It was a pivotal moment in the global hit Game Of Thrones mega-series – and it literally left some people in the dark while others saw it as a clear signpost that OLED TVs are the future of television.
It was the Battle of Winterfell – the climactic battle scene, the episode titled "The Long Night"; the big showdown between the forces of good and evil. The problem was that the battle was staged at night – and nearly everybody who didn't have an OLED TV strained to see any pictures to go with the sounds of furious action. Their screens were largely black.
It brought a flood of global complaints from viewers, according to Ben Watson, TV product manager for Panasonic, leaders in OLED TVs. The cinematographer didn't help, telling the New York Post that the problem was caused by fans not knowing how to tune their TV sets.
Those who didn't have a problem had OLED sets – and the fact that many fans found friends and family with an OLED set to watch the episode again (this time able to see the action) only boosted the reputation of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs.
In an article titled "Games of Thrones Proves Why You Need an OLED TV," Popular Mechanics, a US science and technology magazine, said that the "epic 90-minute Battle of Winterfell was shot entirely at night" and that "it was a muddy mess without an OLED TV."
So why does an OLED TV have an advantage? Watson says it is becoming widely known, and accepted, that OLED TVs deliver the best viewing experience at home. It's a question of which format works best and, without going too deep into technological explanations, the ascending technology order goes like this: LCD (the world's most common –and cheapest – TV format), QLED and OLED.
The latter is a big step up from LCD panels as OLEDs contain millions of self-lit pixels which can individually turn on and off. An LCD/QLED-based TV still requires a backlight of some form which results in what is known as light leak – a colour "bleed" which means they cannot achieve true black; colours can bleed into another.
It also means OLED TVs can be ultra-thin as they don't need a backlight and the self-lit pixels deliver some of the best black levels and contrast in the world. Hence the Game Of Thrones conundrum: the battle was shot at night but many TVs could not reproduce the quality – pretty galling for fans.
"What it means is that QLED technology can reach a higher level of brightness but can't compete with the contrast and light control produced by an OLED. Brightness shouldn't be the only benchmark of a good TV which is why an OLED delivers the best viewing experience at home."
The global OLED market grew 80 per cent last year, often spurred by lockdowns and people treating the pandemic with caution, staying home more. Watson says that in New Zealand, the total market is worth $400 million, with OLED making up $80m of that, easily the fastest-growing format, according to market intelligence from GfK .
Also fastest-growing are big screens – anything 65 inches or over – and OLED now have a full range of big screens.
Panasonic currently have three OLED series here – the 980 (55- and 65-inch screens); the 1000 (48-inch screens, a new development for OLED); and the flagship 2000 (55- and 65-inch screens) with a 77-inch model due here later this year.
The last two years of buying new TVs to help survive the pandemic means buying rates have slowed now, although Watson says while volume of sales has decreased by 5 per cent, GfK research shows the value has increased also by 5 per cent – a sure sign Kiwis are investing more money in their TVs.
For many years, people mainly played games on their computers or if they did use a console, their TVs were able to handle the output of the consoles with only basic refresh rate and frame rate requirements.
But, as the gaming industry geared up and the games and technology grew quickly in sophistication (and as the pandemic put gaming in front of many more people), TVs were falling behind.
"They'd never had to deal with that before," says Watson, "and with more and more people plugging in consoles, customers were demanding more than the [old] TVs could handle."
Now, with new HDMI 2.1 technology, OLED TVs are able to handle more than twice as many frames per second, meaning no lag for gamers and a big-screen experience which gives them the visuals to go with the smoothness of operation, all-important for gaming and the pivotal moments during a game.
Not all OLEDs are created equal and it's important to understand that through years of manufacturing TV, Panasonic has their own unique cooling technology, colour tuning done in Hollywood and AI (artificial intelligence) processing that allows the panel to deliver an exceptionally bright picture, colour and contrast true to the directors' vision and automatic adjustment based on both content and ambient lighting conditions in the room.
"We understand customers are always wanting to get the best deal for their money and it's important to remember, when considering a TV purchase, the sheer amount of time that many of us spend in front of it," says Watson.
"It might be watching a series on Netflix, Disney+, Formula 1 on Spark Sport or the rugby on Sky, it is worth considering whether to try and upgrade to that OLED technology to give you the best experience possible every time you turn the TV on."