By Alex Jensen –
If there’s one thing almost all of us have done over the last couple of years, it’s watch more TV shows and movies at home. You may recall that global streaming service subscriptions surpassed 1 billion in 2020 after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it’s been shown that nearly half of pre-pandemic moviegoers are no longer going to movie theaters.
In light of these opposite trends, it’s natural to consider the best options for creating your own home cinema. According to Insider Reviews this month, we need to look no further than an OLED TV, for which “there’s simply no substitute” when it comes to getting that real movie theater vibe.
LG Display has been mastering this technology since becoming the first and only company to mass produce OLED displays in 2013. So, let’s take a look at some of the main reasons why OLED tech’s able to transform a streaming service in your living room into an immersive, cinematic experience.
Vivid, immersive, and not afraid of the dark
OLED TVs are able to achieve incredible overall picture quality because of their self-emissive pixels. In other words, millions of pixels are able to individually light up and turn off completely.
That kind of precision results in vivid images that pop out and such a high degree of color accuracy that everyone from digital artists have made OLED their tool of choice. OLED TVs have also been certified by Intertek to provide 100% color fidelity and volume.
But what happens when the lights go off, as is often the case for people trying to create a home theater atmosphere? This is where OLED’s infinite contrast ratio really shines. Because OLED TVs have no need for backlights, they don’t suffer from the unwanted halos that can affect other kinds of TVs. On the other hand, OLED pixels can achieve perfect black, making dark images and scenes in movies and TV shows appear truly dark and keeping viewers immersed.
Also, from the second quarter of this year, we’re going to see OLED.EX technology integrated into all OLED TV panels, raising brightness by 30% and reducing bezel size by 30%. That’s going to benefit pretty much any OLED TV application, not least home movie theater needs.
Great in a group
Another huge plus to highlight is the wide viewing angles offered by OLED TVs.
The average viewing angle for an OLED TV is about 70 degrees from right in front of the screen, which is far wider than other TVs on the market. The reason for this is the design advantage of being able to create a thinner panel for an OLED TV, as there’s no need for any kind of backlight unit.
What that means is people can come over to watch a movie, or a larger family can gather, and sit scattered around a room and still all enjoy those color and contrast benefits without distortion.
A related point is that there’s now an OLED TV to fit just about any living room – from 97 inches all the way down to 42 inches. So, people can customize their personal home theater accordingly.
Easy on the eyes
Even with all those advantages, some people might be concerned about straining their eyes while watching TV in the dark. One of the biggest worries people have is exposure to blue light, potentially suppressing melatonin and affecting the quality of their sleep.
There’s good news for OLED TV viewers though, because they can enjoy those home theater nights with more peace of mind – OLED TV displays have been certified as low-blue light by international agencies TUV and UL.
The reason why OLED panels are easier on the eyes comes back to the core factor behind this technology’s other benefits – those targeted and precise self-emissive pixels that do away with the need for backlights and feature fast response times.
Other issues that cause eye discomfort are also not a problem with OLED TVs – TUV and UL have found them to be flicker-free and discomfort glare-free. Flicker-free means you protect your eyes from the tiredness caused by flashing backlights, while discomfort glare is caused when there’s a big difference between the light levels in a room and the luminance of the display itself – like when watching a movie in the dark!
As a result of these advantages, LG Display is able to celebrate having the world’s first-ever Eyesafe® certified TV display. That might also be a source of celebration for people wanting to look after their eyes and wellbeing when upgrading their home movie theater!
