OLED monitors needed to break-in technology

It’s been over eight months since Sony showed off its amazing OLED TVs at CES 2008, including the prototype 27-inch model, yet nothing has been heard about this “breakthrough” technology since that time.

I, for one, was blown away by what I saw (let Wil Wheaton explain it), but have been disappointed by the lack of any further movement. It seems like Sony’s strategy for the OLED screens may be focused in the wrong direction.

The price and size of the first generation OLED TVs is certainly a drawback — $2,500 for an 11-inch screen. It’s also literally impossible to see the vividness of the picture on any normal TV or monitor, so Sony’s decision to sell them only online or in a Sony store means most people would have to actively search one out, or buy sight unseen. Sony should at least put a display model in the home theater departments of electronics chains, just to generate awareness, and so people can see what it looks like.

Sony has also been emphasizing the thinness of the TV screen, even though the large base it sits on renders that feature almost pointless. The real draw (which, again, can only be seen in person) is the million to one contrast and blazing fast refresh speed.

What Sony should be doing is making and marketing OLED screens as monitors, not TVs. Here’s just a few reasons:

Without the TV base, the thin OLED screen could be sit much flatter on top of a much smaller base for a PC connection.

Monitors are a lot smaller than TVs, so an 11-inch screen would be a decent size, and they wouldn’t have to struggle to keep up with TV sizes, just go up a little to 15- and 17-inch models.

Hardcore gamers and PC users are already used to spending thousands of dollars for the latest graphic cards, memory, motherboards, etc. to keep their machines on the cutting edge.  The frame-rate watching, number-spewing crowd would be the perfect market for OLED monitors.

Of course, we are in a bit of a recession right now, so price might still be an issue no matter what. But we won’t see vibrant OLED screens really enter the market until the early adopters start things off, and that’s more the realm of computer enthusiasts than tiny-TV watchers. Granted, I’m sure you can hook an OLED TV up to a computer if you wanted to, but it’s still got the extra TV bulk. The bottom line is that Sony is selling this new technology on the wrong features and to the wrong crowd; many people will never buy one or even see one in person if the marketing isn’t fixed, which means the price will never go down. And I really want to have one.

-Aaron Burkhart

New camera captures images in 3D

With all the 3D displays, players and applications being shown at CES 2008, it stands to reason that there would be a device to let consumers capture their own 3D images. Well, the 3D VuCAM from StereoVision does just that, capturing images up to 300 feet away and storing a stereo pair of images that can be recombined in various formats for a 3D effect.

The 3D images can be used with special software to allow editing of the images, which can be either viewed on a 3D-ready monitor, or shown as a red/cyan anagylph for 3D viewing with glasses on a regular monitor, TV, or printed onto paper. StereoVision also sells glasses-free 3D displays, but I didn’t see them at CES so I don’t know how they look compared to the other 3D displays that use glasses.

Like many emerging technologies, the 3D VuCAM is geared toward industrial, law enforcement or other specialized applications, since the initial cost of the product ($1,667) is too high for casual consumers to consider worthwhile. It’s sort of a catch-22 of new technology: if 3D monitors find a consumer base, 3D capture devices will have a market, but without 3D content (besides just a handful of movies) there’s little reason to own a 3D monitor.

New displays at CES 2008: A thousand words will have to do…

… because no pictures can possibly do justice to the visual display products shown on the CES show floor. It would be like showing the pictures of the first color televisions, but taken with black and white cameras and shown on black and white TV sets; it has to be seen to be understood.

Three different areas took TVs and displays beyond the current level: the higher contrast in the new OLEDs, the smoother 120+ Hz refresh rates, and good ol’ 3D imaging.

Sony’s OLED TV display had the now-on-sale 11-inch models and the prototype 27-inch model. While the thinness of the screens (only 3mm on the 11-inch models) were what first caught my attention in the press release, even more impressive in person is the 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, meaning the absolute deepest blacks (OLEDs aren’t backlit, unlike LCDs, so black pixels are simply turned off) and brighter vibrant colors that stay that way from any viewing angle. The refresh rate was also remarkable, with no blur of any kind. The 11-inch model sells for around $2,500 but many videophiles will be willing to pay for quality over size. There were also a lot of100-inch or larger TVs being showcased, by a wide range of companies, so size apparently matters somewhat, but when OLEDs go down in price they’ll definitely have my attention.

TVs with refresh rates of 120Hz (and Texas Instrument’s 240Hz) are another area that can’t be seen on normal screens, since 60Hz is the standard. Higher rates mean smoother pictures and less blur, although for now upconverting methods would have to be used to even see a difference from normal programs. Quite frankly, I didn’t really see that much of a difference (the human eye can only process information so fast) but if the cost isn’t much more than standard, it would be worth looking for higher refresh rates before buying an HDTV for those who haven’t upgraded yet.

While 3D has been around for awhile, the new polarizing method (replacing the less-focused and headache-inducing blue and red method) is being incorporated into more monitors (including some of the wearable models previewed yesterday), but the catch is that movies and player have to contain and transmit the extra information correctly, so going fully 3D will be some years down the road. However, more movies, like Superman Returns and the latest Harry Potter, are now being shown in IMAX 3D, which means it will be easier to convert these movies to a good-quality home 3D experience. Also, at Zalman’s 3D convertible LCD monitor booth, they showed that computer games like World of Warcraft (which automatically contain 3D information) can be quickly made into 3D. So games that use 2D textures to simulate depth will still be flat in those areas, but all the objects themselves will look like they’re at the proper depth.

These displays must be seen in person to be truly appreciated, so I’m sure high-end retailers will be showing them off soon.

-By Aaron Burkhart