LG rolls out world's first curved OLED TV in U.S.

Home appliance giant LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday that it has released organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs with curved displays in the U.S.

In April this year, the South Korean tech giant rolled out the revolutionary model with a 55-inch curved screen for the first time in the world on its home turf.

Usually, images on a flat screen are stretched to match the screen size, making it possible for them to be distorted.

However, a curved display, according to LG, helps eliminate such a problem, as it is designed to make the images match their standard dimensions. The curved display also provides a more life-like experience when watching programs, it said. 

Consumers can apply for pre-orders of the 55-inch curved display TV set, which is priced at US$14,999 at retail outlets there, with delivery set to start next month, the company said.

Global TV makers have also been ramping up efforts to commercialize OLED TVs, which enable slimmer designs and more vivid images compared with liquid crystal displays that require a backlight.

Last year, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics competitively unveiled 55-inch OLED TVs with plans to roll out the product in the same year. Both companies, however, failed to mass produce the OLED TVs due to low production yields.

The global market for OLED TVs is forecast to grow more than 200 times over the next five years, earlier data showed.

Worldwide shipments of OLED panels are expected to hit 26.96 million units by 2018, increasing more than 200-fold from 130,000 units forecast for this year, according to the data by NPD Display Search.

By amount, OLED panel shipments are projected to reach $10.02 billion by 2018, accounting for 18 percent of the overall market.

The report also showed that OLED TVs are expected to surpass plasma display panel (PDP) TVs in two years. (Yonhap News)