Sony OLED TV

OLED is the new technology on the block, but you won't find it in your local electronics store just yet. Organic Light-Emitting Diodes are essentially the same as normal LEDs, but use an organic material to produce light in a process known as fluorescence.

The pixels are "self-luminous", meaning they generate their own illumination, which is beneficial in two ways: Firstly, there's no need for the backlight that's used in LCD screens, meaning the devices can be much flatter. Secondly, when displaying black, the pixels simply remain inactive, giving extremely dark blacks and, therefore, more contrast-rich pictures. For an in-depth description of how OLED works, see our article OLED Technology Explained.

There's currently only one Sony OLED TV, the 11-inch XEL-1, whose resolution is just 960 x 540 pixels: Sony OLED XEL-1, 11 inches (28 cm), around 3,500 GBP.

Sony OLED XEL-1 
Rarely is a test quite this interesting - or ambivalent. On the one hand, the miniature Sony impresses with perfect black and extraordinary motion-clarity. On the other hand, the low resolution disappoints and stops the screen displaying that sought-after ‘perfect picture'. Nevertheless, OLED technology promises much for the future - if development keeps going steady, OLED will one day outstrip both plasma and LCD.

The following were involved in producing this article on Sony OLED TVs:

Author(s): Karl-Gerhard Haas
Editor in Chief: Florian Friedrich
Photos: Manufacturers and AV T.O.P. Messtechnik GmbH
Last updated: September 2009