There’s a new revolution happening in the television industry, and you may have not heard about it just yet. The audio/video industry came out with some news this year regarding high definition TV when it introduced 4K Ultra High Definition. 4K is the highest resolution available for televisions currently.
Until recently 1080p ruled the A/V world. This was the standard for the last few years, succeeding the high definition but lower resolution 720p. Now with the introduction of 4K, the resolution bar has been raised. 4K resolution uses four times the amount of pixels that are used in 1080p. The way 4K differentiates itself is that it does not use a backlight; and refers to the horizontal resolution whereas the 1080p refers to the vertical resolution. The amount of pixels used also increases the physical size of the television as well, most TV’s being manufactured are over 50 inches. Some manufacturers are also starting to implement 4K into monitors as well.
The new term “OLED” is also being thrown around, but what does it mean? OLED is the next big thing on the market regarding displays; not to be confused with regular LCD’s. OLED is known in the industry as “Ultra HD.” This new technology is ultra lightweight, and thinner than current LCD’s. OLED stands for “organic light-emitting diode” and refers to the way that this grid will transmit light. The name stems from the organic materials that it uses in its design. OLED has a faster refresh rate than any LCD currently on the market. There have been a few reports of color balance issues, but these kinks will most likely be worked out as the technology improves.
OLED also brings another design option to the table. Curved TV’s are slated to be the next big thing in the TV world. Curved screens were considered a thing of the past and flat screens became the industry standard back in the early 2000’s. Fourteen years later, that decision is being reevaluated. The difference in design being that the old screens curved outward and the new technology features the screen curving slightly inward. This is to give the viewer an experience of being surrounded by the TV. The curved screen will also look brighter and will bring a better view to side-sitters who are not sitting front and center.
Like most technology when it first gets introduced, it is so new that it hasn’t totally caught on in the mass market. This is partially due to the bloated costs of these giant new TV’s and monitors. This is typical of new technology; slowly there are affordable versions that are being made available to the public.
