South Korea's LG Electronics said on Sunday it would launch a 15-inch television set using organic display technology next month, the largest commercial model so far.

Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AM-OLED) displays, which use self-glowing materials, have better picture quality, consume less power and are thinner than widely used liquid crystal displays (LCD) that need backlight units.

But high price has kept it from becoming a mass-produced technology in the market dominated by cheaper LCD panels. OLED screens are making inroads into high-end mobile phones but costs to apply the technology for PCs and TVs are still prohibitive.

Sony Corp launched the world's first OLED TV in late 2007 but has not followed with new models yet.

LG, the world's second-biggest TV brand, said in a statement that it would be unveiling a 15-inch AM-OLED TV at the IFA 2009 consumer electric show in Berlin in September.

The TV set would be commercialized in Korea in November and offered overseas next year, it said.

Research firm DisplaySearch expects the market for OLED TV to reach 2.33 million units in 2013 compared with estimated 320,000 units in 2011, according to data provided by LG.

We are planning to unveil a 40-inch grade (OLED) product in a not too distant future, LG quoted an executive as saying.

(Reporting by Marie-France Han and Rhee So-eui)

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