Showing posts with label ULED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ULED. Show all posts

January 13, 2019

OK, maybe there was one company that brought something to CES that consumers might actually buy

It turns out that one company, Hisense, brought an LED display to CES that delivers OLED-comparable performance but with higher refresh rates and zero burn-in, apparently based on something which Dolby developed years ago but abandoned. Linus Tech Tips covered it, describing it as having been "grossly under-covered [...] at the show," something which I'd agree with: as far as I can tell, only Engadget devoted an entire post to it, with The Verge burying one and a half paragraphs about it in their "biggest TVs" CES roundup.

Hisense's ULED XS panels will apparently deliver gaming-calibre 120 Hz refresh rates, OLED-calibre image quality, all using robust, mature tech (i.e. none of Micro-LED's "early days yet" issues). Unlike LG's US$8000 burn-in prone rollup OLED, this could deliver better performance at the same size for less money, and be able to last longer. It's exactly the sort of show-stopping product that should have grabbed a lot of attention at a show dedicated to consumer electronics, and was almost completely ignored.

It will be interesting to see how these things review, and if pricing comes down in the next couple of years, but ULED is currently clocking in at a third the cost of an equivalently-sized OLED panel. $3500 for a 65" OLED panel that will have serious burn-in problems in a couple of years is way too much money, but $1500 for a 65" ULED panel that you might still be using in ten years' time is a much more reasonable proposition. It's the kind of consumer value that the big names at CES simply weren't bothering to offer.

It will be interesting to see if that changes, now that Hisense seems set to shake up the industry with their economical approach to something which would otherwise be a luxury item. Call it practical luxury, I guess? Whatever you call it, here's hoping that next CES sees more of it.