January 6, 2008 4:15 PM PST
Sony to introduce first OLED TV in U.S.
Sony's XEL-1 is the first OLED TV to be available in the U.S.
(Credit: Sony)Although Sony introduced its 11-inch OLED HDTV in Japan already, the company's big splash announcement at the 2008 CES is that the model, dubbed XEL-1, is now available stateside, for the cool price of $2,500. While the relatively tiny, exorbitantly expensive HDTV itself won't attract many buyers, it represents an important milestone by shepherding in the latest flat-panel TV technology, which may eventually replace plasma and traditional LCD.
The XEL-1 measures 3mm thick.
(Credit: Sony)
The XEL-1 is supposedly 40 percent more efficient than traditional LCD panels in terms of power consumption, and unlike other LCDs, its manufacturing process doesn't require the use of harmful mercury.
David Katzmaier reviews HDTVs for CNET. E-mail David.
Hopefully when it comes out those will be thinner too
CRUZANSAILOR@GMAIL.COM
OLED or anything else SONY made, will never be seen in my household no matter how good the product is. Not after the BS they pulled with Warner and the bluray camp. SONY you cast a very dark cloud over your name. You are a bunch of unethical, greedy, overpriced, slimy scumbags. I hope your company buckles, folds and goes bankrupt.
HD DVD was a far more superior product and you just had to get your way and force your format on the public instead of letting the consumer decide. May you get hit with many many class action lawsuits and walk away with your tail between your legs like the dogs that you are. I still can't believe how the CEO's and others within SONY managed to screw up what would have been best for the consumer...
I will boycott your company and discourage as many as I can about your products and I will be sure to mention your unethical methods. Oh yes, count on it!!!
How, pray tell, is HD-DVD "superior?" I have both a Sony BDP-S300 and a Toshiba HD-A30, comparable units in each company's range of offerings. Only after a firmware update was the Toshiba capable of playing 1080p content. The Sony is far superior at upconverting standard-def DVDs, with the difference immediately noticeable on my 1080p screen.
You only very recently have been able to get HD-DVD recorders in a PC; Blu-Ray recorders have been out for a year now. And of course you can put WAY more data, at 25GB per layer for Blu-Ray vs. 15GB/layer for HD-DVD, onto a Blu-Ray disk, an advantage that will continue to increase over time because Blu-Ray technology can permit quite a lot of layers. Last I read over 50 layers holding 25GB each have been achieved for Blu-Ray in the lab, but I have never heard of anyone putting more than two 15GB layers onto an HD-DVD.
I guess by "superior" you must mean "cheaper" (unless you're a devout Luddite and mean "older, more primitive technology" and prefer it for its quaintness), although I got both my Sony and Toshiba players for precisely the same price, and when the same titles are released in both formats they tend also to be sold in stores at the same price. Of course, a LOT more Blu-Ray disks are sold than HD-DVDs, which would seem odd if HD-DVDs were actually "superior."
The format war is over. Thank you, Warner Brothers! I don't know about the "BS" Sony allegedly pulled with Warner to bring about their decision, but it seems to have been justified on a number of market-related factors. I did hear that Toshiba bribed Paramount a few months ago to the tune of $150 million to drop Blu-Ray in its last-ditch, desperation effort to save their fast-sinking, brain-dead format, but I now believe that Paramount, and even Universal, will soon reconsider.
When that happens it will send the same signal that Sony sent when it produced its first VHS player -- surrender. And not a moment too soon.
I LIKE my Sony products -- they tend to be a cut above in quality and design. I also like my Toshiba products, but my HD-A30 will, alas, soon be naught but a doorstop. Sure, I was angry at them for their little DRM escapade a while back, but forgive and forget. They did apologize, remember.
While menssie was a little over the top in his post above, I too feel that Sony is somewhat of a greedy sucker. Cannot depend on Sony to reduce the price. So, who else is developing OLED? Is Toshiba also working on it?
-
by Dr. Planarian
January 9, 2008 5:42 AM PST
- I just purchased a Sony KDL-52XBR4. I figure that, by the time it starts showing the signs of age maybe a decade or so down the road, OLED big-screens will have been released and will have dropped in price enough that I can put the old XBR4 into my bedroom.
-
Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (36 Comments)People don't understand that those extreme contrast ratios don't mean an exaggerated brightness but instead mean "true black," and therefore a noticeably better picture. They also don't understand that OLED displays can literally be PAPER thin and flexible, and will be able to be rolled up into tubes like projector screens, basically disappearing completely when not in use. The "box" will be able to be built very small, as small as needed for the input connections, because the actual electronics will be able to be fit into something smaller than a cigarette pack. What a boon to interior decoration!
The notion that they are not durable is a crock. LEDs, including OLEDs, tend to last basically forever without dimming. It was never something anyone needed to "fix."
Don't forget, the first hi-def sets cost upwards of $60K. This Sony is a first offering of this new technology in a TV (it's been out for a while for camera and phone viewscreens), and the size will increase and the price will drop. Its advantages make OLED a far more significant advance over previously available technology than plasma or LCD or DLP was over CRT and projectors.
I'm really enthusiastic about it and will watch its development closely.