First OLED TV Goes on Sale
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 by PPV
Sony's upcoming XEL-1 11-inch OLED based TV will be on sale this coming December. Since it is the first, it will come with a high price for sure. Price will go down when it enters mass production, that will be at the end of this decade.
It seems that Sony is making good on its promise to deliver the first commercial Organic LED (OLED) based TV in 2007. The new XEL-1 (organic EL based panel) will be the first to go on sale on Japan this December for around $1735. The new ultra thin (3mm) 11-inch display will boost a remarkable contrast of 1,000,000: 1 (or higher) compared to around 20,000:1 on today's high end Plasma displays. The high contrast will result in much deeper (more realistic) black color and should also allow to view the TV in a brightly lit room.
The XEL-1 has a small 11-inch display, 960 x 450 resolution, HDMI, USB and Ethernet connections as well as 2 x 1W speakers. This configuration is not intended to replace a 50' full HD home-theater display but could used as a high quality screen for a small bedroom or office. If successful however, larger version from Sony (and possibly other manufacturers such as Samsung, Pioneer and Philips) could reach the market in 2008-2009 offering real alternatives to LCD and Plasma displays.
