So It Begins: LG to debut 15″ OLED TV in December

We already knew that LG had a OLED TV in the works, with a 15″ screen. Now we have an official ship date, and its in December. And we’re happy. This according to a recent interview with Won Kim, LG’s VP of OLED sales.

While 15-inches isn’t huge really, it easily beats the pants off the first production OLED TV, Sony’s $2,500 11-inch XEL-1, and is a very nice kitchen counter/bedroom size.

No official specs were listed, but the same million:1 contrast ratio, 1,366 x 768 resolution, and 30,000-hour shelf life as the January demo model are expected. It will launch first in Korea (for a very high price tag, no doubt) before being released in other territories around the world.

Forever Lasting: DuPont creates high-longevity OLED materials

DuPont has been dipping their toe into OLED waters for awhile now, and their hard-working engineers have come up with a fascinating development (and one that could echo with importance down the road for OLED and HDTV fans).

For the OLED TV scene, getting this sets to last for a while has been one of the biggest drawbacks, and concerns. If this newest advance pans out, it won’t be an issue any longer.

DuPont has created a green light-emitting material that can operate for over a hundred years… without shutting it off at all. Yes, that’s very cool, indeed. And those same scientists have engineered a new blue light with a glow half-life of 38,000 hours along with a red-light material with a life of 62,000 hours. In other words, it’ll pretty much generate a TV that will last for many years before any repair attention needs to be paid to it.

The only bad side: This tech probably won’t be very affordable for awhile, so put away the party hats, HD fans…for now. In the long run though, this is huge for the future of HD, as it will make TVs more practical for everyone.

Partners: Samsung and LG joining forces on OLED technology

Samsung and LG make rather strange bedfellows, but according to a report released today, they’ve joined together to share OLED materials, strategies and tech stuff. With the competition on to come up with a larger OLED model for public consumption, it makes sense in many ways.

No word on what this will mean as far as release schedules go, but this probably mean a faster track to larger OLED TVs, and that’s nothing but good for the future of HDTV in general.

A little more about this development is posted here: Link

We celebrate this partnership, wherever it may lead.

Opinion: Are you still on waiting on new tech to buy a TV?

We’ve heard lots of developments in the world of HDTV technology of late, from huge Plasmas to bigger LCDs to the introduction of larger OLEDs as soon as next year. So this has us thinking: Are you still waiting to buy your HDTV for this new tech to come to fruition and settle down?

From surveys we’ve seen around the web, the consensus seems to be: wait for OLED to come in decently large sizes, and then go hog wild, with LCD second place and Plasma a distant third place, cementing the fact Plasma is slowly fading from the consumer consciousness.

So what do you think? Leave us a comment here and let us know what you’re waiting for.

Report: LG to release 32″ OLEDs by 2010?

LG may have Samsung and Sony beat in the OLED wars, it appears; they’re projecting a 32″ OLED HDTV by 2010 or so. That beats their two rival companies by a year or so, and puts them firmly in the driver’s seat for dictating the future of the HD TV format, it would seem.

This “tech road” from DigiTimes is a diagram of how LG and the OLED format have evolved.

They’re saying 15-inch OLEDs by the end of this year, and 32″ to come next? The battle has swung LG’s way for now, but pardon us if we wait and see an actual product on the shelves before a winner is declared; too many times we’ve fallen for false marketing promises on the HD front, only to see delays.

At Last: Larger OLED screens from Sony?

We’ve been waiting a long bit of time for Sony to come up with larger OLED screens than the 11″ XEL-1, and our wait has us anxious for the sequel (and hopefully much larger) TV to come around. Now it may finally be happening.

Industry reports down at the IFA briefings in Malta this past week have many thinking this September will mark the announcement of larger OLED screens from Sony, up to 27″, which makes our mouth water.

We’ve also heard through the grapevine that more “ultra-widescreen” 21:9 style models — like the Philips one we covered here at SS — could be shown off, and of course lots of widget/internet-ready HDTVs and a Samsung model with 400Hz refresh rates? Oh yes.

It’s fairly obvious: IFA’s shaping up to be huge for the HDTV industry, so it may make you want to wait as far as buying a panel before September.

Down Under OLED Joy: Sony XEL-1 headed to Australia

Sony’s XEL-1, the first consumer taste of OLED TV to hit shelves, has been distributed pretty much everyone by now, and it ain’t cheap but it’s literally the bleeding edge for flat panel TV displays. It hasn’t made to Australia, for some odd reason…until now.

That sad deficit changes in the middle of next month, as CNET is reporting that Sony will launch its 11″ bundle of HDTV joy in Aussie territory in “mid-April,” or so, with pricing ranging from AU$6,000 ($4,209) to AU$8,000 ($5,612; estimates only at this point).

Call us strange, but prices for OLED displays are just too high at this stage to be really feasable for any but the deepest pockets. Hopefully, as the tech develops, prices will head downward soon.

OLED will rule the HDTV roost by 2011-2013, according to one research company

We’ve seen two things so far the last 6 months or so: the slowly emerging OLED prototype TV’s starting to show up at trade shows, and the erosion of the Plasma technology with a number of companies. OLED may be poised to make a big splash in the TV industry in the next few years, according to the industry experts from DisplaySearch.

In 2011, OLED will become lower priced and more mainstream, with a 2013 / 2014 time frame for it to become the de facto norm. The only barrier right now is price, as OLED is more expensive to produce than LCD or Plasma is. Many companies are currently scrambling to put together TV’s that will be able to compete price wise with current technologies, and many put that around mid-2010 or so when those will start to show up in stores.

The prototypes for OLED TV’s are truly breathtaking, from all reports, so this is a welcome development and we can’t wait to see what the big HDTV players have in store for us.

Tech Notes: Toshiba playing around with OLED TVs

Toshiba has been claiming they’re tweaking OLED TV technology that could be appearing in TVs in the very near future, and could best LCD in color accuracy and black levels, two primary LCD sticking points (though not as big a sticking point as a few years ago; LCD has improved in these areas somewhat).

Of course, Toshiba has been saying this about OLED for a few years now.

Lately, the trade papers are reporting that they are working with diffraction gratings (a technical buzzword for reflecting light in certain ways internally) to make an OLED picture extra sharp and clear.  Their goal is to make the output efficiency much better than LCD currently, and these new tech additions have improved light output by 60%, without increasing power consumption, which sounds good to us.

Toshiba for their part still claims mainstream OLED TVs are years away even now, but after hearing about (and seeing some of the tiny OLED TV’s out there now) them, we’re excited to see the first practically priced bigger models roll out.

The Sony XEL-1 11″ OLED Makes Small Spaces The Best Place To Watch TV

When it comes to televisions, most of the time we’re looking for biggest HDTVs we can afford, to use as the centerpiece of the entertainment center in our living rooms. However we don’t always get to spend as much time as we would like relaxing on the couch in the living room watching television. We often spend a good portion of our time in the kitchen, home office or other rooms that have limited space which usually don’t allow for larger screen televisions. A smaller screen television makes much more sense in these rooms of your house, whether it’s on your desk in the office or on the counter top in your kitchen. Even with a small screen you won’t have to give up picture quality when you have an OLED television.

If you’re not sure what OLED television technology is, it’s an Organic Light-Emitting Diode that is the televisions light source which allows for ultra-thin televisions that use less power and provide better color control, brightness and contrast. Although you may never have heard of or seen an OLED television, Sony already has one on the market that will fit perfectly in any of your less spacious rooms. Sony’s current OLED TV is the XEL-1 which has an 11″ widescreen that measures only 3mm deep at it’s thinnest point making it perfect for an office desk, kitchen counter or small bedroom. With this television you won’t be making any sacrifices in on-screen image quality because it achieves a crystal clear 1080i resolution with an astounding 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. With an OLED TV you’ll never have color wash-out from backlighting, but you will see increased color depth and brightness control that plasma televisions can’t offer. If you happen to need a small television for a small space and want the best picture quality possible then consider buying the Sony XEL-1 11″ OLED Flat Panel TV

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