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Tag: HDTVs

  • HDTV Displays May Soon Go “Quantum”

    Ultra HD displays are quickly becoming the norm in high-end tech products with displays, and the technology is even poised to become more affordable in the near future. Most of these high-resolution displays will be similar to current high-definition LCD displays, but manufacturers are courting several new technologies that that may outperform current displays in the future.

    One of these these promising display technologies is dubbed quantum dot. Similar to OLED, the technology involves nanocrystal semiconductors that emit colors based on their size. The technology promises to rival OLED displays and could possibly be more useful in the flexible displays that manufacturers have been experimenting with.

    A new report from research firm NPD DisplaySearch holds that LCD display manufacturers are beginning to research quantum dot technology in earnest. The hope is that such displays may have a better color performance than other display technologies on the market.

    Currently display manufacturers are wrestling with the increased costs of quantum dot displays. The costs incurred by the technology currently balloon for larger display sizes, meaning that more smartphones and tablets are likely to be shipped with quantum dot displays in the near future. The cost of the technology is also high compared to other, more widely-manufactured technologies.

    Another concern is that quantum dot technology contains cadmium selenide nanocrystals. Many countries have laws limiting the use of cadmium in consumer products. Researchers are currently working on quantum dot displays that do not use cadmium.

    Even with these concerns, DisplaySeearch estimates that around 9% of LCD TV displays will use quantum dot technology by the year 2020. This compares to the less than 1% that will use the technology in 2015.

    “Display makers have shown interest in adopting quantum dot technology, but they have been concerned about heavy metals and higher prices,” Yoonsung Chung, general manager of DisplaySearch Korea. “Recently, however, the European Union has offered a temporary exemption for the use of cadmium-containing quantum dots in displays. Cadmium-free quantum dot materials have also become available, so display manufacturers are taking a fresh look.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • 4K TV And Why You Should Probably Wait To Buy One

    Some Americans take “keeping up with the Joneses” to a different level when it comes to the latest technology.

    Often it’s about having the item just to say they bought it rather than being certain they’re getting their money’s worth. This isn’t the most sensible approach to purchasing new tech items, particularly televisions.

    It’s been noted that television sales have actually been declining in recent years.

    Many families already own at least one high definition television. It’s just not easy to justify the need to buy a new one.

    The arrival of 4K TV and its eight million pixels (versus two million pixels displayed by typical HD TVs) should justify a trip to the store.

    The problem is that the people running out to buy these television sets today aren’t able to do so. One might even argue that they’ve been duped.

    Buying a high definition television with a 1080p resolution can be more readily justified; there is a great deal of content presently available at that resolution.

    There is a noted lack of 4K TV level content available for persons who take the initiative and spend thousands of dollars on these TVs right now.

    It’s highly likely that television channels and movies will eventually be readily broadcast in ultra high definition. Why not wait until after that happens to buy a 4K TV?

    “Well when it finally happens, I’ll be ready!”

    Guess what? So were the people who bought the first plasma HDTVs for the prices that the 4K TVs currently run.

    Meanwhile, those who waited for prices to drop and HD content to become the standard paid anywhere from one half to one tenth what they did.

    As the saying goes, “Patience is a virtue”.

    When certain technologies stick around long enough to evolve, prices will eventually slide downward into the realm of being easily afforded by the general public.

    When this happens for 4K TVs a few years from now, the wider availability of higher resolution television content will make buying these television sets perfectly logical.

    4K TV is a promising new television format. Just be smart enough to spend money to enjoy it when there’s enough content available to get the most out of the experience!

    Besides, it’s always inevitable that something bigger and better will come along.

    Image via YouTube

  • TV Sales Expected to Decline This Holiday Season

    HDTV sets are now ubiquitous throughout the U.S., with high quality, low cost sets available at retail locations across the country. While good for consumers, manufacturers are now scrambling to find a way to get consumers to spend money on TV hardware more often than once every handful of years.

    The jump to 4K could provide the needed boost for HDTV vendors, though 4K content is just beginning to appear, and consumers don’t seem to be as enthusiastic for the technology as they were for the jump to HD. Samsung’s scheme to update TV hardware with yearly upgrade kits is novel, though it too has not caught on with the wider consumer market.

    These difficulties could lead to a dismal holiday sales season for TV manufacturers. Market research firm IHS today released a report predicting that U.S. shipments of flat-panel TV sets will drop 7% from 2012 shipment levels during the second half of this year. Only 20.1 million flat-panel displays are expected to ship during the period. Shipments for the year are expected to drop 9% year-over-year to just 43.1 million units shipped.

    “Driven by holiday sales, the second half of the year is always critical for determining the fate of the U.S. TV market,” said Veronica Thayer, analyst for consumer electronics and technology at IHS. “However, even with TV brands offering lower prices during this year’s Black Friday than they did in 2012, sales in the second half will decelerate sharply. The U.S. television market continues to be stymied by the long-term slowdown in replacement and secondary purchases, with most U.S. homes already owning one or more flat-screen televisions.”

    The estimates corroborate recent rumors in the manufacturing industry. A recent DigiTimes report holds that worldwide TV shipments during the fourth quarter of 2013 will be down year-over-year. The report’s unnamed “industry sources” also state that demand for TVs in the U.S. and Europe have been “less-than-expected” this year.

  • LCD Panel Demand Weakening, Says Analyst

    LCD Panel Demand Weakening, Says Analyst

    Tech manufacturers are now gearing up for production runs of fall and holiday product launches. Those plans, however, have not translated to high demand for large-sized LCD panels, defined as those 7-inches or larger.

    Analyst firm IHS is now estimating that the supply of large-sized LCD panels will exceed demant by 15.9% from July to September. The oversupply is predicted to be smaller than that seen during the second quarter, but is still described by IHS as “elevated.”

    “This is the time of the year when LCD panel makers usually are ramping up production to meet holiday demand for televisions, notebook PCs, tablets and other consumer-oriented electronics,” said Ricky Park, senior manager for large-area displays at IHS. “However, the display industry is confronting the prospect of weak sales growth and a lack of visibility into future demand trends. With a combination of flagging economic conditions and the end of a popular television incentive plan in China, large-sized LCD panel supply is expected to overshoot demand by a higher margin than previously predicted.”

    The glut of LCD panels, says IHS, is due to slow growth in demand for the products. Their estimates put global large LCD panel demand to rise only 6% during the third quarter. This at the same time that LCD panel manufacturers are, according to IHS, utilizing an ever-greater portion of their production capacity.

    Part of the slow demand for LCD panels could stem from the contracting PC market. Shipments of notebook PCs in particular are dropping quickly, with tablet devices devouring the mobile PC market.

  • 60-Inch Apple TV Rumored Yet Again

    Is it finally coming? Finally, really, in real life coming?

    Those are the questions that have been surrounding the rumored (at this point mythic) Apple HDTV. Yearly predictions about the manufacture and shipping of an Apple ‘iTV‘ have repeatedly been proven false.

    Last year, cable companies were (plausibly) blamed for the product’s delay after pressing for a large amount of control over content during negotiations with Apple.

    At the beginning of 2013, analysts began switching up their game, predicting that the iTV would not be appearing during the coming year.

    This week, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White has been quoted by BGR as saying, once again, that the iTV will launch in the second half of 2013.

    The analyst states the HDTV will 60 inches, with smaller sizes also available. He goes on to speculate that the device will come with an “iRing” finger interface device for the TV and a portable 9.7-inch tablet-like “mini-iTV” which can display content from the larger screen. White prices the TV set packages at around $1,500 to $2,500.

    So, those are the latest rumors about the fabled “iTV.” There’s even a possibility that they could even be accurate this time, but gamblers would be wise to place their bets elsewhere. The Brian White who outlined this week’s rumors is the same Brian White who relayed rumors that Sharp would begin shipping LCD display panels to Foxconn at the end of last summer.

  • LG Sells Over 100 of Its 55-Inch OLED TVs

    LG Sells Over 100 of Its 55-Inch OLED TVs

    That seems like a silly headline until you realize that LG’s 55-inch OLED TVs sell for over $10,000. That means those 100 TV sets brought in over $1 million for LG.

    The Korean electronics manufacturer has begun selling pre-orders for its OLED TVs, which it debuted at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. At the time, the TVs were reported to cost $12,000 and rumored to begin shipping in March 2013.

    Now, Reuters is reporting that over 100 pre-orders have already been logged.

    While LG’s OLED TV sets are expensive, early adopters of technology are used to paying a premium for such showpieces. The cost of the TVs comes from new manufacturing processes, and the difficulty of packing in the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology into an ultra-thin screen where LCD (liquid-crystal display) screens were once found. The new OLED TV screens are, according to LG, only 4mm thick.

    LG’s Korean rival Samsung was rumored last year to be preparing to launch its own lineup of OLED TVs before the end of 2012, but that prediction didn’t pan out. Samsung did, however, show off a curved OLED TV set at CES 2013, leading to speculation that the company is more interested in implementing the display technology into its Android smartphones.

    (via BGR)