Is 2012 the Year of Super-Thin OLED Displays?

[admin]

It's no secret that televisions have extremely low profit margins. In fact, there seems to be very little differential between models as more and more products acquire similar features and move towards a convergence of thin, 3D, streaming media-centric devices. But what if there were a way to "apple-ize" the TV industry? What if OLED were finally to become a reality this year and television manufacturers were able to get a new technology to market that was both appealing and beneficial? That seems to be happening - at least if reports are to be believed about LG Electronics and its pending 55-inch television that will measure a scant 3/16" thick and weigh just 16-1/2 pounds. That's pencil thin. And they're not alone. Samsung is making similar claims and both companies intend to announce - ANNOUNCE, mind you, not just show a proof of concept, OLED TVs this year at the CES Expo in Vegas.

Discuss "Is 2012 the Year of Super-Thin OLED Displays?" here. Read the article.

 

[wiyosaya]

Interesting article. I think the wait and see attitude is appropriate.

In the mean time, here are a few links that give more info on the LG model

Estimated $8,000 US price. Not bad, IMHO, if it delivers on promise.

Interesting specs including a 0.1 microsecond response time.

Details on the technology.

Enjoy!

 

[scott911]

when the tv's thinner than the power plug behind it, I kind of don't get the point.

 

[darien87]

If the hot Korean model comes with the TV then I might consider paying $8,000 for it.

 

[Adam]

If the hot Korean model comes with the TV then I might consider paying $8,000 for it.

Yeah, it's all fun and games until she won't hand over the remote.

 

[gene]

when the tv's thinner than the power plug behind it, I kind of don't get the point.

Agreed. I went to install my sister-in-law's LED display to her home theater yesterday and found that these TV's no longer come with RCA connectors on them. Instead they have a dongle that breaks out for component video. The dongle is so flimsy that if any tension is placed on it, it will fall off. I recognize that legacy connections are going away but HDMI still has issues. In most cases I prefer to install a cable box via component video over HDMI either for performance reasons or to resolve technical compatibility issues.

 

[lsiberian]

when the tv's thinner than the power plug behind it, I kind of don't get the point.

Who need plugs we can just go wireless?

 

[wiyosaya]

when the tv's thinner than the power plug behind it, I kind of don't get the point.

Personally, I think the advances with OLEDs are more in other areas rather than thickness since there are sets nearly as thin already. Mainly, I think the advances are in the likely superior picture quality.

For instance, it sounds like this set will have better than 100 percent NTSC color gamut, while LCDs have something like 80 percent NTSC color gamut. Response time, too, is another factor being on the order of 1000 times faster than LCD, and there is the promise of significantly less power consumption over both LCD and plasma displays - to mention a few areas where OLEDs have the promise of excelling over current technology.

In my opinion, marketing hawks are touting thickness because it will sell sets to the average customer.

 

[j_garcia]

Personally, I think the advances with OLEDs are more in other areas rather than thickness since there are sets nearly as thin already. Mainly, I think the advances are in the likely superior picture quality.

For instance, it sounds like this set will have better than 100 percent NTSC color gamut, while LCDs have something like 80 percent NTSC color gamut. Response time, too, is another factor being on the order of 1000 times faster than LCD, and there is the promise of significantly less power consumption over both LCD and plasma displays - to mention a few areas where OLEDs have the promise of excelling over current technology.

In my opinion, marketing hawks are touting thickness because it will sell sets to the average customer.

OLEDs still face one significant problem and that is they are very difficult to produce in a larger size that is uniform over the whole surface. So while all the other factors are certainly improvements, they haven't yet figured out how to make it easy to produce reliably. Until they do that, the prices will still be extremely high.

Both companies are going to announce these displays, but they are not what I would call production ready for the mass market.

 

[wiyosaya]

OLEDs still face one significant problem and that is they are very difficult to produce in a larger size that is uniform over the whole surface. So while all the other factors are certainly improvements, they haven't yet figured out how to make it easy to produce reliably. Until they do that, the prices will still be extremely high.

Both companies are going to announce these displays, but they are not what I would call production ready for the mass market.

Personally, I do not agree that the technology is not production-ready.

LG has announced plans to release this set to the market in mid 2012. As this article said, LG is planning to announce the set at CES 2012, not just present it as a concept.

While the technology is still young, DuPont has announced both a technology for printing OLED that is capable of printing a 50" screen in under two minutes, and its licensing to an as yet unnamed major Asian manufacturer.

As is typical with emerging technologies, time will tell.

Despite my apparent optimism, I maintain a healthy skepticism.

 

[Adam]

...DuPont has announced both a technology for printing OLED that is capable of printing a 50" screen in under two minutes...

Yikes, and I thought my replacement ink cartridges were expensive.

 

[itschris]

Agreed. I went to install my sister-in-law's LED display to her home theater yesterday and found that these TV's no longer come with RCA connectors on them. Instead they have a dongle that breaks out for component video. The dongle is so flimsy that if any tension is placed on it, it will fall off. I recognize that legacy connections are going away but HDMI still has issues. In most cases I prefer to install a cable box via component video over HDMI either for performance reasons or to resolve technical compatibility issues.

I have my box hooked with component as well. With HDMI, there's too much of a delay for flipping through channels. Plus, I run into sync problems now and then.

As far as cables litterally falling out of their connection spot, I've found that using a 90 degree adapter really helps. It's the weight/gravity issue that often times causes an issue. I've had no problems using the 90 adapters even with HDMI.

 

[BMXTRIX]

OLED excited me for about five seconds. Now though, it is time for it to step up to the plate. When OLED first was announced and Sony brought us the $2000 non-HD tiny display, it was mostly cool because it was really thin. Now though we are seeing things like the Samsung 9000 series displays which are about that thin and are actually available.

Now that we have our readily available (where do I plug it in?) thin TVs in traditional technologies which look good and have a good price, we just have to ask what OLED has left to offer us?

Something thinner? How much better does it really look? What's the durability of their product? What choices in manufacturers will we have with this? How much more do we get for how much more money?

I mean, do we need something skinnier than this?

 

[lsiberian]

OLED excited me for about five seconds. Now though, it is time for it to step up to the plate. When OLED first was announced and Sony brought us the $2000 non-HD tiny display, it was mostly cool because it was really thin. Now though we are seeing things like the Samsung 9000 series displays which are about that thin and are actually available.

Now that we have our readily available (where do I plug it in?) thin TVs in traditional technologies which look good and have a good price, we just have to ask what OLED has left to offer us?

Something thinner? How much better does it really look? What's the durability of their product? What choices in manufacturers will we have with this? How much more do we get for how much more money?

I mean, do we need something skinnier than this?

Would the wind knock that down?

 

[jinjuku]

Still isn't as thin as my paint on projection screen

 

[j_garcia]

Personally, I do not agree that the technology is not production-ready.

LG has announced plans to release this set to the market in mid 2012. As this article said, LG is planning to announce the set at CES 2012, not just present it as a concept.

While the technology is still young, DuPont has announced both a technology for printing OLED that is capable of printing a 50" screen in under two minutes, and its licensing to an as yet unnamed major Asian manufacturer.

As is typical with emerging technologies, time will tell.

Despite my apparent optimism, I maintain a healthy skepticism.

Yes, the inkjet OLED has also been around for quite a few years and still hasn't made it to market either. It is a nice idea that isn't entirely ready or companies would be doing it. For OLED, unless they have solved the issue, OLEDs were known to dim over time, not unlike a Plasma. I know they have minimized some issues with Plasmas in the last few years, and Plasma still isn't a growing market. So until they make it competetive with LCD/LED on a cost basis, it isn't really a factor. Sure they can put it into production, but if they can't sell it at a price comparable to other displays of the same size, they just aren't going to sell that many, at least not right away. LCD and Plasma were in the same boat at one point, but now they are less expensive and the performance is there, so only time will tell if OLED will be able to do the same.

CRT is still the best display method for the blackest blacks and excellent brightness and you don't see those around anymore do you? So being the best isn't always what sells. People want thin. My new TV is a 55" and it weighs less than the 40" it replaced and is about 1/3 as thick. That happened in just 2 years time.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Still isn't as thin as my paint on projection screen

But it's a lot more portable than your wall!

 

[jinjuku]

But it's a lot more portable than your wall!

If you want to tote around a $5K 55" TV to kids birthday parties... Having something that portable would be as bad as owning a pickup truck.

 

[wiyosaya]

Yes, the inkjet OLED has also been around for quite a few years and still hasn't made it to market either. It is a nice idea that isn't entirely ready or companies would be doing it. For OLED, unless they have solved the issue, OLEDs were known to dim over time, not unlike a Plasma. I know they have minimized some issues with Plasmas in the last few years, and Plasma still isn't a growing market. So until they make it competetive with LCD/LED on a cost basis, it isn't really a factor. Sure they can put it into production, but if they can't sell it at a price comparable to other displays of the same size, they just aren't going to sell that many, at least not right away. LCD and Plasma were in the same boat at one point, but now they are less expensive and the performance is there, so only time will tell if OLED will be able to do the same.

CRT is still the best display method for the blackest blacks and excellent brightness and you don't see those around anymore do you? So being the best isn't always what sells. People want thin. My new TV is a 55" and it weighs less than the 40" it replaced and is about 1/3 as thick. That happened in just 2 years time.

LG is touting 100,000 hours lifetime on all colors, which, as I understand it, is equivalent to current plasma and LCD lifetimes. (I previously posted this link to this thread. ) There's a lot more info at that link on, say, greater than 100 % NTSC color gamut, contrast ratios - in what is likely a "real" contrast ratio than a bunk one, etc. I hope you enjoy browsing it.

Actually, I do see CRTs still because I still have one as my main HT display. Yet, I think my wait to retire the 'ole tube will be well worth it.

Did I mention also that Samsung is hinting that they, too, will have a 55" OLED TV at CES?

Yes, you are absolutely correct. None of us can go to our favorite HT store, where ever that may be, and buy an OLED TV today; however, the ability to do that act appears imminent. As I see it, because no one is selling them yet does not mean that some manufacturer somewhere has not employed the technology to make them, printed or otherwise. If an announcement of their impending sale is made at CES, IMHO, that, by extension, means they have at least come very close to solving the "problems" OLED is claimed to still have.

When OLEDs show up for sale somewhere will be the point in time whereby it is determined whether they have solved the cited problems. OLED R&D has been going on behind the scenes in full force. AFAIK, the problems cited are said to have been solved.

 

[Audioholics]

Having something that portable would be as bad as owning a pickup truck.

Oh, it's on!!! lol