LG to Launch 15-inch OLED TV

LG's new television harnesses the organic process of electrophosphorescence to produce a picture. The screen uses an active matrix of organic light emitting diodes (AM-OLED), which are self-illuminating and therefore need no backlighting. OLED screens are thinner and use less power than the more widely used liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which require relatively power-hungry backlighting. The picture quality from OLED technology is superior to LCDs or plasma, since it is brighter and has greater contrast and better refresh rates. Because OLED screens are so thin, they can be made flexible. They also have a wide viewing angle.

OLED is the fourth major type of flat screen technology to be developed, and joins LCD, plasma and SED (surface-conduction electron emitter display). OLED technology was first developed by Kodak in the 1980s, and it has since been under development by a number of companies including Sony, Samsung and LG.

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OLED technology has been used in some of the higher-end cellular phones, but it is much more expensive than LCD technology, and this has so far severely limited its use in mass-produced items such as televisions and personal computers. Sony's XEL-1 retails for around $2,500 in the US (roughly double that in the UK), but LG's TV is expected to retail for much less.

LG Electronics plans to make its OLED television available for commercial sale in Korea in November and elsewhere early next year. According to Reuters, LG is also planning to launch a 40-inch OLED television "in the not too distant future." By 2013 production of OLED TVs is predicted to reach 2.33 million units, according to the research company DisplaySearch.

The new OLED television will be launched at one of the world's biggest consumer electronics trade shows, the IFA show in Berlin, which runs from September 4 to 9. It is bound to create excitement among television technology fans.

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