The future of TV

I was recently reading over at Engadget about the new Sony OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TV’s that will be going on sale later this year. While these first models will be small (only 11″ screens) and I’m sure VERY pricey, they represent the future of television as we know it. These screens boast a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, are only 3 mm thick, and have as wide a viewing angle as a normal CRT television. In other words, a TV that can reproduce life-like images that can be hung on the wall like a picture frame and can be seen from any angle equally well. This my friends is amazing! Here’s a couple pictures to give you an idea of what this first model will look like (click them for a larger version):

Notice how clear that picture still is on that second picture even though the viewing angle is horrible. No other HDTV today can reproduce that kind of picture at that angle! This is a huge selling point for me since I hate nothing worse than the fact that I can’t see my living room HDTV from the bedroom any longer due to the angle whereas I used to be able to see my old CRT screen just fine.

All hype and cool tech aside though, OLED TV’s do have a couple of downsides currently. First, they are extremely expensive to make at this point in time which means they will be even more expensive to buy. Secondly, the life of an OLED screen is only 4,000 - 5,000 hours… which means if you watch TV for eight hours a day then the screen will last just shy of two years which is pathetic. Now both of these caveats will be resolved in time with new manufacturing processes but until then it would definitely not be a wise investment unless you have money to burn in a big way.

That said, OLED really is the future of television in my opinion. In 3-5 years when the technology matures and can be mass produced cheaply and effectively, we’ll all finally get those huge, life-like TV screens that we’ve seen in so many future-set movies! I, for one, can’t wait!

P.S. For those of you interested in reading more about OLED TV technology, THIS is a great link to read up on it. Also, I just received an email about another OLED info site that might benefit those craving more reading material.