AfterDawn: News

Toshiba doubles the lifespan of OLED TVs

Anybody who witnesses an OLED TV in person will remark on how vibrant the colors are and what a wonder these televisions are to behold, but the organic materials they use within the set degrade rapidly over time, giving some potential future consumers an edgy approach. Well, those fears will soon be quenched as Toshiba has sided with Matsushita to effectively double the lifespan of an OLED TV. Earlier prototypes would only sustain clear pictures amounting to about 40 percent less than a standard LCD HDTV.

By inserting a metal inside the OLED TV, one which was prototyped at 20.8 inches, they can deliver the light from polymers in the substrate out through the glass surface more efficiently than current OLED standards. In the end, all this means that the brightness needed can be halved while maintaining the same picture quality and effectively doubling the unit's lifespan.



Earlier OLED televisions have been rated to approximately 30,000 hours of life, or 8 hours per day for 10 years. With the joint venture between Toshiba and Matsushita, it appears they want to appeal to even the most frugal television shoppers by delivering a set that should work for many years to come.

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 25 Jan 2008 15:59

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• 15 comments

• chaos_zzz

  33000 hours last for 10 years?? , more than enough even 5 is enough , don't bother

  25.1.2008 22:40 #1

• goku2

  Not everbody wants to buy a new display as often as 5 years, some people are frugal, like me. I like to keep things until they break or could seriously benefit from an upgrade, however I don't want to be upgrading things because they break in short order.
  
  If you bought a high end CRT in 1998, would you want to upgrade as of now? Personally I wouldn't since CRTs still deliver the best picture so being forced to upgrade now would suck and that's a full 10 years later! Imagine if your high end CRT died in 2004, then you'd really have to eat it with the comparatively lower quality panels they had at the time.

  25.1.2008 23:29 #2

• oappi

  yeah 5 years it bit too often... 8 years is ok but not something you could brag about.. 8 hours of tv/day is still kinda lot... if it is only tv it would last atleast 20 years in my use. if it was pc monitor then 8 years for monitor is too short it is nice to have secondary monitor if something happens to primery... you can also do alot of cool things with two monitor... like zoomed image of your crosshair and use it when you want to do sniper. At the same time you see what happens in "normal" screen.
  
  im on lg 24" lcd now.. since my sony crt 21" (bought 02) died in just 4 years of use...(used secondary 19" for year) so it would still be double what sony crap will last.

  26.1.2008 11:59 #3

• aj123

  sry double post.

  26.1.2008 13:06 #4

• aj123

  8 hours per day for 10 years is good enough for me, unless i buy a VERY high end t.v. for an expensive price. Then i would want 1-2 more years extra as insurance.

  26.1.2008 13:06 #5

• P51ride

  Thats what the companies want. You spending your hard earned dollars for garbage expensive electronics that lasts only for a few years before it needs repair. A Yahoo group that I belong to has two members that have been electronic technicians for over forty years. These techs work on the HD wide screen TV's. Some brands of HDTV's they will refuse to take in for repair because they have learned that there are NO REPAIR PARTS AVAILABLE !!!!!!!!!. The HDTV's are less than 4 years old and the owners paid $ 1100.00 to $ 1800.00 for basically an expensive door stop. The same applies to most all of the modern electronics. Contrast that with my vintage audio equipment that ranges in age from 38 to in excess of 50 years old and still works. I have a Zenith AM/FM table radio that was made in 1961. I purchased the radio in 1993, cleaned and refinished the cabinet, replaced one tube, and with a 24 hour plug in timer I use it as a clock radio. I have not had to do anything to the radio in 15 years and it has run for two hours a day, six days a week since 1993. In that time I have had to replace the cheap (Chinese made)timer four times. I'm searching for an old 24 hour timer with a Telechron clock movement.
  
  All I'm saying is don't lower your expectations of the lifespan of electronics. Check out the Yahoo group classicstereo and two members (Mike, and Ed Blackwood). These two as well as other members know their stuff and please value their opinions

  26.1.2008 23:42 #6

• 7thsinger

  Quote:8 hours per day for 10 years. Do people really have their tv's on this much?

  28.1.2008 10:13 #7

• goodswipe

  Originally posted by 7thsinger:
  Do people really have their tv's on this much?
  Yes, I'd say this is why the U.S. is going down the drain in a hand basket. TV is turning everyone's brains into mush. What disgust's me is all this celebrity BS that's everywhere, shouldn't people be more concerned about the status of our economy rather then wtf Britney Spears next move will be?
  
  My two cents...

  28.1.2008 12:09 #8

• 7thsinger

  Originally posted by goodswipe: Originally posted by 7thsinger:
  Do people really have their tv's on this much?
  Yes, I'd say this is why the U.S. is going down the drain in a hand basket. TV is turning everyone's brains into mush. What disgust's me is all this celebrity BS that's everywhere, shouldn't people be more concerned about the status of our economy rather then wtf Britney Spears next move will be?
  
  My two cents...I wholeheartedly agree. I don't give to happy craps about pop culture icons and their lives, bad decisions, sexual partners, and dependencies.
  
  And honestly, there is nothing good enough on t.v. to warrant one being on that many hours in a 24 hour period.
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  "Sir, i would not harm thee for the world, but thou art standing where i'm about to shoot."

  28.1.2008 14:34 #9

• goodswipe

  I dunno, the new American Gladiators in HD is soooo awesome, lmfao!
  
  Man, what will they think of next?
  

  HD-DVD...keep the dream alive!

  28.1.2008 14:42 #10

• ikari

  I think the phase "They don't make them like they use to" applies to this situation.
  
  With the way things break easily these days, you would think that a short lifecycle was planned in the development phases of product creation.

  29.1.2008 15:16 #11

• borhan9

  More power to Toshiba.

  19.2.2008 19:38 #12

• ericg8

  Wow! From 10 years to 20 at 8 hours per day.
  
  If you watch that much t.v., chances are, you are going to buy more than one anyway. Keep getting a bigger one and move the smaller ones to the bedroom, den, office, garage, whatever.
  
  Anyway, with the way technology is changing, lifespan would not be an issue for me. But, I want price, brightness, features, etc.

  13.3.2008 23:46 #13

• wazzat

  Kudos to Toshiba. They lost a billion dollar battle with Sony, but still consider consumer's interest. Sony products don't have the quality they once did. Pay for a name, silly. Buy a Dell computer. Reach the internet with AOL. It's all planned purchasing. My Toshiba LODEF CRtv lasted until warranty ended before the HI voltage and sound gave out. Another $120 and 2 weeks in the shop, it has been running another 3 years. My 19" crt monitor cost me $400 and lasted 6 years. The samsung 19" 3X4 standard format lcd cost me $400 and I've no complaints about it after 2 years. I no longer consider Sony since they bought Pioneer and a couple other car audio companies. Too bad they won the HIDEF format war.

  15.3.2008 10:39 #14

• djanarak

  Im sure it will come with the usual video inputs to support the latest gaming consoles :) Then that would do the 8 hours a day lifetime justice haha!

  19.4.2008 22:37 #15