OLED TV Guides, Reviews & News

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is not a very new technology, but it is just taking off as a technology for large displays. OLED displays are not uncommon in small sizes, cell phones and PDAs benefiting from this technology for quite a while. However, when it comes to building large screens as computer monitors and TVs, things are not equally easy. At this point, though prototypes of larger sizes exist, the only OLED TV available for purchase measures 11 inch and costs around $2,500. That's an awfully small size considering today's HDTV screens reach 65 inch. From what we can see by analyzing the current OLED TV models however, the technology appears to offer great advantages. While at this point there is no real competitor to the established flat-panel technologies, in the future we expect OLED TVs to be as cheap as today's plasma and LCD TVs, while offering improved picture quality and flexibility.

OLED - A Promising Technology for Future Displays

All signs are positive regarding the OLED TV technology. We can already see superb quality in the prototypes, and as time passes by more improvements will be brought to this yet new technology. At this point, the biggest issues with OLED TVs are their reduced lifespan when compared to plasma and LCD, the less than impressive sizes and extremely high prices. These displays however, have reduced power consumption, superb quality and from what we can see a great potential for flexibility.

OLED TV vs Other Flat-Panel TVs

At this moment, there are quite a few display technologies available on the market. Each of these technologies has advantages and disadvantages. Among the most popular ones, plasma TVs offer best picture quality. LCD TVs offer a bit more flexibility, being used both for HDTVs as well as computer monitors and a few other purposes. Among the other emerging television display technologies, laser TVs seem to offer exceptional quality too. As a matter of fact, the existing laser TVs on the market are superior to any other type of display, plasma included. The drawback is the very high price you have to pay for them.

It is hard to get a good picture of the differences between OLED TVs and other types of displays, but from what we can see in the current models, both available to consumers and prototypes, OLED is likely to offer both a better picture quality as well as more flexibility, somehow combining the advantages of plasma and LCD TVs, while reducing their disadvantages.

Not Yet!

Currently, though there are a few prototypes, only one OLED TV is available to consumers - Sony XEL-1. It is however, very expensive and tiny in size, so yet not a viable alternative to the current HDTV displays. We estimate that it will pass around three years until OLED TVs will hit the market in large enough numbers to have approachable prices. Meanwhile, the OLED TV manufacturers will have time to address the issues inherent with such a new technology. The future looks good though, and we can't wait to get the gorgeousness of OLED TVs in our living rooms.