40" OLED Television Revealed at SID

deglr6328 writes "Seiko Epson has unveiled a massive 40 inch OLED display prototype at this years Society for Information Display (SID) symposium in Seattle. The display was printed on to a backplane containing the drive electronics with a specialized inkjet process using Phillip's PolyLED technology. Samsung and Phillips also showed large scale OLEDs they say can also be scaled up to 'television sizes.'"

Comments

This may be redundant..

[sinner0423]

But why is it that every single flat panel television is just completely too expensive? I love looking at them when I go shopping, but I fail to see the point in spending between $2000-$5000 for one of these displays. I don't care how many languages it speaks or what O/S it runs. What is the problem here? Is it really that expensive to produce large scale OLED/LCD/plasma displays? It seems regular ol' televisions have gone down in price, why not these larger flat panels? Is it going to be another 10-20 years before I can afford a reasonably priced unit?

Well, anything really

[Sycraft-fu]

So long as the quality and price justify it. My speakers cost about $2000 for a pair of them. Because of that expense, I expect that they will last for quite a long time, and they will. They are well build, from materials that last. Provided they aren't abused, there's no reason they can't work for 20-50 years. However, if you could offer me speakers with equal or greater quality that cost only $100, but would last only a year, I'd buy them.

It's a win for me, any way you hash it. First, technology is going to improve enough in 20 years, that I'd want to replace my speakers before then anyhow. This lets me basically stay on the cutting edge all the time. Second, it makes damage much less of a worry. I have to be careful with these speakers, as it would be a major expense to replace them. I would not need to worry so much if I'd only be out $100. Finally, the value of a dollar today is more than the value of a dollar tomorrow (because of inflation). I'd be better of economically to spend $100/year and invest the rest than $2000 now.

All that OLEDs will need to do is be cheap enough in comparison to the competition, and the disposable idea works fine. If they cost as much as LCDs, no thaks, I'll take the LCD and be happy. If they cost 1/10th as much, sure I'll take them, even if they have to be replaced once a year.

This isn't out of the realm of possibility. Remember these things are PRINTED on sheets using ink jets. Cheap technology, and we have much cheaper mass-production printers called web presses. Also the only part that needs to be replaced is the OLED screen itself, not the supporting electronics. S0 it really could end up being like razor blades. But the more expensive holder (handle) up front and then replace the screen (blade) when it needs it.

As an added bonus, OLEDs are organic (hence the O) and so not nearly the environmental problem of things like CRTs, even if replaced more often.

Re:Well, anything really

[squoozer]

I don't often feel the need to make a comment but...

I wish people wouldn't say that everything "organic" is good - its a chemistry term. Organic in this context doesn't mean natural. The material in these displays is not found in nature and is quite probably highly toxic. Organic (in the chemistry context) means made of carbon and hydrogen and possibly including other atoms (for instance one of these OLED molecules contains Fluorine). The nerve gas sarin is "organic" is it good for you? What about DDT? How about plastic? Yes; plastic is organic but it doesn't biodegrade.

Ok. I have got that off my chest time to go back to lurking