LG Shows Off Wallpaper Display Under 1mm Thick

The screen-making subsidiary of LG called LG Display, is dedicated to OLED panels and has developed an incredibly thin television. In LG Display's home country of South Korea, they held a press event on Tuesday, to show off a "wallpaper" proof-of-concept television. The 55-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display weighs 1.9 kilograms and is less than a millimeter thick. The TV can also stick to the wall by using a magnetic mat that you can attach to your wall. When you want to remove the display, you peel the screen off the mat from the wall.

LG Display launching this screen was only part of the bigger picture of what their future holds. LG Display has said its display strategy will be based on OLED technology. The head of LG Display's OLED Business Unit Sang-Deog Yeo said in a press release "OLED represents a groundbreaking technology not only for the company but also for the industry."

Years ago, display technology was focused on tech like LCD (liquid crystal display) and plasma, but now, it's starting to lean more towards LED technology.

You very well might be seeing a lot of OLED in the future. LG Display believes OLED could be used in all display technology products in the future. The technology put an organic compound layer that allows its displays to not only be thin but also curved. The organic material also lets off its own light, so it doesn't need a backlight. This helps with making the screens so thin that OLED is also the ideal choice for a lot of wearables and other mobile products, not just TVs.

Companies like LG, Samsung and Sony have used some OLED screens, but the cost of display production is rather high. Some of that cost is because of production failures, meaning more waste increases the costs of the screens that actually make it through production. Then those costs are passed to consumers. For example, LG's 65-inch, 4K OLED TV costs $9,000.

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LG also said at Tuesday's press event that it is making significant progress in developing OLEDs. The company is the first to mass-produce large-screen OLEDs for televisions and says its yield has hit 80%, still lower than LCDs. The issues with yield as well as the price, may mean displays like the "wallpaper" display, won't be available at stores for a reasonable price in the near future.

Also on Tuesday, LG Display announced that they expect to sell 600,000 OLED TV panels this year and 1.5 million panels next year. The company also shared comments by a professor at the University of Rochester in New York and "the father of OLED" Ching W. Tang. He believes we won't be seeing a lot of OLED displays for another 5-10 years. He claims then that OLED could outpace LCDs altogether.

The "wallpaper" display seems like a pretty cool idea, but I can't imagine how much they will be charging for something like that. I'm still prepared to start seeing a lot more OLED products to come.

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Panasonic and Sony Join Forces for Mass Production of OLED TV Panels

Sony and Panasonic recently announced that they have decided to team up to create mass production technology for super high-resolution TVs based on OLED technology. The companies said that this is also part of a concentrated effort to drive mainstream adoption and revive the companies' struggling television businesses. Panasonic and Sony are aiming to develop an effective way to print large panels that use OLEDs by 2013, according to a statement from the two manufacturers. In addition to that, both companies signed an agreement that includes sharing their technology and jointly researching mass production techniques.

Televisions based on OLED technology are widely considered to be superior to LCD televisions, which are currently the mainstream standard. The only downside is that OLED TVs are much more expensive than LCD TVs. OLED TVs are capable of producing their own light which means they do not require backlighting like LCD TVs. This means that they can display darker blacks and use less power while also providing better contrast and brightness in a much thinner frame.

In theory, OLED TVs can also be manufactured more efficiently than LCDs due to the fact that they can be printed straight onto a base material whereas the liquid crystal of the LCD screen is usually injected into tiny pockets. OLED screens are even widely used in phones and tablets nowadays, though cheap mass production of OLED TVs is still a major hurdle that needs to be overcome.

Sony debuted the world's first OLED TV back in 2007 with an 11" model that was only 3mm thick. The device initially wowed consumers and techies alike, though that enthusiasm was quickly tarnished by the device's $2,000 pricetag. Samsung and LG have both showed off super-thin 55" OLED models this year with Samsung stating that its TV will go on sale during the second half of 2012 in Korea for about $9,000. As a comparison, LCD TVs from Samsung that are the same size cost about one-fifth of that price.

Sony and Panasonic both saw record losses in the last fiscal year as costs increased in their TV businesses, with prices for LCD TVs dropping significantly. However, despite the depressing numbers, both companies have stated that they will not abandon the flagship product, even though efforts to revive sales through features like 3D and networked services have yet to generate any real profits for either company. Sony  stated that it will continue to contribute its knowledge and research into OLEDs, while Panasonic said it currently has production equipment and know-how that should be applicable to large-screen OLED TVs. 


Source: PC World - Sony, Panasonic to Team up to Mass-produce OLED TV Panels

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Samsung's OLED HDTV Dropping in Korea This Year

Samsung is teasing more information on its future plans for OLED HDTVs. In a recent report, the company stated that it hopes to have a 55" Super OLED 3D TV hit store shelves in Korea by the second half of 2012. Unfortunately, the company has yet to release any information on when such a TV would drop in on U.S. shores. However, an executive for the company did say that it would probably take at least two to three years before OLED HDTVs were widely available.

On the other hand, Samsung did mention back in January that its 55" OLEF TV would be available worldwide in 2012 with an expected price tag of $9,000 when it starts selling in Korea. The company first debuted the set at CES 2012 and promised a TV that produced deeper contrasts and finer detail than your average OLED displays. The technology that Samsung is relying on is self-emitting RGB sub-pixels that are placed directly on the display in order to achieve what it claims are more vivid images. In addition to that, the new set will feature voice and gesture control, a dual-processor and Smart Hub media integration.

Aside from Samsung, LG also offers a 55" OLED 3D TV that debuted during CES as well. Amid the early competition between Samsung and LG, it was rumored that LG's set would debut in Europe this May for $8,000. However, the Associated Press reported that the company plans on releasing its OLED HDTV within the last three months of this year.

Sony is also jumping on the bandwagon, working on something that the company is calling Crystal LED, which was also a heavily discussed topic at CES. Sony is claiming that Crystal LED displays will have 3.5 times as much picture contrast as well as 1.4 times richer color. Unlike LG and Samsung, Sony's tech is still in the prototype phase and has no announced plans for a release date or pricing scheme. However, that could easily change as Sony announced in April that it would focus on Crystal LED and OLED display technologies as part of the new corporate overhaul under Kazuo Hira, Sony's new CEO.

Many people are looking forward to both Samsung and LG's 55" OLED HDTVs. What we all want to know is will be when these sets will hit and how much they will cost. As it stands right now, LG's device will be $1,000 cheaper than Samsung's and could also hit U.S. store shelves sooner. More information about Samsung's device is said to be released at Berlin's IFA Trade Show, which begins on August 31, 2012.

Source: PC World - Samsung's 55-Inch OLED TV Rolls Out in 2012; U.S. Launch Date Unknown