The next technology to watch for in HDTV displays is the organic light emitting diode or OLED. This promising idea may someday replace the LCD or plasma set as the new standard for image quality.

Because the display is comprised of LED’s, it’s an “emissive” display which requires no back light. The panel is extremely thin. We’re talking something in the order of less than 10 mm. Power consumption is very low compared to current technologies. And probably the biggest advantage is in image quality. With an impressive brightness range and contrast ratio (said to be up to 1,000,000:1), the picture is extremely sharp with color depth that produces life-like images. There is a greater response time compared to LCD which means fast motion will not produce lag or artifacts.

It all sounds great but since this is emerging technology, it’s pretty expensive at the moment and screen size is limited to about 27”. But its potential is exciting and it could be the display of the future.