Today, Samsung launches its first OLED TV. This is a TV type that Samsung has been working on for awhile, but production costs and an unsure market kept the company from sending the TV to market. Why would Samsung develop an OLED TV in a market that might not purchase the new product? Because Samsung believes in OLED technology.

What is OLED?

OLED is believed to offer better picture quality than LCD screens. OLED technology has been used with smartphone screens with much success. But bringing OLED to a larger screen has proved to be much more of a challenge - even for a massive company such as Samsung. The problem is that spreading OLED (organic light emitting) across a large screen evenly is next to impossible.

Reuters reports that seven out of ten OLED screens produced by Samsung are faulty. That's a large number, and it means that the cost of these TVs is barely worth it for the company. Yet, Samsung trudges on with the belief that OLED is the future. Samsung isn't the first company to head into OLED territory either.

Samsung Enters Pricey Territory

LG released an OLED TV some time ago, but the high price of that TV has turned off more than some consumers (at nearly $14,000). Samsung's 55-inch curved OLED TV will retail for $13,000, which puts the TV into an extremely niche market. Samsung's new OLED TV will launch in Korea first, but the company has stated that the TV will hit other countries soon (the company did not state which countries would be getting the OLED TVs).

LG has only sold a few hundred of its OLED TVs, though projections for OLED sales are good. Some analysts predict that OLED will, indeed, be the next big thing, and that OLED sales will skyrocket. Samsung's new TV may seem out of reach for most people, but those that do have the $13,000 to spend will be able to access some popular Samsung TV features.

Accessible Features Included

Some features that the new TV will have include a multi-viewer option (where two people can watch two different shows simultaneously), and Samsung's 'Evolution Kit' upgrade option.

If you like the idea of the new OLED TV from Samsung, note that the company will not be offering a flat version of this curved TV this year. Right now, Samsung is sticking with the curved design, since the company believes that the curved shape is the best way to go with OLED.

OLED is not perfect yet - far from it. That's why these TVs are so expensive. However, companies like Samsung are working on perfecting OLED TVs, which means that you may be seeing a lot more OLED offerings and less LCD offerings in the near future. For now, though, a TV that costs $13,000 is out of range for most people.

Would you buy Samsung's new 55-inch OLED TV? Is OLED really where the future of television is at? Or, is Samsung just chasing another 3D TV-type dream?