Toshiba: No OLED TVs until after 2010 -- SEDs, you must be joking

If you're one of the many hoping to see Toshiba join Sony in the OLED TV game, well, we've got bad news. While Tosh will continue its efforts to commercialize small OLEDs for cellphones and such, they have shelved plans for that 30-inch OLED TV due to manufacturing costs. At least through 2010 when the effort might again, become viable. Oh, and they commented on their SED tech too. You remember, the 100,000:1 sets they told us would hit the market in late 2007. No change, no SEDs on the horizon. Ouch, was it something we said?

[Via Impress]

[Charlie @ Dec 11th 2007 1:28AM]

Oh well, OLEDs are kind of pointless until they are affordable

[Chuckles McGee @ Dec 11th 2007 10:04AM]

Hey, this is Engadget-it's always nice to have something new to look forward to.

[JohnTitor @ Dec 11th 2007 1:36AM]

We'll have to wait for Jupiter to implode into a 2nd sun

[AJ in the East Bay @ Dec 11th 2007 1:44AM]

Even though I stopped holding my breath for SEDs a while back, it still hurts...

[diggers @ Dec 11th 2007 2:08AM]

What's the hold up. There's just too much out there to wait that long ... we have options. Life moves fast....Watch me

[plyx @ Dec 11th 2007 2:11AM]

Thanks alot, Engadget. Thanks for screwing up my SED future.

[LCDdude @ Dec 11th 2007 2:19AM]

Not too surprising - most of the players have put a lot of money into their current LCD plants, and LCD's are simply selling too well at the moment.

You can be sure that they will resume OLED plans as soon as the normal LCD market starts getting saturated.

[L.Rawlins @ Dec 11th 2007 3:15AM]

It's a SED day. A very SED day...

[Luis @ Dec 11th 2007 4:39AM]

Could it be that they are seeing many people waiting for OLEDs/SEDs and they want to convince them to buy now (and again when they come out)?

[BradwJensen @ Dec 11th 2007 5:01AM]

I believe that's exactly what they want us to do..
More money for them.

[Bobs @ Dec 11th 2007 4:41AM]

Shortly after glaring at the amazing technology, he said "It's like a fishtank for people!"

[James Yopp @ Dec 11th 2007 7:51AM]

Methinks that the "jetpack" perpetually-soon-now world-of-the-future comment might have been better used here. OLED and SED displays have been exciting future tech since 2000, but year after year, the timeline gets shoved forward...

[tamoghno @ Dec 11th 2007 9:00AM]

i trust tosh more than sony ... any day.

[bsm0f0 @ Dec 11th 2007 9:35AM]

I like tosh too, just as much as the next guy.

[Rob @ Dec 11th 2007 9:43AM]

Toshiba and Sony are bleeding red all over because of their HD format wars. Toshiba with their HD-DVD players, and Sony with the PS3.

[john9999 @ Dec 11th 2007 10:29AM]

More thin, more light is what we want!

[James Cameron @ Dec 11th 2007 1:07PM]

They are making lots of money on LCD so there's no reason for them to rush.

[Brian Reynolds @ Dec 11th 2007 7:33PM]

Just sent the following in as a correction. But seems relevant here since the "gloom and doom" about SED seems in large part to be based on the article that I think may have a pretty big error in it. . .

-----------------------------------

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/25/sed-televisions-delayed-again-possibly-forever/

The Engadget write-up states:
"Canon also announced that they've stopped work on the technologies required to bring production costs down to that of LCDs and plasmas."

But, the primary document on which this write-up is based actually says something quite different:

"It is also delaying the launch to develop the technology to cut production costs, a step necessary to compete with LCD and plasma TVs, the company said."

I think this latter quote from the primary source was mis-read as saying that Canon/Toshiba were delaying the research, not delaying the product in order to do *more* research. Which is a big distinction! In fact, it was this (possible) mis-reading of the primary document that seemed to account for much of the "gloom and doom for SED" that is in the Engadget write-up.

They haven't (according to all links in that Engadget story) stopped research into cost-reduction as the Engadget story states. On the contrary, they're re-focusing on it.