- h265 decode at 4K/30fps, 2GB RAM supports miracast, airplay, dlna, widi, SMB, dual band ac wifi, USB3, micro SD, bluetooth 4 (BT LE remote with finder). 15.5mm thick and 6.2mm bezel. It has everything, except the HDMI version is conspicuous in its absence-- so I'm guessing it's not 2.0, which is required for 60fps at 4K. Also not completely clear if it could actually play back 4K 3D-- perhaps this would work with h264, but for h265 it states 30fps. Released on the 27th in China, no mention of elsewhere. 1. http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mi.com%2Fmitv http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&p...

devy 12y ago
Yup. The English version of the MiTV link is an old content description for MiTV 1. However, the Chinese version of the web page does mention about 4K display on MiTV2. http://www.mi.com/mitv http://www.mi.com/mitv
rsync 12y ago
"On the SOC side, it's 4x cortex A9 @ 1.45Ghz with Mali 450 MP4 GPU-- h265 decode at 4K/30fps, 2GB RAM" Is this because it is a "smart" TV, or should I expect all computer monitors to have this degree of complexity these days ? I'd like my monitor to be as dumb as possible, thanks.
- wmf 12y ago
  It's definitely a TV not a monitor.
  - pekk 12y ago
    The difference is more marginal than ever.
- q3k 12y ago
  Look into NEC “commercial-grade” displays [1]. They're basically brilliant LCD displays with nearly no bezel, simple software & OCD (usually not much more than picture adjustement), control via RS232... They're not cheap, though. [1] - http://www.necdisplay.com/category/large-screen-displays http://www.necdisplay.com/category/large-screen-displays

brianbreslin 12y ago

Any idea if this would be sold in the US?

BaconJuice 12y ago

how do you get one of these?

drzaiusapelord 12y ago

Do I want Android TV? Yet another clunky interface, yet another clunky remote, etc? I recent got a Chromecast and now manage my TV via my tablet or laptop. I get a better experience with my tablet and would love to see TV's shipping with Chromecast built-in. I retired my Boxxee and I no longer think about buying a Roku or AppleTV.

vishaldpatel 12y ago

I wonder how America's Apple will respond to this.

wmf 12y ago
They won't because they don't make TVs and they don't respond to competition.
- dublinben 12y ago
  I don't know. The hideous mock-up of a 4.7 inch iPhone 6 that's been floating around certainly looks like a transparent response to the trend of larger Android phones. Apple themselves admit that growth is coming from phones they can't compete with[0]. Their $600+ phones with 4 inch screens have been surpassed in both resolution and price. [0]http://9to5mac.com/2014/04/06/why-apple-has-to-make-bigger-screen-iphones-in-its-own-confidential-internal-slides/ http://9to5mac.com/2014/04/06/why-apple-has-to-make-bigger-s...
Synaesthesia 12y ago
We will probably have a 4k iMac soon, maybe 4k cinema displays too.
lttlrck 12y ago
Whatever it is its safe to say it won't be 30hz.

mimighost 12y ago

This looks interesting. Will it come to US?

dang 12y ago

We changed the url from http://www.mi.com/en/mitv http://www.mi.com/en/mitv, which as countless users have pointed out in this thread, did not show the TV in question.