Samsung ES9500 55-inch OLED TV makes first appearance
Hot off the assembly line, the 55-inch Samsung ES9500 looks set to be the first OLED television to grace living rooms.
Get a load of this: hot off the assembly line, the 55-inch Samsung ES9500 OLED TV looks set to be the first OLED television to grace living rooms -- for a princely sum, of course.
OLED screens offer substantially better picture quality than on current TVs -- and can be put together in some crazy ways -- but are so expensive to produce that they've previously been limited to the size of a phone or picture frame. This is the first model that's the size of a proper TV to trundle off the production line -- and the price will reflect that.
It is of course a 3D TV, but if you're not interested in seeing stuff apparently flying past your head you can still benefit from the technology. Fire up the Smart Dual View function -- and you and your couchmate can actually watch two different programmes at the same time. You have to wear the 3D glasses and listen through headphones, but still.
Like several of Samsung's top-end TVs, the OLED ES9500 comes with Smart Evolution inside. That means it not only has a powerful dual-core processor under the bonnet, but you can also swap that processor for a more powerful one further down the line.
It's also packed with Smart Content, apps and services that access the Internet and do everything from watching Netflix and iPlayer to making video calls and playing games.
The OLED stunner is being shown off at the 2012 World's Fair in Korea -- yep, the exhibition thingy that started here in Britain with the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851. You're probably wondering when you'll be able to clap your eyeballs on this telly. All we know as yet is that it's scheduled to go on sale some time in the second half of 2012. As for the cost, the Korean price translates to around £5,500.
Samsung better get its skates on: LG also has a 55-inch OLED TV hurtling towards shops.
Will you be investing in an OLED television? Would you and your better half watch different programmes at the same time with glasses and headphones wrapped round your bonces? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.