According to smarthouse.com.au Panasonic figures that they can do a better job than Sony and produce a Panasonic OLED TV with a 37″ screen and a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours.

These new Panasonic OLED TVs are to be built at the IPS Alpha factory and may be produced in a partnership with Toshiba.

There seems to be more positive OLED TV news the past few weeks. Can’t wait to see one of the larger sized OLEDs in the stores.

“LG is set to steal Sony’s OLED advantage with Company insiders in Korea telling SmartHouse that the Korean Company will have a 15″ for sale by Xmas and a 32″ in mid 2010.”

This is in addition to LG producing 15″ OLED displays for a new Apple notebook this year.

Pricing is expected to start a 2-3x the price of an equivalent size LCD TV. Even so, it appears that LG will have a 32″ OLED TV out before Sony has anything in that range.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Both Panasonic and LG have announced in the last year that they would have 37″ and 15″ OLED TVs available within the next year or two but I’ll believe that when I see it.

Samsung just  told European journalists at its 2009 European Forum that consumers expecting an OLED television from the company anytime soon shouldn’t hold their breath.

“We still have several issues to overcome in terms of cost and production”, said a HS Kim, vice president in charge of Flat Panel Development at Samsung when asked when the company would be releasing an OLED television.

Confirming statements made earlier by Kim in 2008, the big cheese at the company’s TV department said “It will be four or five years before OLED is mainstream”.

The company recently showed off Samsung OLED TV prototypes at CES in Las Vegas in January.

With the recent cancellation of the Pioneer Kuro Plasma TV line, there is a real gap at the top end of flat panel displays. Who will fill it? Canon with SED TV? FET with FED TV? Wait and see. I don’t see too many new OLED TV reviews coming this year.

Thanks to pocket-lint.com

It is still the only OLED TV available to the general public.

It may be too early to tell, but the demise of Pioneer as a TV manufacturer may help speed up further introduction of OLED TV.

LG is still planning on releasing a 15″ OLED TV this summer. However, there is no news yet on where it will be released first, pricing or other definite specs.

Despite high hopes, there was nothing new released from Sony at CES 2009 and nothing since.

Toshiba has announced that they are working on OLED wallpaper;

“The wallpaper uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles.” It would seem that the effect might be similar to that of a Fresnel lens like those used in traffic lights, amplifying the intensity without requiring additional energy.”

This is definitely cool, but not something we’ll see anytime soon.

With info from www.geeky-gadgets.com

However, the only OLED TV available is still the amazing but tiny Sony XEL-1. It is definitely a pioneer in OLED TV technology but is not a realistic option for most consumers.

Here’s a video clip of the OLED TV portion of the Sony press conference at CES 2009.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s another showing the Sony 27″ OLED TV.

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, many observers expected Sony to release the 27″ model this year. Apparently that’s not going to happen now. I expect that the current economic climate and the still high production costs are going to prevent any new models except for the 15″ LG OLED TV from appearing in stores this year.

Visitors to the Sony booth will be able to see more Sony OLED TV prototypes on display. I’m guessing these will be thinner and even more impressive than what was shown last year.

However, no news yet on a new consumer ready OLED TV from Sony. There are predictions and rumors of a 27″ Sony XEL-2 OLED TV but that remains to be seen.

Stan Glasgow, president and COO of Sony Electronics “moved on to organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) TVs, noting that the company was the first to market with an OLED TV last year. “And we will remain the only company with an OLED TV on the market” this year, he added. He mentioned Sony would be showing off more extremely thin prototype OLED displays in the booth this week, and that Stringer will make a big announcement about OLED during his keynote.”

Could be some big news in the next few days on the next Sony OLED TV. Hopefully we’ll see some new OLED TV reviews by the weekend.

More Sony CES 2009 news at techtraderdaily

LG OLED TV via Engadget

Not to be outdone, Sony has countered with the statement that they will be the only company producing consumer OLED TVs this year…

Read the Engadget writer’s impressions of the LG OLED TV.

The specs on the 15″ LG OLED TV are 1,366 pixel by 768 pixel resolution and a lifetime of 30,000 hours.

“LG Display is on the verge of beginning commercial production of a 15-inch OLED (organic light emitting diode) panel that’s suitable for use in televisions and laptop computers, the company said Wednesday.

“It’s likely to come in the second half of this year, as soon as we get customers,” said Kim Won, director of OLED sales and marketing at LG Display.

“It’s not a good time for us to launch this type of luxurious product because the market is in recession but we think it’s time for us to invest in marketing,” said Kim. “We have to communicate with customers about advanced products.”"

Full story at tech.yahoo.com

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology is based on organic materials which emit light naturally after an electrical charge is passed through them. OLED pixels generate their own light which brings a whole host of technological advantages. Every OLED prototype we have seen produces brighter, sharper images while using less power than any plasma or LCD TV.

Full story at: HDTV News