Sony XEL-1 OLED Television
Everything a TV should be
Sony XEL-1 OLED Television main
Hanging a television on the wall is nice. Even better is sticking it on, like wallpaper. The first organic light-emitting diode TV isn’t that thin, but at three millimeters, it’s close. (Sony has prototypes that are one tenth as thick.) It also produces stunning colors and the highest contrast possible—from brilliant white to pitch-black.
OLEDs have long promised these results, while presenting plenty of challenges. The achievement of taking OLED from a lab experiment to a consumer product is the top innovation of the year.
It took clever engineering. To optimize color, for instance, Sony placed the OLED in microscopic troughs sized to match specific wavelengths of light. So the red part of each pixel sits in a cavity that allows only the ideal shade of red to escape.
Why did a giant technology advance appear in an 11-inch screen? OLED circuitry requires a type of glass that isn’t produced in large sizes, and applying the material to bigger sheets requires new techniques. Retooling factories will cost a fortune. But companies will spend big money if they see a big market, and selling a real OLED TV, even a small one, has fired up demand. Sony promises 27-inch models soon. You could see sets of 32 inches or more, from several companies, by 2011.
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It's about time we see these come from the lab to the market. In time expect to see them on the sides of busses and on top of taxis, and ultimatly billboards.
i think that the 3 mm is a typo. cause that is soooooo thin and if there are ones a tenth as thick
To me this is a real 'so what'. Once a TV gets down to an inch thick -- what's the diff? You can hang it on your wall, and it will work. A 3mm (~ 0.12") device doesn't seem to offer any real practical advantage.
This seems like the classic case of 'mine's thinner than yours'
Maybe the picture is awesome, but that wouldn't require focusing on the thickness ( or lack thereof ) of the device.
Good for you Sony, it's a technical marvel. But as a feature for a wall hung tv, it seems amazingly overrated.
The point is, thinner means less waste. less resources needed to make it... less energy consumption... and who doesn't want higher contrast ratios?
Having the TV thinner might not be a big perc to you, but the better contrast ratios does make them superior to LED's. From what I read a year ago, one major problem with the OLED screens is that the pixels start dieing very quickly after a couple of years. If this is true, and the problem can't be resolved, the only use I see for these is cell phone screens. No one expects them to last for 3 years anyways.
I just held one in my arms today. It really is only 3mm thick. Thing is, its prohibitive costly (around 3-4k euros) and the life expectancy for OLED isnt much more than 2000h so there are still quite many obstacles to be overcome.
On the other hand, the picture is just crazy. Its WAY better than anything ive seen, the colors are absolutely amazing - brilliant and vivid. Also the blacks are pitch black. Im really waiting they get the hours better, price down and size up ;)
i have heard of the pixel paint. and i know that that is true i have seen it myself. but the reason that i have doubts about this is that the paint was on a surface adn didnt have plastic arround it to hold it straight. i dont doubt that the scren its self is 3mm thick but not the whole thing. i mean look at the pic!!
That's neat; just make it a little bigger and turn it into a touch screen. It might be a good computer screen to start out.
That's what we need, super-thin ultra-high resolution touchscreen tvs befouled by fingerprints and scratches from the infinite paper towel used to clean it. Why anyone would want a touchscreen tv or computer monitor, is quite beyond me.
Doesn't seem to be much of an issue with phones though, go iPhone!