All OLED TV Reviews

Despite the widely spread news of a Panasonic OLED TV last week, Matsushita has confirmed that 2011 is not a set date for release of a large OLED TV.

From Tech On

Some media sources reported June 24, 2008, that Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd are making final adjustments to start volume production of a 37-inch OLED TV in fiscal 2011.

Matsushita responded to our interview and commented on 14:00, June 24, on the news, saying, “We are currently advancing research and development in view of OLED production at IPS Alpha’s Himeji Plant for the future, but nothing specific has yet been decided on the commercialization of our OLED TV at the moment.”

According to some reports, Matsushita is planning to mass-produce OLED panels on the new lines to be installed and dedicated to OLED panel production at the Mobara and Himeji plants (which is slated to begin operating in January 2010) of its subsidiary IPS Alpha Technology Ltd and assemble them into TVs at its plants both inside and outside Japan.

It has been reported that Matsushita will take six 37-inch OLED panels from a sixth-generation glass substrate at Mobara Plant, while taking 10 panels from an eighth-generation glass substrate at Himeji Plant.

Matsushita feels that the era of the OLED TV is fast approaching. At its management policy meeting in January 2008, President Fumio Otsubo said, “Large OLED TVs will start replacing the existing TVs from about 2015, I expect.”

Here’s a quick video clip of the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV showing an in-store demo with a Blu Ray player source. Even though it’s not HDTV I can tell you the detail and contrast are just fantastic. All OLED TV reviews have probably mentioned this already, but you really should get out and see one for yourself. I can’t wait to see how the rumoured 27″ model will look.

Good news from Korea. LG Display has launched an OLED TV and OLED Display production line:

“LG Display formally launched an organic light emitting diode (OLED) division at its Gumi plant in North Gyeongsang Province on Thursday.

OLED is touted as a driving force in the next-generation display field, and companies like Sony and Samsung Electronics have already entered the business. Because it does not require additional backlight, OLED panels can be made thinner than 1 millimeter.

LG Display will first focus on developing and producing small products but expand business to producing medium-sized to large televisions, the company said.

LG Display developed an active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) for a 20.1-inch television in 2004, and was the first in the world to produce a 4-inch flexible OLED in May 2007.”

From Digital Chosunilbo

The Sony XEL-1 OLED TV has a Memory Stick input on the back beside the HDMI inputs. Any photos or music you have can be played throught the XEL-1. The picture quality is very very good and the sound, for such a small system is very good too. Considering that no one will be using this as the centerpiece of their home theater system, the sound is sufficient. (more…)

The menu on the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV is straightforward and very easy to use. Similar to other newer Sony products, the XMB or Xross Media Bar lets you access all the settings, functions and inputs for all modes of operation. A picture is worth a thousand words so I’ll save time and post the short video walkthrough of the menu below.

This is a short review on the screen tilting function of the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV. As this model is best suited for a desktop or similar close up viewing, having the organic panel tilt for optimum viewing is a must. The video below demonstrates this capability.

I’ve got my hands on a Sony XEL-1 OLED TV for a review. I’ve got to say it’s pretty impressive. I could best compare it to a concept car, the kind you see at auto shows that don’t look that practical. The Sony XEL-1 is just that, a product that showcases the latest technology in it’s field. I’ll have impressions of the XEL-1 itself, photos and video clips over the next little while. Hope you’ll come back and check it out.

Sony has responded to the claims of decreased longevity of its XEL-1 OLED TV. The XEL-1 recently received a number of negative OLED TV reviews after it was claimed it would only last around half the 30,000 hours stated by Sony before fading.

Practically speaking, this won’t have any effect on the average viewer as 30,000 hours will last you a good number of years.

Register Hardware has a reply from Sony on these findings. Read more at reghardware.co.uk

Dupont and Dainippon have announced a partnership to develop a new OLED manufacturing process.

From digitimes.com

“The companies also have signed an agreement relating to their intention to bring together the elements needed – materials, technology and equipment – to mass produce OLED displays, delivering higher performance at a lower cost.

“The flat panel display market is about US$100 billion annually and growing. DuPont is applying its science to make possible more vivid displays that are lower cost than current LCD displays,” said David B Miller, group vice president of DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies.

The companies are developing integrated coating and printing equipment for the fabrication of OLED displays from solution, an approach which is unique in the industry and can significantly reduce manufacturing costs for OLED displays.

DuPont brings to the alliance its distinctive small molecule-based OLED solution materials and proprietary process technology from which excellent performance has been obtained in testing. Dainippon Screen has developed a unique printing technology, called nozzle printing, in which the OLED materials can be printed accurately at very high speed.”

This is good news and helps to balance out the bad news on the Sony XEL-1 lifetime issues.

According to an fairly negative OLED TV review by DisplaySearch, the first commercial OLED TV, the SONY XEL-1, does not seem to have the lifespan claimed by Sony. In addition, several other characteristics do not outperform either LCD or plasma TV models currently available.

From EETimes.com;

It turns out that the RGB architecture is very sensitive to the image, and it has a 5,000-hour lifetime for white and a 17,000-hour lifetime for the typical video image–well below the Sony’s published specifications, according to the report.

Moreover the panel suffers from differential aging: After 1,000 hours the blue luminance degraded by 12 percent, the red by 7 percent and the green by 8 percent, said the report. (more…)