Sony unveils first OLED display TV

Sony Corp. on Monday unveiled the first flat-screen television using organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, a display method more common in laptops and mobile phones.

The XEL-1 television, which will go on sale on Dec. 1, has a display thickness of just three millimetres, a compactness made possible because OLEDs are self-luminescent and do not require a backlight.

OLED is seen as a potential replacement for liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma technologies. The displays trap a thin layer of organic material between two plates, offering potentially brighter images and wider viewing angles.

The use of organic materials also means OLED have less environmental impact, Sony said.

But getting OLED to work on the large display sizes found in big-screen televisions has been a challenge, and the cost of the technology has so far been prohibitive.

The Sony XEL-1 is relatively small for a television by today's big-screen standards; it has an 11-inch display screen. It is also expensive, with a price tag of 200,000 yen, or $1,734 Cdn.

Sony said the company's television lineup is still centred around its BRAVIA line of LCD TVs, but that XEL-1 represents the first step toward developing its OLED TV business.