Shockingly bad news for the future of affordable large format OLED displays

Originally Posted by rogo 

I have four words for this.....

Originally Posted by Grubert 

"OLED bites the dust"
"SED all over again"
"Resolution beats quality again"
"Buy a plasma NOW"
"I told you so"

Originally Posted by sytech 

True, most people thought they would have trouble, but there were rumors that they were getting close to 50% or more on the yields as they talked about release dates. The shocking parts is the yields are still in the single digits on the pilot line and still less than 30% with repairs. I was willing to put cold hard cash behind my assessment that OLED would remain vaporware for 2012 back in January. If this report is true it is very bad news for OLED. LG might release a few thousand units next year to sell for the high end niche market like movie studios and visual design, but the odds of affordable large format OLED for the consumer market are in serious question. The emergence of 4K marketing train will also not help.

Originally Posted by taichi4 

Does this make Sony's Crystal LED more attractive, or do the same issues apply?
As suggested before, a huge, cinematic 4K or 8K panel is awfully attractive, even if it uses medieval technology.

Originally Posted by taichi4 

Well, no reason to get so intense about it. The smiling face icon is an indication of tongue in cheek.

I hope for something sophisticated like Crystal LED, nor am I so depressed by the OLED backplane news, given that engineers typically don't give up when a problem is encountered.
Still, a 100 inch 4K or 8K built on some LCD tech (what I jokingly referred to as medieval) might be a good transition into the future,

and though I'm no great fan of LCD, improvements to the technology are occurring.
But the thrust of my question was whether Crystal LED would be affected by the difficulties with large backplane production...it was not an argument for large, low quality displays.

Originally Posted by Artwood 

It pains me to say it but--I told you so!

What will be the procession of the last rites down the downward spiral of gloom to sub Wal-mart quality LCD?
LG, Samsung, and Panasonic Plasma, and Sharp elite LCD.
What will be the order of the DEATHS?
If Sony also DIES--what would be the least AWFUL LCD left on planet Earth?!
If whatever displays you now currently have one day simply die and ALL that would be left would be LCD that SUX--would you break down crying into a black cave and try PROJECTION?
Never has video quality in he future looked bleaker than it does now!

Originally Posted by tgm1024 

It looks as if the smiling face is for the word "medieval"...
...I've been wondering this too. Sony has been very tight-lipped about how these things are supposed to be made, so I don't know if anyone can tell for sure.

Originally Posted by sytech 

But isn't that percentage more a function of pricing than actual demand? I mean before the direct view large format Sharp's last year, 60" and above sets were extremely expensive. Now we have 60" Sharp and Vizio retailing under $1K and by late next year probably $1500 70" and $3000 80" sets. If I remember correctly, the large format segment is the only segment that is actually adding sales volume.

Originally Posted by Dierkdr 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Even at reduced pricing, how many people have the room for a 70" or larger panel?
What about the logistics of transportation, delivery & installation? (Will it fit through the door? Up - or down - the stairs?)
Then we have reports that some of the very large LCDs cannot hold PQ across their width, even for a viewer sitting at center-screen, and at the current Average Viewing Distance.
..........
Given the (past & current) low sales percentage of 60" and Up Panels, and the (past) virtual absence of panels above 65" (discounting DLPs), the Large Format Segment almost HAS to be adding sales volume.
But if we are talking 0.05% to 1% (numbers pulled out of the air....), that is still not a significant market force, even if it represents a "100% Sales Increase!"
Last related news recall hearing was that Sub-50" panels were by far the largest selling market segment - - ???

Originally Posted by David_B 

Try looking at the graphic at the bottom of that page before you post doom and gloom please?

Originally Posted by Grubert 

"OLED bites the dust"
"SED all over again"
"Resolution beats quality again"
"Buy a plasma NOW"
"I told you so"

Originally Posted by markrubin 

what a shock...and no one saw this coming....

Originally Posted by tgm1024 

I don't find a huge, *ANY* resolution panel using medieval technology attractive.
Simile: This is like people who run to ever increasing mega-pixels as a determinant in buying a camera. You can have a 26 MP camera, and if the image quality is terrible, you'll have 26 million fuzzy or otherwise crappy pixels.
So no, I'm not in your camp at all.

Originally Posted by tgm1024 

No it doesn't. LOL, J/K, J/K. It's your right too. Along with Rogo's for sure.
It's just not that bad. (Author looks for Kool-Aid...)

Originally Posted by mr. wally 

well if this article is accurate, oled isn't dead yet, just in very serious condition.
next year should tell whether sammy of lg are able to address these issues.
so there remains some hope.
but if oled doesn't pan out and my only choice for a new set is a 2k or 4k lcd, well
i might just be buying a panny plasma next year even though i don't currently need a set.

Originally Posted by rogo 

They're all good.. I think you correctly surmised where I was going.
[ sarc]
Absolutely none of us saw this coming.
[ /sarc]
I used to hang with Laneclot. He had a pretty good LCD until the slaves stopped twisting the crystals.... Anyway, on a serious night, while resolution and megapixels on camera are not in fact the best determinant of quality (I too have beaten that drum for a decade), the good news is that high resolution cameras are rarely awful. I suspect most of the 4K displays are also going to be very good displays.
I'm actually not even remotely happy about this news. If anyone thinks I am, they don't know me at all.
I don't think OLED is dead by any means. There was a moment in the LCD TV birthing phase where the sputtering operation for the LC material was taking far, far too long. It was a dealbreaker and without a solution, LCD TVs were never going to be affordably manufactured. This came after LCD monitors were already catching on; the problem was unique to larger LCDs. Then someone figured it out and within a year, the revolution was underway.
The OLED problems might be more intractable or somewhat less so. Either way, it will take years before the TVs are affordable. But I'm still of the belief the problems will be solved.
Oh, and one more thing... If we're to believe DisplaySearch there, the only 2K OLED TVs ever will be these early sets. The rest will be 4K -- something many of us said (myself included) should have been part and parcel of the switch to OLED. If you buy one in the next year, you're really buying early-adopter tech: pay more to get less. And it's a lot more for a lot less.