Apple Reportedly Still Uninterested in OLED Technology for iOS Devices and Potential Televisions

[MacRumors]

One of the most popular long-standing rumors regarding Apple's future product plans has centered around television sets. Several analysts have been strong proponents of the idea that Apple is working such a product, and unreliable Australian site Smarthouse reported last month that Apple had been rumored to be in discussions with LG about producing a panel for a 55-inch TV based on organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology.

The Korea Times now reports (via The Next Web) that no such deal is in place.

"It's true that Apple has keen interest in TV, allowing users to stream music, videos and TV shows via iTunes, though that needs some iPhone and iPad integration, however, Apple is still pessimistic about using OLED displays," said one source.

"Because Apple is worried over higher costs and technology-related issues linking to large-sized OLED displays, it is groundless that Apple has asked LG Display to supply its OLED screens for its upcoming televisions," added the source.

Sources for the report have indicated that Apple is likely to stick with more proven LCD technologies for any such television products, and has continued to shun OLED technology even for its smaller devices. In fact, Apple has shown no signs of moving toward OLED technology even looking out several years into the future.

"Apple has no interest in using OLED screens on its popular devices. The upcoming iPad 3 will also adopt picture quality-enhanced LCD screens, while the next iPhone will follow suit. Three or four more years will be needed to see OLED-embedded digital devices from Apple," said a top-level executive from one of Apple's suppliers.

Apple has long dabbled in the television market with the Apple TV, but continues to refer to the set-top box as a "hobby" even as it has tweaked the device to focus on streaming content from both the iTunes Store and users' computers and iOS devices. The company has reportedly been interested in offering more television content, perhaps in the form of "best of TV" subscription packages through the iTunes Store, but has expressed frustration with fragmentation in the industry and the stranglehold cable companies have over the user experience with their own set-top boxes.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Still Uninterested in OLED Technology for iOS Devices and Potential Televisions

 

[aohus]

this report makes sense.

why would Apple invest billions on OLED technology thats still far from mainstream distribution?

I think Apple will go with Sharp to get their displays IF Apple goes into the TV market.

 

[MacBandit]

Good I'm glad. OLED has no place in a hand held portable. My Incredible with OLED got a good dose of burn in when I decided I wanted to leave the screen on when I was using it as a music player. Also the power savings isn't significant. The only advantage was contrast but that only goes so far when the screen isn't bright enough to see very well outside without shading it thoroughly.

 

[jasonxneo]

this report makes sense.

why would Apple invest billions on OLED technology thats still far from mainstream distribution?

I think Apple will go with Sharp to get their displays IF Apple goes into the TV market.

Yes, oled technology is far from mainstream, the only evice i can think of that has that type of display is the zune hd

 

[gugy]

All this Apple Television talk makes me laugh.
Just not happening.

 

[nagromme]

LED-backlit IPS LCD really still seems to be the best tech out there. I keep hoping OLED will improve, though.

Do OLEDs still get yellow over time? My 5-year-old Apple LCD display still looks great.

Plus, OLED may look awesome in total pitch darkness, but pretty poor in daylight. And I use devices in sunlight a lot more than in total darkness. (There are zero conditions when my iPhone can’t be seen enough to use; better than OLED in direct sun, and it looks fine in pitch darkness too.)

Yes, oled technology is far from mainstream, the only evice i can think of that has that type of display is the zune hd

Some smartphones use OLED also. And they do look good, at least in the first year. Just not nearly as good as the iPhone’s display.

 

[aohus]

All this Apple Television talk makes me laugh.
Just not happening.

its eventually going to happen. most likely with a joint partnership with an established TV set company like Sharp, Samsung, or LG.

 

[KnightWRX]

Yes, oled technology is far from mainstream, the only evice i can think of that has that type of display is the zune hd

Samsung has used it in a number of phones, see Super AMOLED. Having played around with one of them (the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate), the screen is really just stunning, miles beyond what normal LCD provides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_AMOLED

 

[dgree03]

Apple: A day late and a dollar short

 

[42streetsdown]

OLED is fine as long as you only want to keep your tv for a couple years. Burn-in and color shifting are major problems for OLED tech.

 

[dukebound85]

Samsung has used it in a number of phones, see Super AMOLED. Having played around with one of them (the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate), the screen is really just stunning, miles beyond what normal LCD provides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_AMOLED

Haha soooo Apple is avoiding OLED just like they avoid Blu-ray? I mean both are technically much better!

 

[dagamer34]

The Playstation Vita will be the largest OLED screen in mass production at 5 inches when it comes out later this year. I'd say a good 3-4 years at least.

 

[KnightWRX]

Haha soooo Apple is avoiding OLED just like they avoid Blu-ray? I mean both are technically much better!

Especially considering Super AMOLED is supposed to fix the sunlight glare issues of previous OLED and AMOLED screens. Now I didn't get to play with the phone outside in sunlight (it was the phone of some guy I knew and we were indoors in a restaurant) so I can't confirm the performance for that scenario, but really, the black and colors were much better than what I've seen even from IPS displays.

 

[Hastings101]

I think my Samsung Focus has something similar to that, I think it looks great. Not sure why Apple would be against it.

 

[nutmac]

Few months ago, analysts and pundits claimed when and if Apple makes a TV, it will use CNT-FED instead (from Samsung), which combines the best of CRT, plasma, and LCD (with LED backlighting).

 

[ArcaneDevice]

I can imagine an Apple television.

It will have one DisplayPort input and an attached HDMI cable because they only expect you to plug an AppleTV or Macbook into it.

Other products don't exist so why include those connectivity options?

 

[*LTD*]

Apple: A day late and a dollar short

I'm not sure how this applies to Apple.

 

[dukebound85]

I can imagine an Apple television.

It will have one DisplayPort input and an attached HDMI cable because they only expect you to plug an AppleTV or Macbook into it.

Other products don't exist so why include those connectivity options?

And only able to play content from the ITMS. Can't be getting cable or DirecTV on that as it would be competing with Apple for content consumption!

 

[KnightWRX]

I think my Samsung Focus has something similar to that, I think it looks great. Not sure why Apple would be against it.

There's a very good reason : Samsung is the only supplier making SAMOLED screens right now and the yields are low. So much so, that all 3rd party vendors that were planning on using SAMOLED switched to SuperLCD since Samsung refused to ship out screens to them, preferring to use them in their own mobile division.

Considering the number of units Apple needs, it doesn't make sense to tie themselves to Samsung over this and not be able to produce nearly enough units to ship out to consumers.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/07/oled-shortage-forces-htc-to-switch-displays/

 

[MacVault]

What? No Transparent Minority Report Displays?!!

I was hoping for transparent [oled] minority report-style displays which can be done with OLED and not with LCD.

And, whatever the technical issues with OLED, seems like if anyone could fix them Apple could.

 

[bushido]

on a more important matter, i love how aussies always say "keen"

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I think my Samsung Focus has something similar to that, I think it looks great. Not sure why Apple would be against it.

Because it would mean relying on someone they're in the middle of suing for all they're worth.

And yes, the Focus uses an OLED display, and it's 100% fantastic. Fantastic enough for my friends who have iPhones to think that the Focus' screen is "good enough".

 

[chrmjenkins]

Especially considering Super AMOLED is supposed to fix the sunlight glare issues of previous OLED and AMOLED screens. Now I didn't get to play with the phone outside in sunlight (it was the phone of some guy I knew and we were indoors in a restaurant) so I can't confirm the performance for that scenario, but really, the black and colors were much better than what I've seen even from IPS displays.

Being IPS doesn't inherently give you better colors or blacks. IPS is great for wide viewing angles, but there is nothing inherent to the technology to produce better blacks or colors. Its color range comes from the bit level of the display and the kind of backlight utilized. While the blacks are definitely better and the colors much more vibrant with SAMOLED+, I still find the contrast is too high and the colors look over-saturated in many cases. I'm sure this could partially be remedied with a different calibration.

I think my Samsung Focus has something similar to that, I think it looks great. Not sure why Apple would be against it.

Volume is one issue. No supplier has really proved they can produce volume like Apple needs for iOS devices. The second reason is likely how young the technology is. Apple may not want to associate with any issues the technology may have as of now.

As for TVs, OLED is nowhere near affordable for sizes above 5".

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

AMOLED on my old Nexus One was very poor in sunlight (the same can be said for my ZTE Blade). The SAMOLED screens on my Omnia And Nexus S are vastly better tho.

I do love the higher DPI on the Retina display, it's a feast for the eyes. I'm sure Apple will still use some stunning screen tech as the iPhone 4 looks superb also.

 

[blyan]

I can imagine an Apple television.

It will have one DisplayPort input and an attached HDMI cable because they only expect you to plug an AppleTV or Macbook into it.

Other products don't exist so why include those connectivity options?

First of all, it would be Thunderbolt, not DisplayPort. Second... you can plug in basically anything between that and HDMI so aside from being completely stupid already, your comment makes no sense anyway.