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Panasonic Announces 1,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio LCD Panel To Rival OLED (androidauthority.com)
OLED panels have always been known to have higher contrast ratios than LCD panels, but that may be about to change with Panasonic's recently announced LCD IPS display. The display boasts a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, which is up to 600 times more contrast than some of the company's conventional LCD panels that tend to offer around 1800:1 ratios, and rivals OLED specifications. Android Authority reports: Panasonic has accomplished this through the use of its new light modulating cell technology, which allows the company to switch off individual pixels in the display using a secondary control layer. Typically, LCD backlights mean that either the entire or only large parts of the display can be dimmed at any one time. OLED panels switch off lights entirely for a black pixel to offer very high contrast ratios, and this new LCD technology works on a very similar principle. This is particularly important for reproducing HDR video content, which is becoming increasingly popular. Furthermore, this new light modulating cell technology allows Panasonic to increase the peak brightness and stability of the display, which can reach 1,000 cd/m2 while also providing HDR colors. Many other HDR TV panels top out in the range of 700 to 800 cd/m2, so colors, highlights, and shadows should appear vivid and realistic. Panasonic plans to ship the new display starting in January 2017 with sizes ranging from 55 to 12 inches.
Plenty of OLED models were deeply discounted (in the sense that there are plenty of OLED models at all, which there aren't). They weren't $300-$600 like a lot of the deals on crap people got excited for, but still, many were marked down 50% or more.
Of course, a Black Friday or Cyber Monday price isn't really that good anymore. You can find deals as good as or better than those days throughout the year if you just wait and watch.
OLED doesn't sell because it's expensive and LCD TVs are marketed deceptively. "LED" on a TV means "LCD with X zones of LED back lighting" and "Full LED" or "Full Array LED" means "LCD with full array local dimming", which really means "LCD with many zones of LED back lighting".
Throughout all of 2016 we've seen a huge fire sale on 4K TVs for 3 reasons:
1 - Sales needed a boost. 4K wasn't as enticing as HD was, just like BluRay wasn't as enticing as DVD.
2 - The 4K sets out in 2016 don't fully support the new UHD spec with HDR profiles and Rec 2020.
3 - The Vizio P series shat on Samsung, Sony, etc. The budget shit brand Vizio put out better 4K TVs than the big boys at less than half the price.
I don't know what Samsung is going to do for 2017 when they truly support the new shit. They've already jumped the hark by calling their shit Super Ultra High Definition (SUHD). Maybe VSUHD or SUHD+ or XSUHD+ v2.0 PRO GOLD?