Back in late August, LG announced the availability of its first flat-screen OLED TV series. It was a long time coming: While the company has had some beautiful curved OLED sets in the market for a couple of years now, deep-pocketed videophiles had a long wait for the flat version. It took a lot less time, fortunately, for that set to take a dramatic price drop. In fact, a flagship OLED TV now costs less than some flagship LCDs, which is a little bit nuts, because OLED TVs are basically perfect.
Before you start scrounging for couch change, know that these are still at the very top end of the market. They're closing in fast on "normal" TV pricing range, though. While the 55-inch EF9500 debuted at $5,500 just six weeks ago, a $1,500 price cut and a $1,000 instant rebate means you can now take it home for a mere $3,000. The 65-incher now costs $5,000, down from $7,000. Keep in mind, too, that the company's first OLED panel debuted at $15,000 just a couple of years ago.
Three grand is a very good price for any 4K TV, all the more so for the inky blacks and shiny brights that OLED offers. For the price of a fully-loaded MacBook Pro or a HoloLens developer kit, you can now get the best picture quality on the market: Tack-sharp 4K resolution with the perfect contrast of OLED.
How serious is LG taking this push to get into people's homes? Its entire OLED range is getting more affordable. The curved EG9600 4K OLED series now starts at $3,000 for a 55-incher, while the older 55-inch EG9100 1080p OLED set is now just $2,000. The cheapest OLED in the mix? The 55-inch EC9300, a 1080p OLED set that will now sell for $1,800.
To put that in perspective, Samsung’s top-of-the-line SUHD sets start at $4,500, Sony’s flagship X940C 4K TV costs around $7,000, and Vizio’s new Reference series TVs start at $6,000. And while those are all great TVs, none of them are OLED sets—and OLED is the best damn display technology on the planet.
So after a whole lot of waiting for OLED to get cheaper and flatter, we now live in bizarro world. Not only are 4K TVs affordable, but OLED 4K TVs are affordable. In fact, OLED is now even cheaper than competing panel technologies—competing technologies that were developed to create a cheaper alternative to OLED. It's like a pricing scheme compliments of M.C. Escher.
