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.