Television manufacturer LG says that by 2016, its organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, televisions will cost the same as an LCD TV. In the second half of 2012, the company will take its first step toward that goal with the 55-inch 55EM9600. CNET Asia's Philip Wong takes an in-depth look.
Philip Wong
Philip Wong is an A/V, PC, photography and gaming enthusiast. Besides spending countless days and late nights fiddling with his home theater system and watercooled PC, he also hits the roads frequently on his iron horse to sweat it out. Now, who says geeks don't work out?
The LG 55EM9600 is a forthcoming OLED that promises amazing picture quality, but it will be priced for serious enthusiasts only.
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4mm thin panel, 1mm thin bezel
The 55EM9600 is, possibly, the thinnest 55-inch TV in the world. It features a new Paper Slim design that combines an attractive 4mm-thin chassis with a 1mm-wide bezel. Just how thin is this panel? Here's a quick comparison with a pen.
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Floating effect
The LG OLED TV features a minimalistic design with a brushed-metal frame and illuminated LG logo. A thick translucent chunk of plastic sandwiched between the panel and table-top stand creates a unique floating effect, too.
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Reinforced carbon fiber plastics
Notice the carbon fiber texture? According to LG, this is the first time carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) have been used for a TV. This is a material that is more commonly used in the aircraft and car manufacturing industries. CFPR not only strengthens the panel, but also reduces its weight to just 10kg, or half the weight of an LED TV of the same size.
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External media hub
The TV tuners, A/V inputs and other auxiliary electronics have been offloaded to an external media hub housed in the base of the table-top and floor stands. A compact settop box equivalent is also available to cater for wall-mounted sets.
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Connectivity options
Four HDMI inputs, three USB ports, an Ethernet jack and onboard Wi-Fi are available on the panel. Also included is Intel's Wireless Display (WiDi) for users to wirelessly stream A/V signals from selected Intel laptops to the panel. Note that the layout of these sockets hasn't been finalized and the commercial unit may differ from the above photo.
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Transparent optical cable
The media hub is connected to the panel utilizing a new slim and transparent optical cable. The wire transmits both audio and video signals and is quite inconspicuous from afar. Note that only one cable is required when the 55EM9600 hits the market.
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Flexible installation options
Three installation options are available. There is the typical fixed table-top stand, a floor-standing version with additional swivel and height-adjustment functions, as well as a wall mounting option.
