TV Technology

Ultra HD stuff, I guess? I dunno if it's out/coming out soon, I'm not in the market for a TV right now so I haven't exactly followed.

ETA: Um, also supposedly OLED is amazing? But I'm basically just throwing around buzzwords because, as I said, I haven't kept up and I'm largely ignorant.

OLED HDTVs are still 3-5 years away from becoming mainstream.

4K is still 5+ years out.

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pretty much ignorant because I haven't had a reason to keep up.

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There hasn't been much to keep up with, actually. TV technology has stagnated for the last 5 years or so.

You have LCD panels with either CCFL or LED backlighting, with maximum resolutions capping at 1920 x 1080. Or plasma. Sure, they've become slightly thinner, but there really hasn't been much change. 3D is on the way out (again).

I view the current TV industry the same way I viewed the mobile phone industry before Apple launched the iPhone in 2007. It really is such a mess right now. We're still using plastic remotes to control our TVs (most of us have 2+). We're still bound to boring and cumbersome programming UIs from the providers. The technology hasn't changed much in the past few years. Resolutions have been capped at 1080p for years, such that contemporary smartphones (with 4"-5" screens) have display resolutions that match top of the line 50+" TVs. Some devices, such as the iPad, have display resolutions that are higher than any current consumer HDTV on the market. The lack of innovation and stagnation in the current TV industry is mimetic of the mobile phone industry prior to 2007.

I'm not quite saying that Apple needs to launch an iTV for the industry to start progressing again, but it would certainly expedite the process. As previously mentioned, there are a few big technological advancements coming to the TV industry (eventually) - OLED panels and 4K resolutions.