This year, we've been talking up Ultra HD (4K) TV a lot. However, OLED TV is still alive, well, and starting to ship. LG and Samsung will be the first manufacturers to bring 55-inch OLED TVs to the U.S. market.
Boasting excellent color saturation, image uniformity, brightness and contrast, OLED can actually generate the same or better black levels that plasma can do, but in a panel that's slimmer than an LCD. OLED TV actually promises a bigger image that's better than plasma and LCD, but in a form factor as slim as 0.16 inches.
Earlier today, LG Electronics showed off the 55-inch 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV at a press event at Best Buy's flagship Magnolia Design Center store in Richfield, Minnesota. Currently, this is the only spot selling the set, but LG says it will ship the same model to Magnolia stores inside Best Buy in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and San Antonio in the coming weeks. Additional Magnolia inside Best Buy locations across the country will get the set sometime this summer.
LG's Curved OLED TV measures a mere 0.17 inches (4.3 millimeters) thin at the edge of the screen and weighs less than 38 pounds. Inside that slender packagte is LG's proprietary WRGB four-color pixel system, which has a white sub-pixel that works in conjunction with conventional red, green and blue pixels. The end result boasts the perfect color output. It also promises an infinite contrast ratio for optimal contrast levels, regardless of ambient brightness or viewing angle.
Other features include Color Refiner, LG's web-based Smart TV platform, Cinema 3D features, and the Magic Remote with voice recognition. Also important to note is that LG's 55EA9800 passed over 600 THX laboratory tests to become the world's first THX-certified OLED TV.
LG's 55-inch 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV is selling now, with an MSRP of $14,999.
If you're waiting on a Samsung, it shouldn't be too much longer -- at least we think that's the case. CNET says that the 55-inch KN55S9 Curved OLED TV could be hitting stores as early as this week. Which stores will get the goods is still a bit of a mystery. That said, it looks like our friends at Value Electronics will have at least a few of the new sets to sell.
Like the LG, Samsung's model will sell for $14,999, but Value Electronics is adding in calibration and delivery with that cost.
UPDATE (August 13): Samsung announced official pricing for the KN55S9 today and, due to "better than expected yields" in the OLED plant, the 55-inch OLED will sell for under $9000.
Besides the full 1080p HD image, the KN55S9 has a quad-core processor, built-in OTA ATSC and Digital HD QAM tuners, WiFi and Smart TV features. This model also has a camera built into the set for Smart Interaction, such as voice and gesture control. The set also comes with four pairs of 3D glasses for testing out those images right out of the box.
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