LG has announced that they will be shipping a 15″ LG OLED TV starting in December 2009 in South Korea.

“The set is expected to match the capabilities of the prototype unit, first unveiled in January.  The prototype sported a fancy 1,000,000:1 contrast (same as XEL1), a 1,366 x 768 pixel resolution (better than XEL1), and a 30,000-hour shelf life (much better than XEL1, which degrades after 1,000 hours).  It is also expected to be ultra-thin (the XEL1 is just 3mm thin).”

The LG OLED TV will be available first in Korea, then Japan and the United States. No word yet on pricing or production numbers but if the Sony XEL-1 is any example, it won’t be cheap. I’m looking forward to LG OLED TV reviews by Christmas 2009.

More information at: DailyTech

Sony is hoping to have a large screen OLED TV ready in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This is according to Patrick Avenell at current.com.au

Here’s Jan Ergen, a Sony Australia product manager:

“It’s technically feasible , the problem is the cost of production. There’s no point making a large screen OLED that nobody can afford.

“So that’s where development needs to be put into the technology, which is happening behind the scenes, to reduce the cost of production to bring it down to an achievable level for consumers.”

Ergen was clear to point out, however, that his desire for large screen OLEDs in time for the World Cup will not be enough to make it happen. What he does know is that OLED is set to be big for Sony.

“The picture quality is stunning…It’s a big part of the future, whether or not we can see new models in the next 12 months. I just don’t know.”

Full story at current.com.au

Here’s a press release from Samsung Mobile Display describing their display at SID 2009 in San Antonio, TX.

SAN ANTONIO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Mobile Display (SMD), the world’s largest manufacturer of OLED displays, will exhibit an extensive range of OLED and mobile LCD displays here at Display Week 2009, hosted by the Society for Information Display (SID), June 2-4.

Featured at the Samsung booth are:

Production-ready AM OLED TV

SMD is exhibiting 14.1-inch and 31-inch diagonal OLED TV panels. The 31-inch is the world’s first OLED display that features full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, a color gamut of over 100% NTSC and a ultra-slim design of only 8.9mm – providing outstanding brightness and exceptional image quality. The OLED TV panels can be mass produced through the use of Fine Metal Mask (FMM) technology.

Active Matrix (AM) OLED for the Future

SMD is showing the world’s thinnest “flapping” OLED panel, one that can flutter in a breeze. The super-thin panel is only 0.05mm thin, about one tenth the thickness of OLED panels with a normal glass substrate. It features a high contrast ratio, is polarizer-free and has a pixel resolution of 480 x 272.

SMD also is showing 4.82-inch and 12.1-inch transparent, foldable and ID card displays as well.

AM OLED for Mobile

OLEDs have become an important consideration in mobile design as set makers require smarter displays to accommodate multi-functions.

SMD will exhibit a full line up of mobile displays from a 3.2-inch “real” WVGA to a 7-inch WSVGA. The 3.2-inch WVGA on exhibit is the world’s first OLED display with 310ppi. (pixels per inch).

A significant benefit of OLED panels is that they do not require backlighting, can be made much thinner than traditional displays and consume far less power. Other factors that will drive the expected exponential market growth of OLED technology include faster response time, blur-free motion, a 180-degree viewing angle and potentially lower manufacturing costs.

Dupont has developed new OLED materials that promise to drastically extend the life of future OLED TVs.

Great advances have been made especially in blue emitting materials;

“In addition, DuPont Displays developed some blue light-emitting materials. Among them, one with color coordinates of (0.14, 0.12) has a current efficiency of 6.0cd/A and a luminance half-life of 38,000 hours when measured with the initial luminance of 1,000cd/m2, according to the company.”

For deeper blues, “If the initial luminance is set at 200cd/m2, which is required for a display, the luminance half-life is calculated to be approximately 41,000 hours,” DuPont Displays said.”

This is far ahead of the current OLED TV material longevity specifically the short blue half-life of the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV.

Full story at: Techon