According to a recent report, no OLED television sets will make their way to consumers in 2012, as both Samsung and LG are facing manufacturing issues.

OLED is the next step from LCD, and marks a significant step forward in core screen technology. It produces deeper blacks and richer colors than LCD technology, which makes it suitable for TV. Moreover, OLED technology also allows for extremely thin panels, and the initial TV units from LG and Samsung are set to measure just 4mm in thickness.

LG and Samsung have been touting early prototypes of their OLED TVs promising to have them ready by the end of the year. According to display industry analysts firm DisplaySearch, however, manufacturing issues will keep both companies from releasing their 55-inch OLED TVs in 2012.

"Samsung and LG recently scrapped their plans to mass-produce 55-inch OLED televisions this year as the companies are having serious difficulties in improving manufacturing yield," an unnamed DisplaySearch official reportedly said, as cited by The Korea Times.

"Samsung and LG planned to start selling OLED TVs at major outlets worldwide during the London Olympics. But mass-produced OLED TVs will be available from late next year, not this year," reported the publication.

Meanwhile, CNET has contacted a "well-placed LG official," who reportedly insisted that the Korea Times report of a delay is inaccurate.

"LG's plans have not changed for initial launch in late 2012," the official told CNET. He added that the OLED TV launch will likely be in limited quantities, but declined to go into details on whether the TVs would launch Korea-bound or reach other countries this year.

Neither Samsung nor LG offered any official comment to confirm or deny the Korea Times report, though Samsung Electronics CEO Kwon Oh-hyun did acknowledge that issues have stemmed from high prices and lower manufacturing yield.

Small OLED screens for phones and tablets are no longer surprising, but larger sizes have yet to make their debut. OLED TVs are widely expected to outperform current plasma LCD/LED flat panels, while also offering extremely thin form factors.

Samsung and LG both made exciting announcements at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and 2012 was supposed to be the first year that OLED TVs actually went on sale.