Sony readies first OLED TV for consumers
Don’t throw out your flat-panel LCD or plasma TV just yet, but Sony is gearing up to sell its first OLED television – using organic light-emitting diode technology – this December, in Japan.
Don’t throw out your flat-panel LCD or plasma TV just yet, but Sony is gearing up to sell its first OLED television – using organic light-emitting diode technology – this December, in Japan.
OLED televisions offer a number of advantages over current technologies as these TVs are just 3 millimetres thick, offer a contrast ratio (the ratio between white and black) at 1,000,000:1 (!) and response times measured in microseconds instead of milliseconds, so fast motion isn’t an issue.
Available in Japan in time for the holidays, Sony’s 11-inch XEL-1 will be about ¥200,000 or roughly $1700 Canadian.
The company says it’s producing bigger displays fo rnext year, but would not confirm if or when it will be available to Canadians.
Um, sorry, but I don’t care how good, thin or black these screens are — would you trade your 50-incher for an 11-incher? I wouldn’t even swap my 22-inch PC monitor for two 11-inchers!
Wait.
This could be a game changer.
The size will grow quickly as Sony works out the manufacturing skills on the small sets. If they can do this, the potential is amazing.
It could be to Sony as IPOD was to Apple.
These look promising if they can overcome size issues. I remember selling my first 20" sharp Aquos LCD 1st Generation for just under $6000 cdn and the 13" being about $4000 if I remember. So all in all this doesn't look to bad by comparison.
When 40+" hits at a price that makes sense I'll be there
I can see these working very well in applications that must work in bright light. Everything from displays in emergency vehicles and airplanes to tablet PC's (where weight is always an issue) will be good applications.
I do wonder aboout reliability and toughness. If they are also tougher than TFT LCDs then Sony will have an easier go of makeing market penetration.
Eventually they'll get mass produced to the point where consumers will also find them appealing. I'll be keeping my future eye out for further news!
Sounds good.. but i wouldn't buy one just yet….They Need to come up with a few bigger sizes bedore i buy one…lol
Before plunging into this new technology I would need to know if it is basically an improved LCD TV. The problem with TV technologies is that neither is perfect.
LCD has garbage refresh rates and even the latest models cannot complete with a plasma.
The Plasma is not really computer friendly and it is a heavy bugger. Plus, Plasma will last longer than an LCD. The problem with Plasma is the glare. If you have a bright sunny room, forget Plasma.
OLED by definition would solve this issue, but we are at least 3 years away from a 50" OLED TV and by that time 50" will be considered small.
[...] getting an occasional outing at tech shows, or over-priced and under-sized production models (see Sony’s silly little XEL-1). Seen from the side, Samsung's OLED TV practically disappears. (click for larger [...]