A few days ago LG launched the world's first bendable TV, the 77" EG9900 OLED TV. According to Trusted Reports, LG aims to release the EG9900 in the "second half of 2015".
LG did not disclose the price, but according to a Danish site, the TV will cost around $50,000 in Denmark (which will be around $38,500 without the 25% VAT).
Osram unveiled a new hybrid LED-OLED car rearlamp prototype device. Osram suggests using the OLED for the turn indicator and the rear light itself, while the LEDs are used for the stoplight, reverse light and also in the turn indicator alongside the OLEDs.
As you can see in the photo above, the device includes the four basic rear light functions: stoplight (LED and LED light guide, top left), reverse light (LED, top right), turn indicator (OLED and LED light guide, bottom left) and rear light (OLED only, bottom right).
Dietmar Thomas from Philips (and personally a good friend) is our second featured personal OLED interview. If you wish to be featured, contact us here.
Dietmar Thomas, Manager Brand & Integrated Communication OLED at Philips: which means basically making noise for OLED lighting and being a good ambassador worldwide. In my position I switch frequently from being the OLED spokesperson to being a writer about OLED lighting and being a lecturer. In addition I oversee the communication on Lumiblade’s social media channels as well as setting up the new marketing material and campaigns⦠You get the idea.
What was the last book you read? Tom Clancy Command Authority although fiction and a couple of years old, unfortunately very close to today’s events in East Europe.
And the last movie you saw? Taken 3 I love Liam Neeson, no matter what he playsâ¦
Two new technologies seem to dominate the LCD TV market in CES 2015. First up are quantum dots TVs - which are LED backlit LCDs that include a QD film that enhances the TV's color gamut, efficiency, brightness and contrast. Sony has been producing QD TVs for almost two years, but this year we have new launches from Samsung, LG, Philips, TCL and others.
Samsung SUHD (credit: Sri Peruvemba, Marketer International)
These new wave of QD TVs are Cadmium-free, which was one of the major stumbling block towards real QD commercialization. The major advantage of QD TVs is the enhanced color gamut, which is even larger than the color gamut currently offered by OLED TVs (although LG promises their OLEDs will catch up soon). LG still considers OLEDs as their future TV technology, and Merck also says that quantum-dots are not a real game changer (unlike OLEDs).
Last year Panasonic unveiled new 65" 4K OLED TV prototypes at the IFA 2014 trade show, and the company is showing what seems to be the same prototypes at CES 2015. Panasonic executives at CES said that the company plans to release these OLED TVs in 2015, but the company later denied that it had any immediate plans for commercialization.
Sony and Panasonic halted their OLED TV joint development project in December 2013, and Panasonic (together with JDI, Sony and the INCJ) formed a new company (JOLED) to develop small/medium OLED panels. But the company OLED TV program is reportedly halted (or slowed-down at best) and these new prototypes use panel supplied by LG Display.
Last week LG unveiled nine new OLED TVs, but did not release any pricing information or release dates. Now a Danish web site revealed the prices of five of those TVs, and reportedly these prices originated from LG salesperson.
Here is the full price list. Note that Danish prices include a 25% VAT tax, and are usually higher than in the US. And also these aren't official of course.
Philips launched a new OLED lighting sales campaign today, offering Brite FL300 OLED Lumiblades for just 60 Euros a piece. The 40 panel package sells for â¬2,400. The current price for a single FL300 panel is â¬136, so this is a a discount of over 50%.
Philips tells us that with this package the want to make it easier for smaller OEMs to make their first steps into OLED lighting, and they see this enabling Philips OLED luminaires dropping below the â¬400 price level.
LG Display unveiled a new mobile phone prototype that uses a 6" plastic-OLED display that is curved on two sides. LG Display calls this panel an "Active Bending" OLED, and it's currently just a prototype panel.
The 6" panel features a disappointing 1280x720 resolution (LGD is already producing 5.5" FHD flexible OLEDs). It is only 0.7 mm thick and can reach a brightness of 300 nits.
Samsung usually launches their flagship Galaxy S phone at around March, and rumors are now starting to circulate about the upcoming GS6. Reports from Korea suggest that alongside the normal GS6, Samsung will also release a S6 Edge phone that will use a curved plastic-based flexible AMOLED display.
An early flexible phone prototype
Unlike the Note Edge, the S6 Edge will have curved edges on both sides of the phone. According to the Korean reports, Samsung is already showing prototypes privately at CES. It seems that the Korean company is very optimistic, and they hope to sell 10 million S6 Edge phones in 2015, and over 35 million regular GS6 phones.
Dell's Venue 8 7000, the world's thinnest tablet (6 mm) is now shipping in the US for $400. The Android tablet uses a 8.4" WQXGA (2560x1600) Super AMOLED display (359 PPI), similar to Samsung's own Galaxy Tab S.
