Vision of the future: 3D OLED televisions

Dan Rogers - 25 Oct 2010

3D entertainment is creating a technology shift in the television industry. Is it an opportunity for brand owners to adopt OLEDs?

Following the launch of Apple's iPad, probably the next biggest technology news in 2010 so far has been the sudden commercialisation of 3D technology. From Hollywood blockbusters like Avatar and Toy Story 3, a buzz has been created around 3D entertainment that had not existed before.

Though the film industry has dabbled with 3D in the past, this year has seen consumers respond well to the concept. And this buzz has transferred to the world of television too.

Big-name manufacturers are keen to bring 3D to their products - Sony, Panasonic and Samsung have launched the first 3D televisions for the home, and many more 3D-ready products are on their way, if trade events like this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) are anything to go by: 3D technology was exhibited by firms such as LG and Vizio
at CES, while at IFA Berlin in September, LG demonstrated a 31-inch 3D OLED display.

For OLED manufacturers - some of the biggest of which have already been mentioned above - this new technology poses an interesting question. Does the shift to 3D technology create an opportunity for OLED displays?

Early OLEDs

Back in 2007, when Sony launched the first commercial OLED television - the XEL-1 - it struggled to win consumers over.

Despite the higher resolution offered by the ultra-thin display, its 11-inch size and price tag of ¥200,000 (€1,637) meant it made little impact on the LCD market. In Q1 2010, Sony announced that it would stop producing the XEL-1. It was a watershed moment for
printed electronics businesses, many of which had expected thin, high-quality and mass-printed OLED displays to be one of the standard-bearing technologies of the industry.

Cost

'Sony was not able to get the cost of OLED manufacturing down to sensibly complete
with LCDs,' concludes Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst of small and medium displays at market analysis firm iSuppli.

'The only other producer at the moment is LG, with its 15-inch displays. Nobody else is making anything on the right scale.'

The advent of 3D entertainment in the home alters this situation. New, 3D-ready displays are likely to be marketed with an added premium, and picture quality is all-important.

The biggest television makers in the world, such as Samsung, LG and Sony, could combine their investment in OLED technology and their new-found interest in the 3D market. So, could the popularity of 3D be the driving force for the adoption of OLED?

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This article appears in full in Volume 3, issue 2 of +Plastic Electronics magazine, including exclusive interviews with OLED and 3D technology developers Sony and Samsung.
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