The world’s thinnest consumer TV is now available in Australia. The eye watering looks match the eye watering price tag!
The 11-inch TV is just 3mm thick with an amazing contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode and is set to become the new standard for TVs in the future. At this stage though it is still very much next-gen technology and therefore comes with a next-gen price tag. This tiny TV will set you back $6,999! For the full Sony press release, see below.
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Full Press Release
The world?s first OLED TV from Sony arrives in Australia
The next development in TV technology includes an astonishingly thin 3mm panel
Sydney ? 7 April, 2009 ? Sony Australia today announced the arrival of the world?s first OLED TV in Australia. The XEL-1 is the next development in TV technology, with an astonishingly thin 3mm organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel that delivers high contrast (1,000,000:1 ratio), high peak brightness, amazing colour reproduction, and rapid response time.
OLED is a light-emitting technology, which eliminates the need for a separate light source such as a backlight system. The XEL-1 panel consists of an organic layer of material with two extremely thin glass panels on either side, resulting in a new TV form factor that is only 3mm thick.
?This TV is a symbol of technological innovation with first class picture quality and colour clarity,? said Jan Ergen, Product Manager for Visual Display at Sony Australia. ?OLED represents the future for television technology, the next generation ? it?s truly a leap forward. We are thrilled to be bringing this world first to Australia. Despite its compact size, the experience of the XEL-1 is simply breathtaking.?
Sophisticated, clean design
In a design befitting the world?s first OLED TV, the XEL-1 has a clean, yet sophisticated form. The thin, light display is suspended by an aluminium side arm, giving the appearance of a floating panel. The rear panel combines black and mirror-like metal surfaces for an overall elegant appearance.
Low power consumption
Since OLED does not require a separate light source due to its light-emitting structure, it can be powered using very low voltage. This means that OLED TVs consume extremely low levels of power compared with other display devices. The power consumption of the XEL-1 is as low as 45W.
Peak brightness levels and wide colour spectrum
The XEL-1 can achieve a high peak brightness thanks to Sony?s unique technology, ?Super Top Emission?, which allows for efficient light emission from the organic materials. The XEL-1 can therefore reproduce extremely bright light flow such as fireworks, sunlight or camera flashes.
In order to achieve the maximum spectrum of colour, Sony has developed its own proprietary organic materials within the OLED panel. In addition, the micro-cavity structure of ?Super Top Emission? and the colour extracting technology within its embedded colour filter enable XEL-1 to reproduce natural colours beautifully.
With its light-emitting structure, the OLED display can completely prevent light emissions when reproducing shades of black, enabling the XEL-1 to reproduce very deep blacks at a contrast ratio of 1,000,000 to one. Furthermore, the XEL-1 can control all the phases of light emission from zero to peak brightness, generating colour expression and subtleties unmatched by conventional displays.
Rapid response time
Since OLED technology can spontaneously turn the light emitted from the organic material layer on and off, the TV is capable of very rapid response times. OLED drive circuits enable the XEL-1 to reproduce fast moving images, such as sports scenes, smoothly and naturally.
Connectivity and Xross Media Bar
The XEL-1 has two HDMI inputs to enable to connection of a Blu-ray player or other high definition devices as well as a USB input to display your own still images. It also utilises the award-winning Xross Media Bar (XMB?) user interface, which provides a logical and fast way to access set up menus, user controls and more. It also comes with a built-in digital TV tuner.
The XEL-1 will be on display and available to purchase at Sony Centre stores nationally from mid-April.
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