HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #522: Crystal LED HDTV Technology

[arad]

It was pretty clear that the OLED TVs demonstrated by LG and Samsung stole the show at the last Consumer Electronics Show we went to. We were really impressed by the color, contrast and sharpness of the picture. However, there are some issues that need to be resolved before we see mainstream OLED HDTVs in sizes that we would want in our living rooms.

Rather than go with an OLED TV, Sony displayed a technology called Crystal LED. Crystal LED takes six million tiny LEDs to create a picture that they hope will rival OLED technology. A 1080P TV has nearly 2 million pixels on screen. Crystal LEDs TVs take three LEDs, one for red, green, and blue, and combine them for each pixel. Each pixel is mounted directly in front of the display. This is not an LED based LCD but an actual LED TV.

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[720pete]

Hi guys - sorry to burst your bubble, but the models you saw were wire-bonded with over 6 million connections In other words, these I-LED TVs were hand-built prototypes and WAY too expensive to manufacture for the retail space. You are not likely to see them any time soon - they were just a technology concept exhibit.

This information provided from sources in Japan who are more familiar with the design and assembly of these TVs.

So for now, the Samsung and LG 55-inch OLEDs will have a substantial head start both in terms of time and cost.

[stevekaden]

I would be suspect that if there is any cost viability to this at all, the manufacturing engineers have a plan to make this easier and faster than any glass faced TV. The glass for LCD has be near perfect and plasmas I will assume are close. Then they have very precise other aspects that have to be expensive, even if mitgated by quantity.

I am no manufacturing engineer, but I have seen high speed pick and place systems and wave soldering etc.. Then they might pack the LEDs (which we know can be mass produced) into modules and probably built into plug in assemblies that could make up a screen just as the giant screens are built by modules or long bars. Then not only would the chance of bad LED be less an impact, but they might even be repairable. (not that the tiny dimenstions make that easy.) Screen or printed OLED probably is most cost effective, but I never count a technology out until I have seen the efforts made to mass produce fall down.

Now for the 180 degree view....okay I'll buy 178. But at 180, you really are only seeing the last row of pixels. (Okay nit picky....but true!).