Anyone who has ever been to Japan can tell you that this country has the most amazing televisions in the world. For years now, ultra-thin plasma TVs and high-definition broadcasting has been the standard, and with each new year it seems as if the best is yet to come.
Truth be told however, you haven’t seen anything quite like this yet…
Earlier this week, Sony announced that in December, they will release their ultra-thin Organic LED TV, a new generation television with a thickness of just 0.12 inches or three millimeters.
Yes, you read that correctly – Sony’s new TV screen will be about as thick as a few sheets of paper stacked together!!
Sony’s new technology is based on organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, which will most likely transform the realm of electronics in the years to come.
An organic light-emitting diode is any light-emitting diode (LED) whose emissive electroluminescent layer is comprised of a film of organic compounds. These compounds are deposited in rows and columns onto a flat carrier by a simple printing process, and the resulting matrix of pixels can emit light of different colors.
In the case of TVs, OLEDs are self-luminescent and do not require a backlight. As a result, a screen sandwiching a very thin layer of organic material between two plates uses less power and offers brighter images and wider viewing angles than liquid crystal display panels.
All of this translates directly into the thinnest TV screen you could possibly imagine.
In December, Sony’s flagship Organic LED TV, dubbed the XEL-1, will be 9.9 inches (25.1 centimeters) wide and 5.6 inches tall (14.1 centimeters).
It will also have a hefty price tag of over 200,000 yen or US$1,740.
In an official statement to the press, a company spokesperson stated: “Going forward, Sony will progressively develop its OLED TV business alongside its existing line of ‘BRAVIA’ televisions.”
Currently, the BRAVIA flat-screen televisions are some of the most successful flat-screen TVs on the market, especially since Sony is expected to unveil the world’s largest flat screen TV in the months to come.
Although the flagship OLED TV will be modest in size compared to the huge TVs currently overwhelming the market, it’s hard to deny the coolness factor of the XEL-1.
Imagine a TV so thin that it virtually disappears when you view it from the side – amazing.
Of course, it’s only a matter of time before OLED technology improves to the point where the same technology could be applied to big screen TVs as well. Consider for a moment the possibility of a wall-sized TV so thin, that it could literally be hung as if it was a large tapestry.
The applications of OLED technology are, needless to say, endless. Currently, there are plans to use OLEDs in everything from computer displays and portable system screens to advertising billboards and car navigation systems. They can even be used for general space illumination, and may one day transform the way we light our interiors.
The future is indeed looking brighter.