The Great Flat Screen TV debate - plasma or LCD? - just got a bit more complicated with the introduction of the first production OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TV - Sony's XEL-1.
Why might you drool over the XEL-1?
- 3-millimeter thick screen.
- 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio (as compared to 30,000:1 maximum claimed contrast ratio for plasma displays and perhaps around 3000:1 for the best LCDs). Contrast ratios measure the difference between darkest blacks and lightest whites in an image.
- Very fast response times. Response times measure how fast a screen can refresh an image. Slow response times can sometimes result in 'ghosting' or noise. Plasma response times are supposedly better than LCD rates, but OLED is faster than either.
- 11-inch screen
- ~$2,500 price tag
We love the XEL-1 and OLED technology in general because it represents another step forward in energy efficiency for electronics displays. Since OLEDs don't require any backlighting (the Organic material in the OLED glows on its own), they use less energy than LCD screens.
According to GoodCleanTech, OLED needs just 1/4 the energy required to power LCD. (As for Plasma TVs, they're the bête noire of the thin-screen TV world, since they draw even more power than LCD screens - as explained by the HDTV Almanac.)
Of course, size matters too. Bigger screens naturally need more power than smaller ones. So in a green sense, the XEL-1's small size is beautiful.
Don't want to squint at a petite screen? Stay tuned. Word is that a Toshiba-Matsushita joint venture will come out with a 20+ inch OLED TV in 2009.
Oh and in mid-April, Sony showed another 11-inch OLED TV 10-times thinner than the XEL-1. Technology marches onward...
Where to buy:
Purchase the XEL-1 direct from Sony Style or at select retailers including Abt and J&R.
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