Samsung takes on LG with 55-inch OLED TV

Matt Rivera / msnbc.com

Samsung's Super OLED TV could be the hottest set on the market this year.

By Wilson Rothman

In 2009, Sony sold an 11-inch OLED TV. Then, for two full years, there was hardly a peep about OLED, even though it was touted as the thinnest, most efficient and highest contrast technology ever. Now, both LG and Samsung are showing off 55-inch models at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. OLED is finally ready?? or almost ready?? to compete with far cheaper LCDs for space in the living room.

Samsung's "Super OLED" TV, winner of a CES "Best of Innovations Award,"?is called by its maker "a masterpiece of accurate color reproduction and maximized performance." It has 3-D, motion control, voice control, face recognition. Of course it has the Media Hub and other features of Samsung's smart TVs, powered by a dual-core processor.

Our friend Geoff Morrison at HD Guru has this to say about the OLED TV:

Organic light-emitting diode TVs offer the promise of the best picture quality ever (and yes, we?re including CRT). Long ?vaporware? in the TV world, 2012 might be the year we see actual models. Samsung?s 55-inch model sure seems like the real deal ... maybe. They're promising a delivery in 2012, but at the moment there?s no pricing, release date, or even a model number. We remain optimistic, but skeptical.

Why is it finally the year for OLED? Sources have told HD Guru that it was advancements to the lifespan of the blue phosphor (one of three colors required for TV pictures). In terms of cost and availability, we'll have to wait and see. Regardless, we're finally pointing in the right direction. OLED is the future.

More CES 2012 coverage from msnbc.com's Gadgetbox:

We'll be posting live from Las Vegas this week at CES 2012. If you have questions or comments, shoot Wilson a tweet at?@wjrothman, or grab one of the other Gadgetbox team members featured in the widget on the right. As usual, you can catch our ongoing conversation about technology over?on Facebook.

Source: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/10079151-samsung-takes-on-lg-with-55-inch-oled-tv

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