Toshiba, under license, wants back in the game but the European market largely rejected its first attempt with the X97 OLED. At IFA, the company tried again with a refreshed X98 OLED – this time with HDR support.
Three HDR formats
Debuting an OLED without HDR support is like launching a sports car without the top gear. It is technically possible but it makes no sense. The market also largely rejected Toshiba’s – produced under license by Vestel – first attempt with the X97 non-HDR OLED.
So the company returned to the drawing board. At IFA, we saw the result in the form of the X98 OLED range. At first glance, it looks like X97 but it has been updated to support HDR. In fact, it supports no less than three flavors: HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision.
The Toshiba X98 also features 4K resolution. It is the same OLED panel from LG.Display that you will find in any other 2017 model on the market.
At the booth, the company also showcased its first TVs with built-in Amazon Alexa as well as its take on the wallpaper OLED that it had dubbed the ‘Poster TV’. More on that in a later article.
The best news is perhaps that X98 will be affordable - at least for OLED. It will be available in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2017 for a suggested retail price of €1699. Pricing for the 65” was not announced.
