First shown at CES, the OLED technology behind the LG 55EM600 55″ HDTV finally becomes a product and gets a European price of (about) 8000 Euros. This was announced earlier today in Monaco by Stanley Cho, the leader of LG European operations. LG is “confident” that this new generation of TV can mean a breakout, and a possible shot at being the #1 HDTV provider in Europe – and perhaps, the world. Today, Samsung holds that title.
The LG 55EM600 is amazingly, of not impossibly, thin. At 4 millimeter thin (and only 20lbs), it’s already hard to imagine how they keep its structural integrity up, but the secret is in its base, where all the electronics and connectivity is. Of course, it looks quite amazing – as long as you don’t want to hang it on a wall. Yet, this design should work for the large majority of potential customers because at the end of the day, one needs to connect Power, along with a number of external devices like game consoles and Internet TV boxes.
This OLED display uses a 4-color pixel that include an extra “white” sub-pixel (in addition to the red, green and blue ones), which basically allows for higher brightness and better control of the contrast. And with the fundamental properties of OLED, you can expect extraordinary wide view angles as well.
But that’s not it: LG’s 55EM600 is also smart. It comes with a dual-core chip that powers its user interface and access to online services from LG and third parties. Finally, the LG “magic wand” remains available for those who feel comfortable with a remote.
Of course, the price is steep, but the good news is that history is doomed to repeat itself: large flat TVs that used to cost tens of thousands of dollars are now left in the dust by much better televisions that cost less than $2000. There is no doubt that OLED TVs will go through the same lifecycle – probably even faster. What do you think of OLED TVs and what would be your price point?