Samsung has officially launched its first super-thin curved TV screen with a price tag of £8,500 ($13,000) – five times more than its flat-screen equivalents.

The 55-inch model has a high-resolution OLED display and its design means the screen is an equal distance from the viewer at all times.

It is now on sale in South Korea but Samsung told Reuters the set will be made available in other countries from July – the first time a curved TV of its kind has been sold outside of Asia.

It also said it has no plans to offer a non-curved one this year.

The concave display gives viewers a sense of being immersed in the images.

Samsung claims its ‘Timeless Arena’ design reduces the chance of images appearing pixelated, too.

The 55-inch OLED screen also supports Samsung TV features such as multi-view that lets two people watch different things at the same time.

But mass producing OLED displays still faces many challenges, leading to high prices.

LG, which currently offers both curved and non-curved 55-inch screens, is estimated to have only sold a few hundred screens so far after starting sales earlier this year.