OLED TVs are exciting. They’re also frustrating. We've been waiting for them to come to market for the past two years -- and at a price that normal people can afford. It's been about as interesting as watching grass grow that looks like it’s ready to grow, then disappears for a year, then is out-hyped by 4K grass, then finally pops up in scraggly patches halfway around the globe in a park with outrageous admission prices.
But maybe all that frustration is worth it. If you were to build an all-star HDTV based on the strengths of existing display technologies, it would look a lot like an OLED television. OLED takes the best traits of LCD/LED and plasma HDTVs, injects them full of HGH, and puts them into a single set.
Like LCD/LED televisions, OLEDs are thin, bright, and energy-efficient -- but even thinner, brighter, and more energy-efficient. Like plasma sets, OLEDs have deeper blacks, more pronounced contrast, smoother on-screen motion, and wider viewing angles -- but even deeper, punchier, smoother, and wider.
The result is the type of set you’ll want to buy as soon as you see it, and manufacturers are banking on the image-quality factor outweighing the fiscal-responsibility factor. LG’s first OLED 1080p set, a 55-inch curved display, became available in the U.S. last month for a tantrum-inducing $15,000. And this week, Samsung unveiled its first OLED set to be available in the U.S., another 55-inch curved 1080p display that clocks in at...
$9,000.
Hold up. That’s not too bad. Don’t get me wrong: $9,000 is still really expensive. It’s about seven bucks per square inch of its 55-inch-diagonal screen. It’s more than twice as much as Panasonic’s top-of-the-line ZT60 plasma set, and it’s almost four times the price of Samsung’s highest-end 55-inch 1080p LCD/LED set, the UN55F8000. Still unaffordable for most people.
But Samsung broke the $10,000 barrier for OLED HDTVs far sooner than anyone expected, and this year’s $9,000 55-inch OLED could be next year’s $7,000 55-inch OLED. Things only get cheaper from here, and the average person who wants OLED without waiting much longer just picked up a huge first down.
About the TV itself: Its model number is KN55S9C, and its 55-inch screen is the only size available at the moment. You’re limited to a curved screen, too. The frame-like stand for the set has a more pronounced curve than the screen itself, and it’s a nice-looking TV even when it’s turned off. On the whole, it's almost identical to the model we saw earlier this year at CES.
To my eyes, the concave display creates a more immersive viewing experience when you’re standing (too) close to the screen, but the wrap-around effect isn’t going to be noticeable if you’re sitting on a couch 10 feet away. The sloped screen does reduce glare from light sources positioned to the sides of the set, but as you can see in some of the sample shots, lights reflecting from overhead can still be an issue.
Although I’ve seen OLED HDTV demos the past two years at CES (and been blown away both times by the picture quality), this is the first time I’ve seen real-time cable TV broadcasts on an OLED TV. The results are less jaw-dropping than a made-for-OLED demo Blu-ray of various lights, colors, and shapes, but the OLED’s tremendous picture does come through when you’re watching plain-old TV. I watched a few minutes of ESPN on one of the sets. Contrast looked tack-sharp; those computer-generated graphics practically jumped off the screen. Tickers scrolled smoothly, and the text was always crisp. Off-angle viewing looked impossibly good.
Wi-Fi connectivity and Samsung’s latest mix of “Smart TV” features are built in, including a show-recommendation engine and streaming services. Those features are also upgradeable over time due to compatibility with Samsung’s Evolution Kit, a plug-in module that will let you update the set to include future Smart TV goodies.
If you can afford this great-looking set, you don’t need to wait any longer: The KN55S9C is available through Samsung’s site today. It’s also shipping to retail stores immediately, so your eyes will be able to see what all the fuss is about.
