New technology and standards among TVs are rarely thrust upon us, and we have not seen a lot of TVs with OLED panels. Samsung has now entered the market and launched its first official curved OLED-TV at 55″.
LG recently started shipping curved OLED panels that could be ordered back in April, and with Samsung’s strong position on the TV market it is not surprising that it wants to counter with a model of its own. Near the end of the year Samsung will open its third OLED factory, but still manages to reserve enough capacity to ship TV panels from existing fabs.
The TV that has been shown at several exhibits has now been launched during an event in Seoul, Korea. Details are few and so far we only know that it is an OLED-TV at 55″ with 1920 x 1080 px resolution and a slight curve that puts all parts of the panel at the same distance from the viewer, which will improve the overall viewing experience, not the least in 3D. You can also upgrade the processor post-purchase.
Picture: Slashgear
It is not going to be cheap though; OLED is still far from cheap. The TV costs 13,500 dollar, and it will only be available in Korea initially. When or if it reaches the rest of the world remains to be seen.
With both Samsung and LG active on the OLED market we can hope to seem more models and more humane prices in the coming years. Samsung also announced that it has no plans to launch a traditionally shaped TV before 2014.