Sony XEL-1 OLED TV may hit US this year, sez Glasgow

We're sure you've been drooling over Sony's sexy little 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TV since the official launch last month, and though we thought that only the Japanese would be lucky enough to snap one up this year, Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow has just revealed that US customers may actually have a shot at the 3-millimeter thick waif by holiday time. At a roundtable discussion this morning at the Sony Club in New York, Glasgow told the assembled journalists that "OLED could come [here] before the end of the year," but that the decision would be based significantly on foreign demand and panel supply -- an area where yields are still reportedly quite low. In other words, while you shouldn't go squirreling your ~$1,800 away just yet, you should start praying to the gods of consumer electronics that the XEL-1 hits Tokyo with little more than a whisper.

[Tony @ Nov 1st 2007 12:09PM]

That doesn't look so thin anymore..

[Kurian @ Nov 1st 2007 2:03PM]

If the big deal is about it being thin...Why dont we just open up a regular LCD, take out the 2mm thick glass screen and stick it on the wall. Then the wires can hang out to the base on the ground just like the OLED.

[3rdsun @ Nov 1st 2007 3:38PM]

Yeah Samsung has a 3mm thin 32 incher. Sony needs to step up their game

[Tony @ Nov 1st 2007 3:49PM]

@Kurian

The TV is all about being thin.

Wtf are you talking about? Are you trying to claim credit for reinventing a different OLED? Looks like Sony beat you too it.

[Matt @ Nov 1st 2007 7:07PM]

Samsung does not have a 32" OLED set. There is absolutely no comparison between LCD and OLED.

It may be only 11", but it's 1080p, it's beautiful, and it's a LOT more than Samsung is bringing to market anytime soon.

Samsung is the one who needs to step up their game. And Sony needs to work their asses off to keep Samsung from doing so.

[yui @ Nov 2nd 2007 1:52AM]

XEL-1 is not 1080p. its only have a panel of 960x540 (exactly 1/4 of a full HD panel)
of course it support 1080p input.

[ryantrevisol @ Nov 1st 2007 12:13PM]

1800 for an 11" TV? If that isn't the best deal of the year, I don't know what is!

[xlandaux @ Nov 1st 2007 12:25PM]

This looks like an atari 2600 with an $1,800 11" OLED attached....

[Randall @ Nov 1st 2007 12:27PM]

Whats so great about oled again? My laptop LCD is that thin, bigger, and the whole laptop was only 1800.

[Ethan @ Nov 1st 2007 12:32PM]

It's certainly thin - but it looks like it was designed by a bunch of engineers - there's bits all around in odd places and all the important stuff seems to have gone in a bose radio clock from the 80s. Hopefully you can replace the stand with a cable and hang it on the wall. That'd be great.

Mainly, I think having the underside of a screen any less thick than, say, the frame of a painting is missing the point, a little elevation is good for the image in my opinion (I'm still stuck on the hung on the wall at eye level idea though).

[jLynx @ Nov 1st 2007 12:49PM]

Is there anyone else out there not that impressed with this? It looks like they just took the bulk from the back of a typical flat screen and shoved it in the base.

[Denver_80203 @ Nov 1st 2007 1:01PM]

The only thin I see here is my wallet.

Seriously my 1.5 or 2 inch think LCD isn't too much to deal with. For that price I could get a 8800 GTX and two 22" LCD monitors.

I get it that they may have a better screen quality on top of the slim size but, not THAT much better!

[JB @ Nov 1st 2007 1:24PM]

... and still have $800 left.

[Hutch81 @ Nov 1st 2007 1:05PM]

You guys are missing the point here although the "TV" may be expensive this is emerging technology. Well at least OLED's on this scale are. I personally belive that this is impressive the base may be large but as the screen size grows those electronics can be spread across the back. This in turn would lead to a television that is less than an inch thick. The downside wires, fricken wires still running up the wall. I for one cant wait to see the next generation of OLED sets.

[Denver_80203 @ Nov 1st 2007 1:48PM]

Oh I see... So how many are you going to buy?

[Blackstar @ Nov 1st 2007 1:57PM]

I'll take two.

You're poor Kenny! You're family is poor!!

[palehorse @ Nov 1st 2007 2:01PM]

Wake me when we have TV's that are at least 50", less than 1" thick, a contrast ratio of at least 50,000:1, and completely wireless - including wireless POWER!

Until then, I won't be any more impressed than I am now with the current-gen LCD's and Plasmas.

I want to be able to hang the TV on a wall - any wall - like a picture, and stream ALL of my HD media to it wirelessly from anywhere else in my house.

Hopefully in my lifetime...

[frozo @ Nov 1st 2007 3:52PM]

How many times do you intend on moving this "picture"? So the new plasmas are heavy, but I have a 65" Panny Plasma monitor hanging on the wall (wires behind wall) that is pretty damn near to a hanging picture/frame. Were pretty much there now... Hurry and wake up before you miss it and everything is just streamed to your brain.

[palehorse @ Nov 1st 2007 4:09PM]

I have a Pioneer set up the same way... which is why I said that the new OLED's don't impress me any more than the current-gen stuff... yet.

They are definitely improving the picture quality, but their new profile isn't exactly impressive... and they still require too many damn cables!

They really need to give those who already have 1080p a REAL reason to upgrade... I'll upgrade again when we see the following:
- genuine 1" profile
- 179.9 degree viewing angles
- NO cables.. at all!
- At least 50,000:1 contrast ratio
- 100% color gamut
- Flush-mountable on any wall.

until then, I'll enjoy my current-gen plasma goodness!

[Feb30th @ Nov 1st 2007 2:16PM]

All of you who are dissing this OLED TV obviously never actually seen one in person. The picture is absolutely amazing, there is no comparison to current gen Hi-Def... it's like watching a moving photo. And of course it is expensive, as for all relative new technologies...

[Sam C @ Nov 1st 2007 2:56PM]

I work at circuit city and reps from lots of major companies come in to hype up there products to us. The sony representative confirmed to me that this absolutely will be sold in the us, likely before the end of the year. OLED is something im really excited to see in a production tv and the Sony rep seemed to be really excited about it too.

[Slurpeeking @ Nov 1st 2007 3:37PM]

Maybe I am missing something here, but what are the advantages of having a super slim screen if it has to be attached to the relatively large base?

[MacNewb @ Nov 1st 2007 3:41PM]

Ugleeeee. Sony usually has some of the sexiest tech design, but this... looks like something from the early 90's.

[hdrtimelapse @ Nov 1st 2007 3:43PM]

I can understand that most of you don't 'get it' but, 1:1,000,000 contrast ratio is truly amazing... that's approaching 20eV stops. To put it in perspective your $1,800 digital camera that you may think is so amazing only captures around 6-8eV stops. So, this thing is 'capable' of displaying something that even the most advanced camera (the red at an estimated 11eV latitude comes to mind at $17,000) can't capture. It's way ahead of it's time and 99% of the population won't understand that for probably another decade when the 'mega-pixel' hype fizzles and latitude takes it's well deserved place at the top of the specs. Give me a 3mp camera that does 14eV of latitude and display it on this thing and I'm positive that your going to say 'why did I ever care about mega-pixels'!!

[palehorse @ Nov 1st 2007 4:22PM]

Will the improvement in HD movie playback be as exponentionally noticeable as the still photo stats you described? Or will the obscene contrast ratio only improve the playback by a factor of 1 or 2?

Please describe the improvement in terms simple movie buffs like me can understand... ;)

[hdrtimelapse @ Nov 1st 2007 4:52PM]

Your current HD player is still clamped to an 8-bit color model so you probably won't see much of a measurable difference there. The current model for making features by the big studios is: shoot 35mm film (which has around 10-12 eV of latitude) scan it around 14-bit, color correct, add crazy effects, compress to 8-bit and pass it on to you on a disc that will look good on the widest array of displays.

This display 'could' display that 14-bit jaw dropping reality that only the guys in the editing room see and furthermore display 32-bit video (that doesn't really 'exist' yet). This is my point. It's way ahead of it's time... The only criticism that really makes sense is: why would you buy a display that only your cutting edge video researchers can enjoy. The 'material' to look at can't be captured readily yet...

[Scott @ Nov 1st 2007 7:40PM]

Sony, I need 4 of these for the Mercury7 Science Center, should work great in the sunlight mounted on the outside of the airstream.

http://www.mercury7.com Dream a little Dream lol :)

[Scott Brown @ Nov 1st 2007 7:50PM]

I am more interested to hear the specs on this Sony TV.
Amount of colors?
Resolution?
Expected Life (Hours)?
Wattage?

Shout out to Sony for staying innovative!
Lead, Follow, or Get Out Of The Way!

[Darqueness @ Dec 26th 2007 2:39AM]

I heard this had 1000000:1 contrast ratio and 110% color gamut, AND the actual technology is capable of being set on a TRansparent and FLexible display