Panasonic has confirmed at a recent plasma TV launch that it plans to release an HD OLED TV, in partnership with Toshiba, 'within 18 months to two years.'
It's likely that this will be around 37-inches in size and only an inch thick, although no word has been given on or price.
According to Smarthouse, Panasonic has held off from entering the OLED TV game as it was worried about the lifespan that the current offering, namely from Sony, could only last 30,000 hours.
Living longer
In contrast, Panasonic's plasma TVs can run for 50,000 before falling to half brightness, the traditional level when a TV is considered at the end of its life.
But Panasonic is confident its engineers can solve the problem by extending the life to 50,000 hours by using a new metal membrane within the TV.
Toshiba, which formerly has a joint venture to produce displays with the company when it was known as Matsushita (under the name Toshiba Matsushita Displays) has confirmed it is also working on the project, although it's unclear in what capacity.
As TMD, the company has been looking at OLED technology for a number of years, licensing printable OLED technology from Cambridge Display Technology in 2006, but has failed to show any meaningful prototypes since then.
Panasonic was 'accused' of researching 37-inch OLED TVs before, but refused to comment on the matter, so this is the first time the company has announced a proper focus on large-size OLED technology.
Via Smarthouse.au
