Flat-screen TV’s are accepting a newcomer into their circle of high-tech viewing devices. The new technology is based on organic light-emitting diodes, called OLEDs.

See It in Las Vegas

For a number of years there were only two members of this club, LCDs and plasma TVs. OLEDs are being introduced by the Korean-based LG Company. They are ready to show their latest addition to the world of entertainment gadgetry at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, scheduled to open on January 10th.

Samsung Has One, Too

Not only LG is in on the fun. Samsung Electronics, a long-time competitor with LG, is planning on unveiling an “almost market-ready” version of the OLED TV at the Las Vegas venue, according to three different persons privy to the information. They spoke only anonymously because Samsung has not yet announced to the world this intention. According to Samsung’s website the CES announcements will be made the day before the show’s opening, on January 9th.

Tim Alessi, LG’s director of home electronics development in the USA said that the new-fangled TV will be available to consumers during the fourth quarter of 2012. No price has yet to be mentioned.

One price estimate, made by Paul Gagnon, an analyst for DisplaySearch, is putting the sticker price at about the $5K plus range.

OLED Used in Smartphones

OLED technology is already in use in higher-end smartphones. OLED produces deeply saturated colors and great contrast. One problem with expanding to the larger format of a large television has been that it is much more difficult to make larger screens that give consistent results. Sony released an 11-inch OLED TV in 2007 that sold for $2,500, but a larger model never materialized.

Since that time both Samsung and LG have shown prototype OLED TVs at the yearly CES, but have never released any plans for marketing the product.

Ultra-thin and Light

In addition to the improved quality of the picture on an OLED TV, they are also quite thin. LG’s 55-inch TV will be only 4 millimeters thick (3/16th of an inch) and weigh only 16.5 pounds.