There are two issues that make this prototype 65-inch OLED TV from TLC stand out. It will possibly fold away right into a espresso desk the place half the display stays seen underneath glass, however that’s questionably helpful. What’s extra fascinating is that that is the primary 8K, 65-inch TV to be manufactured utilizing inkjet printing strategies that promise to deliver down the worth of OLED screens.
Yesterday, Vincent Teoh, from the YouTube channel HDTVTest, shared a video of a monstrous 110-inch, 16K TV being demonstrated at Show Week 2023 in Los Angeles (which simply wrapped up yesterday). Because the identify implies, the present focuses on exhibiting next-generation show applied sciences, which is why Teoh shared one other video of a novel prototype being demonstrated by TCL on the present.
OLED screens provide many benefits over show applied sciences like LCD, together with higher distinction, extra saturated colours, and decrease energy consumption. The screens will also be folded with out immediately destroying them, which is a novel characteristic that TV makers have struggled to embrace. Up to now, merely having TVs disappear when not in use has been probably the most sensible utility OLED’s potential to fold, which is precisely what this prototype does.
On the push of a button, it folds in half backwards, earlier than being lowered right into a small desk the place it’s protected by a layer of glass that closes on high of it. Half of the panel remains to be seen after this, however we can’t consider too many good makes use of for a espresso desk with an OLED display beneath its floor. Viewing angles are removed from supreme, and we don’t know anybody who retains a espresso desk pushed up towards a wall, which might be the place you’d need the TV positioned as soon as it raises into place. What this prototype does properly, nevertheless, is draw individuals to TCL’s sales space, and convey consideration to what actually makes this TV a formidable piece of engineering.
Manufacturing OLEDs has usually relied on a course of the place natural supplies are utilized to glass panels utilizing metallic stencils known as shadow masks that restrict the fabric’s utility to particular areas. In a method, it’s just like how the artist Banksy creates their graffiti items by spray-painting partitions utilizing paper stencils. Loads of the spray paint finally ends up on the stencil itself, however whereas spray paint is affordable, the natural supplies used to make OLED panels just isn’t.
A number of years in the past, TCL introduced it will start making OLED screens in 2023 utilizing a course of the place inkjet printing expertise can be leveraged to exactly apply the natural supplies onto glass panels with out shadow masks, with out waste, and with fewer stray particles (which typically result in panels being faulty earlier than they even depart the manufacturing facility ground). It’s a extra exact and cost-effective method of producing OLED panels with a better success fee, and it guarantees to ultimately deliver down the worth of OLED TVs.
TCL isn’t the primary firm to make OLED TVs this manner. Japan’s JOLED has been churning out inkjet-printed OLEDs since 2021. Up to now, inkjet-printed OLEDs have been comparatively small, near 32-inches in dimension and with resolutions maxing out at 4K, however shoppers now need to go huge. That’s what makes this prototype from TCL really thrilling. It demonstrates the corporate can print OLED TVs as much as 65-inches in dimension and at 8K resolutions.
The largest query from this reveal, which TCL has but to reply, is what this OLED TV (minus the folding get together trick) will price. Will or not it’s cheaper than different 65-inch OLED screens already available on the market, justifying the brand new manufacturing course of, or will it arrive with comparable pricing till TCL can successfully ramp up manufacturing of inket-printed OLEDs this dimension?
