Big Screen TVs – How Much Bigger Will They Get?

In terms of TV screen sizes, the technology has indeed come a long distance. There was a day when a size of 29 inch in the CRT TV was the de rigueur – nay, the gold standard of TV ownership in India. Most people actually managed with still smaller screens – 23 inches or thereabouts.

The charm of a large screen is easy to understand – if you have ever been to a cinema theater. Larger screens make for a more absorbing, immersive watching and entertainment experience.

Sony 4K Ultra HDTV

Somewhere around the late 80s and early 90s, we had the DLP rear projection TVs – which really set the pace in enlarging the screen sizes. Although these became hugely popular with TV aficionados in the west, the idea never really took root in India – mostly because of the costs involved.

Also, with the advent of LCD TVs, the screen sizes started getting bigger. In fact, the advent and popularity of LCD TVs is not the only reason of an increase in average screen size – the introduction of the HD format also played its part. With high definition screens, it actually became possible to increase the screen dimensions without jeopardizing the picture quality.

However, with liberalizing economy, Indian consumers have been exposed to new technology, new products and also acquired willingness to spend with increased buying power. The buying preferences of Indian TV users are also getting aligned to the global trend of bigger screens – even if with some time lag.

LG 84LM9600 Ultra HD TV

As a result, the Indian consumers have recently been a part of the global launches of some of the largest TV screen sizes in the business. First we had the 42 and 47 inch screens, which slowly stretched to 55 inches (such as that of LG LM8600) and 60 inches. Soon, 65 inch screens followed (LG LW6500), closely followed by the biggest screen size available for a long, long time in India – the 72 inch screen of LG LM9500.

The latest in large screen size TVs is certainly an eye opener in every sense – 4K Ultra HD TVs. Recently, two consumer electronic giants introduced huge 84 inch screens in quick succession – LG and Sony. While LG was the first to introduce an 84 inch screen Ultra HD TV – named a LG 84LM9600, Sony followed soon with its own version of 4K TV – Bravia KD-84X9000. Significantly, both the TVs are passive 3D TVs (probably Sony also has a LG made LCD panel) and are priced almost equal – at Rs 17 lakhs.

OLED TVs – Coming Soon (?)

TV aficionados the world over have been waiting with baited breaths over the last couple of years for that one piece of technical innovation that promise quantum jump in TV picture quality – the introduction of OLED TVs. But OLED TVs themselves have been paying hide and seek with TV lovers – with leading TV makers displaying their versions at trade shows – with little word of when it will finally reach the shop shelves.

Myth – OLED TVs are a Concept Product

The current scale and tenor of media coverage has led many people to believe that LED TVs are something entirely new – when this is certainly not the case. Indeed, OLED TVs have been around for some time. So, let me name some of the existing OLED TV models right now -

Sony 11 Inch XEL-1 OLED TV – The first ever OLED TV launched way back in 2007, and produced in very limited numbers.

Sony XEL-1

LG 15 Inch EL9500 OLED TV – LG’ first ever venture into commercial OLED TVs, with a profile that was less than 2mm thick!

LG EL9500 OLED TV

What is stopping OLED TVs?

OLED as a technology has been tamed as such, though scaling it up is proving hugely difficult. The most important problem is – how to make larger sized panels – such as 55 inches successfully and economically as well. The mortality rate of OLED panels – even while producing them – is extremely high – and barely 10% of the OLED panels produced fulfill the quality control criteria – or even work. With some repair work and modifications, another 20% can be resurrected – but that still leads to a very high – and unacceptable – mortality rate of 70%. The economics are coming in the way of technology – as far as OLED panels are concerned.

OLED TV Makers – Who is in the Fray?

What started as a bang has turned into a whimper. After the initial brouhaha over OLED TVs, Sony had chosen to withdraw from the race – only to come back later in collaboration with Panasonic in an effort to make viable OLED TVs – and those efforts still continue.

That leaves the field wide open to LG and Samsung – both the companies are trying hard to reach the market as soon as possible – all the while trying to beat one another. Both have chosen slightly different OLED technologies for their panels.

The twist in the tail, however, comes from something that has turned into the bane of technology world over the last year – lawsuits. LG and Samsung are embroiled in a bitter web of suits regarding the OLED technology.

LG OLED TV – Almost There!

Of all the TV makers, LG has perhaps been the most active and apparently successful in taming the OLED technology and applying it to large sized panels. After much anticipation LG officials have recently declared their intent to offer LG OLED TVs for sale in Korea – with the rest of the markets expected to follow suit in quick succession. 

Two Videos One Screen – Is it Possible?

The short answer is – YES! If you want to know how it happens, then read on!

It is one of the most abiding of the contemporary childhood fantasies – particularly for kids with siblings – if only the TV could show two pictures at the same time – and each screen visible to only those who want it. So, while I can watch the T20 cricket match between India and Australia, my brother can watch the latest episode of Dexter – or so was the idea. Now, this idea has become a reality, and it is not before long that it is widely adopted in the consumer versions of the TV.

Samsung has probably introduced the most advanced version of the is technology – two picture simultaneously on the same screen – at a curiously low key preview of Samsung OLED TV at the IFA 2012 in Berlin (probably the news got buried in the excitement over the LG OLED TV – which was also presented at the show!). The issue of different audios for different videos is managed through sleek headphones – which also have buttons that can be used to toggle between either for the two videos and their audio feeds.

(Source: The Verge)

The Samsung two-videos-on-the-same-screen technology has been tentatively named as Multi View – and is decidedly more advanced that the other two similar technologies present at the moment – SimulView on Sony PS Display, and the Dual Play feature on LG 3D TVs. Incidentally, both SimulView and Dual Play are gaming oriented features.

Another common fact between SimulView and Dual Play is that they are based on the way 3D technology works in active and passive 3D TVs – SimulView an active 3D dependent feature, while Dual Play utilizes the passive 3D TV technology.

Of the two, I view SimulView as rather more restricted – for the simple reason that it is available on only Sony PS monitors – with a much focused user group.

On the other hand, The Dual Play feature is available on a large number of passive 3D TV models from LG – and is likely to enjoy a wider user base.

4G Services in India – What is the Problem?

This post was provoked by an article that cropped up today in my news feed – an article on the expected availability of cheap 4G devices. This, to me, signifies the proverbial chicken and egg situation in some form – what will become cheaper first – 4G services or 4G devices – to encourage greater adoption and success for 4G devices. For, make no mistakes about it, the success of 4G services will definitely depend upon its pricing, leading to a greater adoption by a critical mass of data users. 

Till date, the 4G plans of the telecom companies in India have been marked by a strange lethargy – as if they are extremely reluctant to roll out the services. Many assume this is due to the 2G fiasco and the resultant judicial ad political backlash that resulted from it –but that is only a very small part of the story.

One of the most significant hurdles in successful 4G rollout and implementation in India is a perennial issue – the availability of suitable frequency bands – an issue compounded by the way frequencies were allotted in the “2G scam”. The government – the ultimate arbiter of frequency band availability – has clammed up, and the recent Supreme Court pronouncements that frequency bands are a national property will definitely queer the pitch further.

The result is that the bands available for implementing 4G services in India – 2300 Mhz band – are mostly useless for fast transfers of data and syncing with the available LTE devices. For example, the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 do not work on the LTE networks in India.

Then there is the significant issue of the available 4G devices, which are quite expensive by Indian standards. For example, Airtel 4G dongles cost around Rs 5,000 – more than 3 times the average price of 3G dongles which is around Rs 1,500 for most carriers. Compatible handsets are also very expensive – and very few are available anyway. This issue is further compounded by the expensive data plans and lack of appropriate apps and content. A number of users have also been put off by the service standards that eh companies have offered for their 2G and 3G networks – users are expecting the same with 4G networks – and are, therefore, not very keen.

At present, only a few selected metro cities in India are enjoying 4G services – Airtel being the only service provide to roll out the services. Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune are the three fortunate cities, with Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh waiting next in line – although no launch dates have been announced so far.

The future hold some promise, though – and the prospective users are fervently hoping for it. The biggest hopes are pinned on Reliance, which is the only service provider that has a pa India license to roll out 4G services. It is expected that the large scale of the roll out and the traditional Reliance mindset of aggressive pricing will bring cheaper devices and data plans to India consumers. Smaller players like Tikona Digital Networks are also gearing up to launch 4G services – albeit on a smaller scale.

Two Decades of Texting – Looking Back

Texting – who doesn’t know about it anymore? Over the last two decades – and especially over the last 10 years – texting (or messaging, or SMS, or TMS – as it is variously called) has become one of the prime forms of communication. Almost a week back (3^rd December), SMS celebrates 20 years of its existence – from its origins when an engineer sent a simple “Merry Christmas” to Vodafone mobile number from a PC. From those humble beginnings, the SMS has come a long way indeed – and has impacted our society in a way few technologies have.

SMS stands for Short Messaging Service – though I will like to share some numbers which are anything but small. For example, the total numbers of SMS sent in 2011 are estimated at 7.8 trillion (!), expected to reach 9.6 trillion in 2012. The global SMS revenue is expected to reach a figure of US$ 150 billion. MMS, a close derivative of SMS, is also enjoying good number growth, with 207 billion messages exchanged in 2011 and expected to reach 275 billion by 2016.

Those are some humongous numbers – are a testament to the popularity of SMS as a primary form of mobile communication. Interestingly, the development and acceptance of SMS has bought about some interesting development in a number of ways – not least the way we communicate and interact with each other. A whole new grammar and language of “textspeak” has evolved over the years – with young users developing particular dexterity in its use.

SMS has Business Uses too

As with a lot of other technologies, SMS has also found profitable use for businesses. For example, most telecom service providers send messages to users informing them about new offers and plans. Banking companies have found a lot of business traction with SMS – sending offers and information about financial services. Indeed, banking has evolved into an additional field – phone banking – offering unparalleled convenience for users and business growth for banks.

The 20^th birthday of texting has also been marked with some concerns about the future viability of SMS –as a communication form and also as a revenue stream for businesses. The rise and popularity of Twitter and Facebook – the two leading social networking websites - has provided a great medium for casual communication – thus poaching on the traditional territory of texting. The evolution of smartphones, and the consequent popularity of apps such as Whatsapp, Googletalk, BBM etc also pose a significant threat to SMS as the primary method of casual communication.

But let me end this post on a positive note. First, the recent BBC interview with Matti Makkonen – the person who actually ideated about a texting service – it makes for a very interesting reading. The very last line is particularly striking and almost clairvoyant – when he speculates about a new type of texting service that people can receive and read right over their glasses – something akin to Google glasses. And just after a few days, I came across an article that was talking about a new technology that would be able to project text messages on contact lenses!