A new breakthrough in OLED technology could mean cheaper OLED TVs
New research from the Department of Chemistry at Pusan University in Korea could have a major impact on the future of OLED TV production, with the net effect of falling OLED TV prices as new, more cost-effective materials are introduced.
The best OLED TVs are an ideal option for movie fans and gamers alike, due to their sharp, high-contrast image with deep, richly detailed blacks. And while competing QLED models make frequent appearances on our list best 4K TVs due to more recent improvements such as mini-LED backlighting, many people’s willingness to pay the generally higher prices that OLED TVs offer is a testament to the popularity of display technology.
The main reason why OLED TVs are more expensive than their QLED counterparts is that OLED TVs, which use a process called vacuum thermal evaporation, are both expensive and labour-intensive to produce. Solution-processed OLEDs are an alternative to current manufacturing methods, but so far the use of this technique has been limited due to the difficulty of “stacking” the component layers used in OLED panels, according to abstract article in Journal of Chemical Engineering are the details of the research.
In particular, researchers at Pusan National University were able to synthesize a solvent-resistant hole-injected layer material used in the OLED stack, which “achieved greater efficiency and lifetime,” according to an abstract that characterizes it as “a major step forward in commercialization efficient OLED displays processed in solutions.
Thanks to new solution-processed OLEDs promising a ‘large-scale, cost-effective manufacturing technique’, OLED TV panels can be produced cheaper, more efficiently and at a larger scale. This bodes well for OLED TV prices, which have not seen recent declines at the same level as QLED TVs, which are getting cheaper year on year.
Analysis: OLED prices must come down to remain competitive
Anyone wondering if OLED prices will drop in 2023, just look at the recent ones LG price announcement for its new TVs in United States. The company’s cheapest OLEDs of 2023 B3 seriesthey are generally more expensive than those of 2022 B2 serieswith the 65-inch B3 seeing an increase of $400 over the 65-inch B2.
The LG A2 the series, which has proven to be a great, cheaper OLED option for movie fans in 2022, is also being discontinued in the US, although the successor to the A3 will be available in some European countries.
The arrival of Samsung’s QD-OLED technology, which is used in TVs such as the upcoming company QN95C series and Sony A95L series, is a strong competition for LG, which should ultimately bring down the prices offered by W-OLED. But premium LG OLED TVs like new G3 series mainly record an increase in costs compared to last year G2 models, with the 77-inch G3 priced at $500 more than the same screen size G2 at launch.
True, the increase in the prices of G3 TVs is mainly due to the introduction of a new feature for this series called Brightness Booster Max, which combines an optical element called MLA with new META brightness boosting algorithm and physical heatsink to maximize screen brightness.
The new G3 OLED TVs and Samsung and Sony QD-OLED TVs will be expensive, high-end TV options for 2023. Meanwhile, regular QLED TVs like budget models like Hisense U8H AND TCL 6 series see a significant improvement in image quality with the use of mini-LED backlighting, with the best sets such as the Samsung QN95C displaying blacks close to OLED while offering brightness superior to OLED.
Looking at the future TV landscape, it’s clear that OLED TVs will need to come down in price to stay competitive, although the opposite seems to be happening now.
Will research by Pusan National University cause OLED TV prices to drop in the near future? It’s hard to predict from the scientific abstract, but the scientists’ optimism is clear, and OLED technology clearly needs an increase in production efficiency, they say, to remain commercially viable.