When TV makers like Samsung began marketing LED-backlit LCD TVs as “LED TVs,” confusion crept into the TV market say research company, Display Search.
They are also concerned over the impression that a 22″ A$248 OLED monitor being sold by Target will create.
They claim that confusion was created, especially with totally unrelated technologies like OLED which are on the verge of mass-market breakthrough. Display Search claims that as flat panel displays become widespread in TV and PC markets, buyers and marketers, as well as consumers, can find some of the new technologies confusing especially as LCD, LED and OLED is now being sold in mass stores like BigW and Target.
Earlier today we revealed that Target in the USA is selling an OLED monitor for $248. With nearly 1,750 stores in the US, Target is a mainstream mass merchandiser; while not known for carrying IT products such as PCs and peripherals, Target is offering more products in this market and like many mass merchants, they carry a range of products via its website beyond what it offers in store.
They claim that “It is well recognised that, when marketing to consumers, brands and advertisers can only get across a few key points. So the use of “LED TV” and more recently “LED monitors” (LCD desktop monitors that use LED backlights to allow for thin, energy efficient form factors) was going to be a point of confusion for consumers.
The acronym OLED stands for organic light emitting diode, a form of emissive display that is built using organic materials, the technology is also known for its power saving capabilities.
LED stands for light emitting diode, which generally refers to inorganic semiconductor devices that emit light, now being used as backlight sources in LCDs. LEDs and OLEDs are entirely different, but unfortunately for many, they sound very alike.
The OLED display market has grown rapidly over the past several quarters, but most OLED displays in the market are less than 5? diagonal, with only a few larger OLED products in the market at this moment. The largest active matrix (AM) OLED display product is the 15? OLED TV from LG Electronics. This 15? OLED TV is selling in only a few markets around the world and goes for over $2,600.
DisplaySearch, forecasts that 20? AMOLED displays will enter the market over the next year, largely focused on TV applications. Desktop monitors using AMOLEDs larger than 20? will take at least an additional year, due to technical limitations.
They claim that OLEDs do not do as well showing the mostly white, static backgrounds used by PC operating systems such as Windows and Mac OS, as they do showing mostly-black background content or full-motion video.
Also, OLEDs have some limitations with blue materials and differential aging of colours. When OLEDs do enter the desktop monitor market, prices are expected to be closer to $2,000 than the $229 price of the LED-backlit LCD monitor advertised by Target.
