(iTers News) – As prices of commodity-like LCD TVs are collapsing, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are looking to premium, more lucrative TV product lines - OLED and smart TVs for taking up the price setbacks.
The world’s two biggest flat screen TV makers’ renewed focus on premium high-ticket price TV product line-up represents their first-mover strategy to differentiate themselves from a crowd of low-cost, low-margin TV makers. It also helps to keep in check rival Japanese TV makers’ catch-up drive with an early investment on more lucrative, but capital-intensive OLED technology.
At the press conference here held in Berlin, Germany for IFA 2012 trade show, Yoon, Boo Keun, president of Samsung’ digital media division, said, ”AMOLED TVs will open up new era of TVs in the same way that LED TV did in 2009. A pioneer of LED TV market, Samsung will spearhead the penetration of self-lighting, crystal-clear OLED TVs.”
Yet, he puts a question mark on the immediate commercial availability of 4K UD TVs, saying that the 4K market is still premature and far-fetched, “because the industry still extremely lacks in 4K content”
(Yoon, Boo Keun, president of Samsung’ digital media division)
RGB pixel switching
Samsung took the wrap off a 55-inch OLED TV- ES9500- at the press conference, and said it will sell them starting sometime in the fourth quarter of 2012 in the EU and U.S. markets at a price tag of around US$11,000.
(Samsung 55" OLED TV )
The 55-inch OLED TV is built on Samsung’s proprietary fine metal mask, or FMM RGB pixel etching technology as well as LTPS, or low-temperature poly-silicon TFT backplane. As the LTPS materials feature fast electron mobility, the sort of thin film transistors-aligned pixel switching plane can switch on and off a myriad of pixels in a matter of micro seconds, 1,000 times faster than LCD TVs.
Pixels of LCD TVs switch on and off in a measure of milliseconds, one millionth of a second.
The fast pixel switching time, or more often referred to as response time, translates into limitless in viewing angle and no blurs or jots, displaying fast moving images of lot of actions in crystal-crisp, noise-less, crosstalk-free format.
(Samsung 55" OLED TV )
No limit in viewing angel, contrast ratio
Unlike LCD TVs that incorporate a grid of white LEDs, or CCFLs as light source, each sub-pixels of the OLED TV is self-emitting, so that they can individually switch on and off on their own, depending on the color intensity of incoming video signals. The individual pixel switching guarantees pure black and pure white background color, resulting in no limit in the contrast ratio. The limitless contrast ratio offers truly vivid and natural color viewing experience of as if users watch through a window.
The 55-inch OLED boasts super slim bezel, too.
Samsung also adds a 75-inch voice-and motion-recognition smart TV ES9000 to its premium product line-up, demonstrating that the company will continue to expand its high-ticket price, premium smart TV line-up from 40-inches up to 72-inches. For Samsung, smart TV not only have to incorporate its own independent CPU, OS, Web browser, to interact with other devices, but also understand, feel, and see people.
(Samsung 75" LED-lit TV )
Samsung has built its smart TV product line-up with a wealth of vision sensors and MEMS microphone sensors to enable users to control and manage them with a command of voice ,or a simple body gesture.
New add-on flavor; multi-viewing
“We have seen double gains in the shipments of our premium TV product line-ups so far, which sell for more than US$5,000. We shipped about 2 million units of premium TVs in 2011. We expect the shipments to more than double.” said Hyun-suk, Kim, executive vice-president and head of visual display business.
(Samsung 75" LED-lit TV )
Samsung adds one more wowing feature to its premium product line-up, allowing two glass-clad viewers to watch two different broadcasting channel-carried contents on one single screen. Called as Multi-Viewing, the technology uses two built-in TV tuners to receive two broadcasting channels and send them to two Bluetooth-enabled glasses to allow two viewers to watch their preferred channels.
Samsung estimates that total shipments of TVs would top 50 million units in 2012
LG on the sprawl
(LG 55" OLED TV )
LG Electronics, Samsung’s backyard archrival, challenge Samsung’s lead in global TV market with a more affordable, but thinner and lighter 55-inch OLED TV offerings.
LG is the first TV maker in the world to sell 55-inch OLED TVs in 2012. Just 4mm thick, LG’s 55-inch 3D OLED TV operates on a different backplane and pixel alignment technology from Samsung’s.
LG built the 55-inch OLED TV on a metal oxide TFT backplane, and topped a matrix of white LED pixel cells on the transistor-stuff switching plane, coming with an extra matrix of RGB color filters.
(LG 55" OLED TV )
As oxide TFT backplane moves around electron at lower speed, it switches on and off individual pixels in a matter of 0.02 milliseconds, 100 times faster than LCDs, but 10 times slower than Samsung’s.
Yet, it cost far less to manufacture oxide TFT OLED panel, trading off slower pixel switching. The 4 color combination of white LDSs and RGB, or red, green blue color filter also offers no limits in the contrast ratio. It comes in carbon fiber casing materials, just scaling 10kg.
LG also unveils a 84-inch 4K cinema 3D TV, zeroing in on super-sized premium TV market. Measuring up 213cm diagonally, the 84-inch 4K TV boasts a UD resolution of 3,840x2,160p, sporting 8.3 million pixels, four times more than the pixel number of full HD TVs. Clad in platinum housing material, its monochrome color looks elegant.
LG already shipped the 84-inch 4K TV in the domestic market, and plans to sell it in overseas market sometime in the four quarter.
(LG 84" UD 3D TV )
The world’s second largest TV maker also has lined up a premium line of cinema 3D smart TV that comes complete with Internet browser, voice and gesture-recognition sensors.
Video & Photo by JH BAE