Monday, December 31, 2007

OLED TV shipments to reach 120,000 units in 2010

Shipments of OLED TVs will rocket from 2,000 units in 2007 to 18,000 units in 2008, while further shooting up to 50,000 units in 2009 and 120,000 units in 2010, according to Digitimes Research.

OLED technology has been a hot area lately, with Matsushita Electric Industrial, Canon, and Hitachi recently announcing they would be working together for OLED development, and Sony release of the world's first OLED TV on November 22.

However, OLED TVs remain a niche market and the technology still lags other flat panel TV technologies in terms of production costs, yields, and the ability to scale the technology to larger sized panels. Full artcile here: Digitimes.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

OLED TV Alliance To Catch Up With Sony

Matsushita, Hitachi and Canon are in talks to jointly develop the next generation of ultra-thin flat panels, news reports said Wednesday, in an apparent bid to catch up to Sony's lead in the new technology. The technology, called organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, has won attention as a possible replacement for today's liquid-crystal and plasma displays. Sony Corp. launched the world's first commercial OLED TV in October, an 11-inch display that measured just 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) thick _ about the same as a coin. Full article here: The Age.com

Friday, December 14, 2007

Is there room for OLED in the TV market?

After examining Sony Corp.'s 11-inch Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) television exhibited here at iSuppli Corp.'s Flat Information Displays (FID) 2007 conference last week, there is no denying how stunning the picture is. But at just 11-inches, it's hard to imagine
a family gathering around it to watch a DVD or television
show. But because the OLED-TV market is still in its infancy, with the Sony set being the first to be manufactured and sold to consumers, it's unreasonable to expect it to compete effectively with Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or Plasma Display Panel (PDP) televisions at this time.

However, this begs the question: Will OLED TV ever be able to match up with LCD and PDP televisions? "It will be a challenge for OLED to catch up, given the investments that have been put into the other technologies," said Paul Semenza, vice president of displays at iSuppli Corp., speaking at FID 2007 last week. "But there is no doubt about its performance and there is a lot of potential for the display technology, maybe in mobile applications." With Sony being the first to throw its hat into the OLED-TV ring, due to its introduction of the 11-inch set this month in Japan at a price of $1,800, shipment volumes are expected to be very small, targeting a small niche of well-heeled, tech-savvy consumers.  And even at such a high price, Sony indicated that it is taking a loss on the sale of each OLED set, according to Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli.  A few more brands are likely to enter the OLED-TV market in 2009, including Toshiba Corp. and Panasonic Corp. The major motivation for these companies' entrance into the market is to make a statement to the industry that they are capable of producing OLED TVs, Jakhanwal added. Full article here: EMSNow

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Toshiba to Release OLED TV Only After 'Power Consumption Less Than LCDs'

"The problem is power consumption." Katsuji Fujita, president of Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co Ltd, explained the challenges that need to be overcome before the commercialization of OLED panels for TV applications at a Toshiba Corp press get together in Tokyo Dec 12, 2007.  Toshiba had declared that it would release a 30-inch class OLED TV in 2009. However, the company indicated a plan to postpone the schedule. TMD is the company that is developing a panel for this OLED TV. Full article here: TechON

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Samsung Succeeded in 31-inch OLED TV

Samsung Electronics developed the first 31-inch AM OLED TV in the world.  Samsung developed its own AM OLED technology and succeeded in applying the technology to its prototype 31-inch TV.  The company announced on December 12 that it will introduce its prototype at CES2008, the biggest consumer electronics trade show held in Las Vegas on January 7 next year. Full article here: ETNews

Samsung Develops TVs With Biggest ``Dream Displays''



Samsung Electronics plans to showcase a next-generation high-definition TV using a 31-inch active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AM OLED) display at the upcoming international consumer electronics fair. If Samsung releases the TV set on schedule, the company would become the first consumer electronics company to commercialize the biggest OLED TV.

Samsung’s rival Sony, which has introduced an 11-inch model with a 3-milimeter screen with a price tag of some $1,700, has reportedly developed a prototype of a 27-inch TV set, according to industry sources. TMD, the joint venture between Toshiba and Matsushita, has recently postponed its plan to commercialize 32-inch AM OLED TV sets from 2009 for technological reasons, while Panasonic is still in the research and development stage. Full article here: Korea Times

OLED TV will arrive next year in US

When organic light-emitting diode (OLED) televisions were first put on display people were immediately grabbed by the stunning resolution and bright color capabilities possible. Place an OLED TV beside a plasma or LED TV and the difference is immediate. That is also true if you place the price tag of the OLED beside the plasma/LED. Because OLED technology is still new the price range for these kinds of TVs are astronomical. The first commercial OLED TV is Sony’s XEL-1 and its 11-inch display will set you back about $1,800 if you can find one (they are only available in Japan right now.)

Today the chairman of Sony said that the company will begin to sell OLED televisions in America starting next year. “When you look at OLED, your impulse is to say ‘wow’. We need that reaction from people at Sony … it’s a statement of confidence, that there is a path to somewhere else,” said Howard Stringer at a Sony vision seminar held in Tokyo. Full article here: MSNBC

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Toshiba and Matsushita out of OLED TV race

According to Japanese business paper the Nikkei, Toshiba and Matsushita's much-vaunted plans to join Sony in the OLED TV market have been shelved after problems moving from the research lab to mass production.

After finding trouble getting production efficiency to a level that could be commercialised, the Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology joint venture has decided to postpone its promised 30-inch OLED television set that was planned for 2009.

Instead, it will concentrate on smaller OLED screens for mobile phones and portable media players, according to the report. Should the experience prepare it to compete in the promising OLED TV field, we expect the firm to focus on the 25- to 35-inch sector of the market within five years. Full article here: Tech.co.uk

Thursday, December 6, 2007

'Black Stones' on Main Board'

The disassembly of the XEL-1, Sony's OLED TV, is reaching the final stage. The Nikkei Electronics Breakdown Team took out the main board on the bottom face of the TV mount chassis and observed it

Read the full story here part #8
Read the full story here part #9

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Lump of Cu Found in TV Mount

After breaking down the display unit of XEL-1, Sony Corp's OLED TV, the Nikkei Electronics Breakdown Team started to disassemble the TV mount.

Read the full story here part #7

Monday, December 3, 2007

Drive Circuit Layout Realizes 3mm Thickness

The key feature of the XEL-1, Sony Corp's OLED TV, is definitely the display unit, which measures only 3 mm at the thinnest portion. The Nikkei Electronics Breakdown Team first disassembled the display unit to discover Sony's techniques to achieve the slimness. After we took out the bezels and other parts at the back of the display unit, we could see two FPCs connecting the unit with the turner block, which serves as a TV mount. The two circuits were thought to supply power and the drive signal.


Read the full story here part #5
Read the full story here part #6