Move over Mini LED, 111-inch OLED TVs could be on the way – and they might be more affordable than you think
A £112 million investment could be the answer to cheaper large-screen OLEDs
by Lewis Empson · What Hi-Fi?
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The 100-inch TV market is largely dominated by Mini LED TVs. Why? The price of OLEDs around this size has long been an issue, and manufacturers have yet to break this particular size threshold because of factors such as cost and manufacturing constraints – but that might be about to change.
Various Chinese media outlets (via FlatPanelsHD) are reporting that a Chinese state-owned investment firm has made a significant investment to upgrade the production of large-screen OLED panels outside of South Korea.
Global marketing and research firm TrendForce reports that Guangzhou Development Zone Holdings Group Co., Ltd. and LG Display will jointly invest RMB1 billion (around £112.45 million) into LG Display Optoelectronics Technology (China) Co., Ltd's Guangzhou production plant.
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The plan is to add assembly lines for 77-, 83-, 97-, and 111-inch OLED displays at its Chinese manufacturing plant. TrendForce reports that "the 111-inch production line is the world's first dedicated module production line of the same size based on the large OLED technology route".
As such, it claims that "the 111-inch module line is a major highlight of this project", and this is the first time we could see 100-inch-plus models that don't feature a backlit panel.
Furthermore, the investment in manufacturing could see more competitively priced large-screen OLED TVs in the future.
The high cost of OLED TVs at this size has long been attributed to the failure rate of producing these large-sized panels, but a more efficient manufacturing process could change all of this.
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Now, there's no guarantee that the brands will opt to pass the savings on to consumers, or even opt to use these panels in their own sets; however, it certainly appears that some foundations for bigger and cheaper OLED TVs have been laid.
Only time will tell if larger and cheaper OLED TVs do start rolling off production lines.
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Read our full LG C6 review
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