'OLED TVs Will Finally Take Off in 2017' (engadget.com)

From a feature article on Engadget: After years of taunting consumers with incredible picture quality, but insanely high prices, OLED TVs are finally coming down to Earth. Prices are falling, there will be even more models to choose from and, at least based on what we've seen from CES this year, LCD TVs aren't getting many upgrades. If you've been holding out on a 4K TV upgrade, but haven't had the budget to consider OLED up until now, expect things to change this year. Even before CES began, it was clear the OLED market was beginning to change. Throughout 2016, LG steadily lowered the prices of its lineup -- its cheapest model, the B6, launched at $4,000, but eventually made its way down to $2,000 by October. Come Black Friday, LG also offered another $200 discount to sweeten the pot. A 55-inch 4K OLED for $1,800! It was such a compelling deal I ended up buying one myself. Since then, the B6's price has jumped back up to $2,500, but I wouldn't be surprised to see its price come back down again. So why the big discounts? LG reportedly increased the production of its large OLED panels by 70 percent last year, likely in anticipation of more demand. That could have led to a slight oversupply, which retailers wanted to clear out before this year's sets.

Comments

Who cares?

[DogDude]

I mean this literally... other than TV salespeople, who cares? Every decade or two, when it's time to get a new TV, I go to the TV store, and I buy something that they have in stock, within my budget. I couldn't care if it was OLED, LED, or FairyDust powered. A TV is a TV is a TV.

Re:Who cares?

[houstonbofh]

Just because you do not know them does not mean there are no differences... http://gizmodo.com/why-is-oled...
Why's it so great?
The LEDs in today's LED televisions are actually used only to provide a white back light, which then shines through a rapidly-refreshing LCD shutter array which tints the emanating light. OLEDs, on the other hand, operate as both light source and color array simultaneously. This may not sound like a big difference, but does offer a wide range of benefits including:
Lower power consumption
Better picture quality
Better durability and lighter weight

So the fact that cool previously expensive features are getting cheaper is news...

Re:Who cares?

[AK Marc]

And flash is bad for storage, as it fails after 100 writes.

You need to update your bias. The technology has improved long past your prejudice. OLED no longer has any lag disadvantage, though there is a shortage of low-lag OLED, as they prices haven't dropped enough for that application. But a 55" OLED TV has lag average for 55" LED TVs.

Re:Who cares?

[thegarbz]

A TV is a TV is a TV.

What are you doing on a news for nerds site? A TV is a TV is a TV within the bounds of each technology. When a display technology comes through an revolutionises colour and contrast reproduction people care.

I won't buy another TV till my current one dies, but I care to see progress rather than the world settling for the "it's just an idiot box" attitude. Interestingly you cared enough about it to post. Thanks for showing an interest in the story.

Re:Who cares?

[by (1706743)]

Not to mention obscene contrast ratios (which is implied by your post, I guess) -- some claim 1,000,000:1, others seem to claim infinite.

I have an LCD (backlit) TV and a OLED phone -- in a dark room, displaying a black image on the TV will cause a noticeable amount of bleedthrough light. A black image on my OLED phone, on the other hand, can only be described by Nigel Tufnel.

Re:Who cares?

[dontbemad]

You're kidding right? OLED is an incremental upgrade? It is fundamentally different from how modern LCD based TVs work altogether. It is a larger change from the Plasma -> LCD switch that happened years ago. If you don't understand the technology change here, that's fine, but don't downplay the importance of this change.

Re:It isn't a good deal

[Junta]

It's a good deal because the customer will have to buy another one after 3 or 4 years due to burn in or the blue wearing out. It's a great deal for the vendor.

(Continues to lament that we can't have both true black and a display technology that won't burn in or wear out quickly).

I want QLED

[HalAtWork]

QLED for me. More power efficient, longer lasting color vibrance (won't yellow or fade), cheaper.

Burn in... Improvements?

[foxalopex]

LCD panels are already very cheap to produce and are virtually as thin as OLED panels. In fact OLED panels are so similar to LCDs that some manufacturers have come up with the stupid idea of curving them so that they're easier to market to consumers because we can barely tell the difference. (Completely distorts the image)

My major concern with OLED is burn-in which apparently is possible in OLEDs, I haven't seen that in my Samsung phone but it's still a concern compared to LCDs. If I'm going to pay several grand for a TV it better be almost bulletproof. And 4K TV's are just silly, it's very hard to find 1080p content (most commercial TV is only 1080i at best) nevermind 4K.

Re:It isn't a good deal

[grasshoppa]

Two whole years?

Golly.

Re:But we got a TV in 2015

[houstonbofh]

So, better picture quality, lighter weight and much less power consumption is not enticing? OK, perhaps not at $4000... But once it gets under a grand...