Panasonic, Sony reportedly end partnership to co-develop cheap OLED panels for TVs

[Shawn Knight]

Panasonic and Sony announced a partnership during the summer of 2012 that would see them jointly develop OLED panels for use in televisions and large-sized displays. Now just 18 months after joining forces, the duo have decided to part ways according to anonymous sources as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Many believed OLED technology would be the next big thing in televisions. Both companies showcased 56-inch OLED sets at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January but ultimately, neither company released an OLED television this year; Samsung and LG were the only two companies to do so in 2013.

It wasn’t all for not, however, as the partnership did help both companies speed up OLED production. The much-hyped OLED sets never really caught on with consumers similar to the lackluster success of 3D televisions over the past few years.

All signs at this point suggest the next major television innovation will be 4K resolution and as such, it appears that both Panasonic and Sony may instead focus their efforts in that area of research. Research firm NPD DisplaySearch forecasts shipments of 4K Ultra HD televisions will reach 1.9 million this year and swell to 12.7 million by the end of next year. At present, however, high prices and lack of content have kept most prospective buyers at bay thus far.

The publication notes that the two may still explore working together on OLED panels at some point in the future but for now, the partnership is a done deal.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/55136-panasonic-sony-reportedly-end-partnership-to-co-develop-cheap-oled-panels-for-tvs.html

 

[Guest]

I hate to be that guy, but the saying should actually be, "It wasn't all for naught" on the article.
Just for future reference.

 

[Guest]

OLED never caught on? if oled was the same price as other tvs at the same size, even highend, people would choose oled. besides its niche use will be portable devises

 

[VitalyT]

"all for not" is spelled "all for naught"

 

[9Nails]

While I fully appreciate 4K for what it's worth, I'm still looking for affordable 80"+ screens. It seems like when the screen grows past that $10 per inch figure (I.E. 50" set for $500) the numbers get exponentially larger. My concern with 4K is that you'll either need to sit closer to the screen to appreciate the greater detail, or need a larger screen. And if they're having trouble producing screens over 80"+ at an affordable price then they're just ignoring what the consumer's wants again.

 

[Guest]

LG and Samsung can blame their own pricing and the industries own marketing on why OLED sets did not fly off the shelves.

Considering the glut of LCD TV's that are mislabeled "LED" simply because they use LED's for the back light I often wondered what name they'd adorn TV's that actually DID use active LED's to render an image on a TV screen.

Samsung's single (that I know of) OLED TV release was their 4K curved screen model. Offered at a 10-20x price point over similar sized budget LCD TV's is it any small wonder few if anyone bought them?

OLED sets offer a promising new display technology for dedicated gamers, 3D users and movie buff's where the screens could finally offer images without many of the artifacts of Plasma or LCD technology however OEM's have to package it in consumer budget friendly products before they will be willing to invest in it.

While the OEM's would LOVE to have consumers upgrade their TV's as often as they do their CELL PHONES this is never going to happen. My 1982 25" got upgraded to 37" HDTV when everyone was FORCED to (it was still operating just fine) and the 2005 37" TV will get upgraded to whatever offers a decent price/performance when it stops working. (2025?)

 

[Guest]

7 Years ago, you could find 60" rear projection 1080p TV's for $900. There was no pixiliation, or motion blur and none of the probs, they just took up SAPCE in ur TV room.

Now.. we have 60" LED 1080p ("slim") TVs.. that need 240hz+ to try & equal equal CRT quality motion and we are paying $2,400..!



Now we have these MEGO-CORPS trying to push 4k resolution, when their 1080p TV's don't have quality motion. This is where consumer protection and Gov standards need to step in and force these companies to provide suitable researched & designed products, not fleece the populace.

 

[Lionvibez]

Good point guest.

But it sounds to me like you need a plasma tv.

I own a high end one and it has no problems with motion blur etc that is a lcd/led problem.

 

[Duskywolf50]

Of course which LCD cannot keep up with speed cause blur. If you want less of those blur then get OLED tv cause it is light source not liquid. Since I knew about OLED past 10 years ago and been processed but have issue with life span with blue light and the film must be good seal to prevent from moist get in. Now seem they got break through. Finally it's coming slowly. Indeed it will be expensive for a while.

 

[Jad Chaar]

OLED and 4K TVs are just way too expensive for the masses at the moment. I think companies should ditch 3D because there is barely any broadcasting for it and lots of people, including me, dont like wearing glasses for 3D. I kind of wonder who was the first OLED TV creator since there was a controversy about LG stealing info from Samsung, and vise-versa.

 

[CorvusCorax]

One of the reasons that OLED displays are so expensive is because the crystaline-polysilicate backplane they use is prone to have flaws when manufactured on a scale larger than a handheld device. This results in pixels that are different sizes, so these sections of the display have to be scrapped.

I did a research paper last semester on a new tech called CN-VOLET (carbon nanotube enabled vertically oriented light emitting transistor) that could drastically reduce the price of large scale organic displays, because a uniform carbon nanotube backplane is apparently fairly easy to manufacture.

Unfortunately, carbon nanotubes also seem to be on par with asbestos when it comes to health effects, so there would have to be some special handling, especially end-of-life.

 

[Jad Chaar]

One of the reasons that OLED displays are so expensive is because the crystaline-polysilicate backplane they use is prone to have flaws when manufactured on a scale larger than a handheld device. This results in pixels that are different sizes, so these sections of the display have to be scrapped.

I did a research paper last semester on a new tech called CN-VOLET (carbon nanotube enabled vertically oriented light emitting transistor) that could drastically reduce the price of large scale organic displays, because a uniform carbon nanotube backplane is apparently fairly easy to manufacture.

Unfortunately, carbon nanotubes also seem to be on par with asbestos when it comes to health effects, so there would have to be some special handling, especially end-of-life.

Awesome research. But yeah, the effects of carbon nanotubes on human health kind of cancel its magnificent possibilities. Is there anyway it can be safely manufactured/handled? Or is a carbon nanotube just a carbon nanotube that cannot be altered to be safer?