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.”
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.
