The appearance of LG's 15-inch OLED TV at IFA 2009 is a small (but significant) step on the road to replacing LCD, LED and plasma technology.
It's still early days, but thinner, crisper, brighter and more energy efficient TV screens are closer than you think.
Not sure what OLED is? Wondering why you'd want an OLED TV when all the chatter at IFA is about LED and 3D TV? Here's OLED explained...
1. What is OLED?
Pioneered by Kodak back in the 1980s, Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology is poised to oust LCD just as LCD stuck the knife into the CRT.
An OLED panel consists of a layer of organic, light-emitting material sandwiched between two conductors (an anode and a cathode). This diode layer emits light when an electric current is passed through it. A TV panel features thousands of OLED pixels mounted in rows and columns onto a TFT array. This is referred to as an Active Matrix OLED or AMOLED display.
2. No backlighting required
Because the organic material used in an OLED panel emits its own light when charged, there's no need for a separate backlight. In comparison, LG's newly announced LH9000 LED TV relies on backlighting technology that "uses hundreds of LED elements to individually brighten and dim the image on the screen."
3. OLED outperforms LCD and LED
OLED TVs have several advantages over traditional LCD televisions. For starters, the lack of a backlight means that OLED TVs can be extraordinarily thin – the Sony XEL-1, for example, is only 3mm thick; Sony's prototype 21-inch OLED TV is a mere 1.4mm.
OLED pixels can also be turned on and off much quicker, giving OLED TVs a faster refresh rate, greatly improved contrast and unparalleled brightness. OLED panels are also far more energy efficient.
4. Sony, LG and Samsung love OLED
Some of the biggest consumer electronics manufacturers have jumped onto the OLED bandwagon. The Sony XEL-1 was the first OLED TV to become commercially available and Sony had a 27-inch prototype at this year's CES.
LG has quietly unveiled its own 15-inch model (reportedly available in December), while Samsung has also shown some love for the technology – it has already demoed a 31-inch model and a 40-inch screen.
Your comments (2) Click to add a new comment
johnsmith
September 8th 2009
2. how much do i really need to know these 10 things
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iggy82
September 4th 2009
1. Only realised I have OLED on my Nokia N86 today, not really noticeable to normal phones to be honest.
However, I was in New York for NYE 2008 and the Sony shop had a small (about 22inch?) OLED screen on display.....Amazing, my jaw literally dropped, I've never seen a display that vivid before, not even from ridiculously pricey LCD/Plasma TV's. The sooner they bring down the manufacturing costs, the better, they will sell stacks of these things in my opinion!
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