LG Electronics is set to launch a 15-inch OLED TV next month, becoming the first company with an OLED product of that size.
LG's announcement comes almost two years after the first OLED TV set was introduced, the Sony XEL-1. Interest in the technology continues to heat up. The South Korean company plans to introduce the 15-inch AM-OLED TV during the IFA 2009 conference next month, but it will not be commercialized until November. The new TV, which doesn't have a price yet, will roll out across the world sometime in 2010.
LG plans to introduce a 40-inch OLED TV at some point, but an MSRP and release date remain unknown.
OLED is the technology of the future, providing better picture quality, thinner screens, and consuming less power than LCDs -- but the current high price of OLEDs means that it will still be many years before regular consumers have the technology in their living rooms.
OLEDs have made their way into higher-end mobile phones, but the high cost has made manufacturers hesitant to include them in PCs and TVs. To put it in perspective, the MSRP of the 11 inch XEL-1 was in the neighborhood of £3,500. LG plans to launch a full line of OLED TVs in the future, while the Sony XEL-1 was more of a way to show off its technology development, which may help prices drop further.
As OLED technology continues to be developed and reduced in cost, it's only a matter of time before consumers become interested in seeing new OLED products, analysts predict.
Have you followed the OLED technology, or are you waiting until the price drops in a few years?
