There's Just One Problem With the New LG OLED TV
Source: E.D. Kain
One of the big, shiny things at CES next week will be LG’s new 55″ OLED TV �C a 4mm thick set that may just be the greatest television set ever made.
There’s just one problem. According to Gabe Gagliano, one of the set’s most hyped features won’t work with any content currently available to viewers.
“Much of the coverage of the LG OLED TV has focused on it’s ‘superior color reproduction’,” Gagliano writes. “According to LG’s blog, the set uses four colors instead of the standard three, similar towhat Sharp did with its Quattron technology in its Aquos TVs. The difference being that LG is using white instead of yellow as the fourth color (in addition to red, green and blue).
“There’s the rub. With the exception of certain AVCHD camcorders and the Playstation3, there are almost no content sources available today to take advantage of the range ofcolors this OLED set can reproduce (or most other HDTVs for that matter),” Gagliano continues.
“The consumer electronics industry has been advertising TVs and Blu-ray players with Deep Coloror x.v.Color for years now. However, the standards for Blu-ray discs and HDTV broadcasts don’t support it and are limited to smaller range of colors (Blu-ray did expand the color gamut used by DVDs). So, while LG (and others) may tout technologies that can simulate what a deep red should look like in the dress pictured below, it’s still an algorithm’s best guess (like simulated surround sound). Like the Quattron, the color reproduction would not be accurate because of the limitations of the source material.”
This is a smart point. On the one hand, when new technology pushes the boundaries of what currently exists content has a chance to catch up. Maybe that’s what will happen with the new LG OLED.
On the other hand, sometimes new technology never really takes off. Maybe content producers don’t see any reason to meet a new standard when only $10,000 sets conform to it in the first place. Maybe it ends up as an advertising gimmick rather than anything truly exciting.
Of course, this may not matter to the sort of people who can afford this set to begin with. At ten grand a flat-screen becomes more of a status symbol than anything. The 4mm thickness is just as important as the color technology. No doubt the picture will be extraordinary whether or not it ever realizes its full potential.
Besides, if the PS3 can take advantage of the full color gamut maybe we’ll see some amazing new graphics in the relatively near future.
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