Hello and welcome to BestOLEDTv.co.uk - so first question what is OLED TV - good question!! It means an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), These screen use Organic diodes and a layer usually contains a polymer substance that allows suitable organic compounds to be deposited. Still with us? They are deposited in rows and columns onto a flat carrier by a simple "printing" process. This means the resulting matrix of pixels can emit light of different colors. This system can be used in television / TV screens, also in computer displays, most portable system screens, advertising, information and indication, so as you can see there are a lot of applications. It is also worth mentioning that OLEDs can also be used in light sources for general space illumination, and large-area light-emitting elements, with so many applications this tchnology is set to become part of everday life. And as OLEDs typically emit less light per area than inorganic solid-state based LEDs which are usually designed for use as point-light sources, they can be energy savers too.

A significant benefit of OLED displays over traditional liquid crystal displays (LCDs) is that OLEDs do not require a backlightto function, so this means that they do not need to be as deep. And thus they draw far less power and, when powered from a battery they can operate longer on the same charge - with todays energy conscious society this benefot is going to prove very popular indeed. And Because there is no need to distribute the backlight, an OLED display can also be much thinner than an LCD panel, a few inches in fact. OLED-based TVs can be more effectively manufactured than LCDs and plasma displays, I know the benefits keep comming. But degradation of OLED materials has limited the use of these materials. It is of course early days and the technology is developing fast - Sony is leading this....

Therefore expect to see OLEDTvs as the new benchmark, the new norm, and the new flat panel TV to have in your home! Currently they are being tested on the Japanese market, but expect to see them in Europe in the next few years.

So why is OLED the way forward for displays, well its really down to the one main key advantage, and this is that the flat panel TV proved popular in minimalist homes in fact the panels are much thinner than LCD or plasma. Thinner equals cooler. Flat-panel TVs are looking increasingly alike, with subtle picture-quality difference, companies will be focusing more and more on the design of their TVs and OLED or Organic Light-Emitting Diode wiill allow the likes of Sharpm Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba to do this, by letting them compete more and keep pushing the boundaries. At this year's Consumer Electronics (CE) show in Vegas, Sony had a pack of them on display at its booth and grabbed a lot of attention, and they were clearly one of most compelling items at a trade show that got people talking and set to be big news in 2008. In the U.K. the popular gadget show has touted this as the next great technology to watch out for. Not only is an OLED display incredibly thin at (3mm to 9mm) yes very very thin, it has a superhigh contrast ratio of one million to one, it also boasts faster response times than LCD or plasma, it looks incredibly sharp with colors that really pop and because OLED screens don't require a backlight, they're more energy efficient than plasma or LCD, yes they save more energy!

So whay are OLED Tvs not in the shops right now? Well the big problem is that it's currently very hard to make OLED TVs in large sizes; at the moment the largest OLED display Sony is currently showing is only 27 inches, this is to small to compete on a mass market when consumers expect a minimum of 32inches. Also, manufacturers are still experimenting with the display's organic materials to increase the lifespan to the point where OLED panels' lifespan would be competitive to that of plasma's, as the current life of an OLED screen is much shorter. Then finally OLED also has its own set of patent issues surrounding it and these are owned by that photography giant Kodak who hold a number of patents, this means manufacturers such as Sony and Samsung will be required to pay a licensing fee for every OLED TV they produce. This may seriously hamper the technology, however negotiations are progressing, and Kodak is not expected to scupper getting OLED Tvs in to everyones homes.

With 1080p gradually becoming more of a standard feature on HDTVs (flat-panel and rear-projection sets), it becomes harder and harder to set TVs apart from a features standpoint, OLED TV definately takes TVs to a new playing field. Some of the execs from the major TV manufacturer Sharp have said that they will be keeping an eye on OLED. Because of OLED's current size constraints Sharp are yet to start manufacturing this technology, but you can guarantee they will not alow themselves to be left behind with giants Sony pushing a head and demonstrating this technology.

If you're waiting for something better than LCD or plasma to come along, chances are that OLED appears to have a lot of promise, but don't expect to see an affordable 42-inch model for another five to six years, and currently the best OLED Tv is being developed by Sony which is only 27inches. It's possible that smaller OLED displays (20 inches or less) will become options for kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms in somewhere closer to three years, so keep an eye out for these at your local electronics store.

Currently the best OLEDTVs are produced by Sony as they are forging ahead in this technology, both screens are based on what Sony calls its 'Super Top Emission' technology, sounds exciting. STE uses a pitted organic film - the pits are called micro-cavities now we are getting technical! - This allows it to reflect out of the display light that has bounced back off the display's semi-transparent cathode, the negatively charged material used to send electrons through the OLED's organic film, generating light. The colours themselves are produced by through STE's colour filters, placed above the cathode.

No surprise that with the release of the Sony models we will gawk at that incredible 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The real news is that Sony is finally ready to move an OLED TV into production, so as you can see the release on to the market is now inevitable. Tthey'll be pushing out the 11-inch model sometime soon. We're talking 1024 x 600 pixels slathered across that wee 1M:1 contrast panel capable of 8-bit RGB color and covering more than 100% of the NTSC color gamut. What this will mean to the majority of consumers will be prettier pictures. The display itself measures just 3-mm thick. It will likely suffer from a high price tag and short display life, but some people out there, mainly the gadget freaks will be unable to hold themselves back from making a purchase. Still, you'll be tempted, especially after seeing the set's razor-thin display in a profile shot after the break yeah, dramatic viewing angles too.

Sony in a statement issued in Tokyo said it began mass production of the XEL-1 in September. The company has been selling OLED panels for mobile phones since 2004, so chances are you have already come across one. The first TV to go on sale in Japan will be an 11-inch model with a screen 3 millimeters thick, the set would cost about $1,700 thats about £850 - get your credit card out!