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Sony's Almost-Paper-Thin OLED-TV Coming to U.S.
Back in October, Sony wowed us with delicious pictures of a ridiculously thin television, the XEL-1 OLED TV. Its screen enclosure was just three millimeters (about .1-inches!) thick -- or thin rather. Okay, so it's only 11-inches across, meaning you wouldn't want to make one the focal-piece of your home theater system. But it's hard to resist, given its lithe design. It was supposed to be Japan-only, but now Sony's saying we can have one. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until some undisclosed time next year before the TV gets its U.S. release.The sets, which dropped in Japan for about $1,700, use a newer type of display called Organic LED, or OLED. The technology isn't altogether dissimilar to that of your typical LCD television, but where an LCD display requires backlights to illuminate the picture from behind, an OLED panel illuminates itself. Without the backlight, the bezel can be made smaller, resulting in the thin set seen here. OLED also can offer brilliant brightness and contrast compared to a traditional LCD, but its biggest problem is degradation. Where an LCD will last you pretty much forever (if you replace the backlights), OLEDs eventually fade and die.
The XEL-1 suffers from this problem, rated to deliver about 30,000 hours worth of viewing before having to be retired. That's less than half your average plasma set, and at the extreme price for the size, the XEL-1 is more a design and technical exercise than anything. We saw it on the show floor at CEATEC a couple of months ago and loved the look of it. We're glad to see Sony will be bringing it to the U.S. ... even if we can't necessarily afford one.
From Engadget
Related Links:
- Gateway 30-Inch LCD XHD3000 High-Definition Monitor
- How to Choose a Home Theater This Holiday
- Panasonic 50-inch 1080P Plasma
- The World's Thinnest TVs
Comments
7
Subscribe to commentsJDec 11th 2007 3:23PM
If they can make a flat screen like that, why cant the make PS3 games.
MarkoDec 12th 2007 11:16AM
Hey! Thin tv's, both very thin and very inexpensive, were promised by Motorola for a release this year. Whatever happened to NED tv? NED= nano-emissive something. They were able to grow carbon nanotubes directly onto glass and the nanotubes each emit electrons which light up phosphers - like in a CRT but with millions of nano tubes the resolution was better, screens bigger and the tv was lighter and much thinner. Best of all they were supposed to retail for a fraction of thecost of plasmas or LC's. So, where'd they go?
NicoleDec 20th 2007 4:09PM
Hey, here's a thought. It will only last a while to be sure you have to replace it, and keep getting your money!
AAHHHHH, Consumerism.......
dodaDec 26th 2007 3:11PM
Lets see now, high price and a short life span. Yep sounds like a real winner for American consumers. Count me out.
KentDec 27th 2007 9:44AM
30,000 hours is almost 4 years. So if the TV is on for 8 hours per day it would last about 12 years. I suspect that most people don't keep their TVs that long anyway.
MIKEDec 26th 2007 10:25PM
THEY ARE JUST SHOWING US THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY NOT TELLING US TO BUY THEM. EVERY ONE OF THE SETS WE HAVE OR HAVE HAD OVER THE YEARS STARTED VERY EXPENSIVE AND PRICES WERE REDUCED EITHER WHEN THE TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION IMPROVED OR WHEN BETTER TECHNOLOGY WAS INVENTED. THE MARKET WILL ALWAYS DECIDE WHAT GOES OR STAYS. bUT AS WE ALL KNOW WE MUST HAVE THE BEST AND LATEST NO MATTER WHAT IT COSTS.
Tom HolzelJan 11th 2008 9:53AM
Motorola's "NED" was actually an "FED"--Field Emission display--tiny emitters formed millions of cathodes that sprayed electrons to a phosphor screen only a few millimeters away. It was lke packing a million tiny CRTs together, and would have given a CRT-like image. Scientists still believe that emissive displays--like CRTs and PDPs (plasma) are more acceptable to the eye. Thus, the enthusiasm for OLED.