During the CES 2008, Samsung showed off a prototype of 31-inch OLED TV. After Sony showcased first OLED TV mass product back in August, it was obvious that OLED is the way to go. I mean - the industry is taunting us for last 5 years, that OLED is "the next thing", but then its postponement after postponement. Anyhow, Sony's super expensive 11-inch OLED TV XEL-1 is produced in limited quantity of 2000 unites monthly, as OLED production is still low yield. After summer debut in Japan market, XEL-1 finally started to sell in US in beginning of 2008. Price will be boosted from Japan's $1700 to whooping $2500! You gotta love the Japs… Crazy (or is it the weak dollar?)! OLED tehnology brings compacter dimensions, lower consumption and brighter images, and richer colors. Small OLED screens are currently found on some digital music players and rare cell phones.

Samsung to the rescue

On CES 2008 Samsung unveiled a 31-inch active-matrix OLED screen. While Samsung did not comment on the commercial availability of 31-inch OLED TVs it hinted, that panel will be available for retail purchase if TV makers show interest (which is something i dont understand completely, as Samsung IS one of major manufacturers of TVs itself…).

But we agree, that mass-production has to kick in, before wide availability of large OLED TVs - as very high cost of the 11-inch Sony XEL-1 makes the thought of price for a 31-inch Samsung OLED panel TV a scarry one… Technically Samsung has a winner. 31-inch OLED panel is only 4.3mm thick and its power usage is less than half the power required of a typical 32-inch LCD /plasma TV. The current OLED panel's lifespan is 35,000 hours, which is the very good compared to existing AM-OLED panels. I mean - do the math. That would be 35,000 Hours divided 1 day/8h divided 1 year/365 day = 12.29 years of 8 hour a day usage, and since I use TV on average for much less than 8 hours, I could see this OLED lasting me 20 years or more (if performs as promised of course)… Sadly other manufacturers (hint, Toshiba) sticked with december announcement, that they will not be bringing a similarly sized OLED panel to market any time soon, because of high production cost.