An OLED revolution? Organic LEDs

Early Flexible OLED Technology

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) have been around for years, if not decades, when you consider research in universities and labs.  But only now are OLEDs reaching mainstream, and starting to turn up on consumer products (TVs, monitors, watches), advertising, and more.

So what is OLED, will it compete in the lighting industry, and what is its potential for the average household?

Television Sets and Power Usage - How to Pick a New TV and Optimize It

Television sets are perhaps the largest discretionary power consumers in many households. With most households having multiple TVs, and sometimes multiple TVs on simultaneously, it is not uncommon to be consuming 400, 500, or even 600 watts! In fact, some large plasma TVs with default settings, operated 6.75 hours per day (average for US households), may cost you $155 or more in electricity in a year (and much more in high electrical costs areas).

One key factor that I constantly harp on is that when we purchase new appliances - ANY appliance, we should consider power consumption costs. After all, if you plan to keep an appliance for 10 years, making a decision that could save you $100 a year makes a ton of sense...or cents in this case ($1000 worth).

But what TVs are best? And are there any sacrifices or trade-offs for choosing a power-sipping model?