Chinese electronics giant, Hisense, opened the doors to its Cape Town-based manufacturing facility earlier this year, where it builds HDTVs and refrigerators.

Now, the company’s plant is also responsible for manufacturing the biggest consumer display on the market: an 84-inch UltraHD (or 4K) TV. With LED backlighting and a native resolution of 3840 x 2160, it competes directly with all the other 4K TVs on the market, including Samsung’s 85-inch monster, as well as Sony and LG’s 84-inch offerings.

However, unlike those manufacturers, the Hisense model is built in South Africa. Additionally, thanks to lower taxes on locally-produced products, the Hisense unit also undercuts its competition on price. Hisense imports the LCD panels from its manufacturing plant in China, but the rest of the TV – including circuit boards – is assembled here in South Africa.

The 84-inch XT900 has a recommended retail price of R170 000, while the next-cheapest competitor is LG’s 84-inch LM9600, for R190 000. Meanwhile, Sony’s 84-inch Bravia can be had for R250 000 – the price of a small car. And Samsung’s 85-inch UHD TV costs an eye watering R380 000.

For mere mortals those prices might be a little too much to swallow, no matter how high the resolution or how many HDMI inputs the TV boasts. For them, Hisense also offers a more modest 65-inch Ultra HD TV, which retails for less than R40 000 – just about on par with what a good 55-inch HDTV cost a few years ago.

All of which is moot, given the lack 4K content, as well as access to that which exists. Sony, Samsung, and LG all have 4K upscaling Blu-ray players designed to help your regular HD Blu-ray movies look good on UHD screens, but until the proper stuff arrives – which isn’t going to be anytime soon – you have lots of bragging rights.