LG Electronics announced today that their curved 55" OLED TV is now available in the US, exclusively through Magnolia stores inside Best Buy. The 55EA9800 costs $14,999 (in South Korea it costs around $13,500) and it is currently on display in Best Buy's store in Richfeld, Minnesota.
In the following weeks more stores will display and sell the OLED TV (in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and San Antonio) and later on more stores will offer it. According to Pocket Lint, LG's TV is "jaw-droppingly stunning". LG's curved OLED TV features an Oxide-TFT WRGB Full-HD OLED panel (like LG's 55EM9700 'flat' OLED TV). The TV features "infinite" contrast ratio, passive 3D, Smart Touch Controls and a "paper-slim" design (it's only 4.3 mm thick and weighs just 17Kg). It is made from Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastic (CFRP).
According to Reports, Samsung is set to launch their own curved 55" OLED TV, the KN55S9 in the US as early as this week. Samsung's TV will also cost $14,999 (yes, the same price as LG's TV). One dealer, New York's Value Electronics confirmed that its shipment is already on the way.
While Samsung and LG's TV look quite similar on the outside, the technology is quite different. LG is using an Oxide-TFT backplane and a WRGB (white OLEDs with color filters) architecture. Samsung's tV uses an LTPS backplane and direct-emission OLEDs (no color filters, RGB sub-pixels). It'll be interested to see expert reviews on these two TVs.
