Sony's 0.3mm OLED eyes-on

Okay, we're as disappointed as you that we didn't get to check out Sony's 0.3mm OLED prototype up close and, um, turned on, but we were lucky to see the thing at all. They whisked it off-stage as soon as Stringer's presentation / interview was over, and we were told it also happens to be the one and only unit in the world. Bottom line: from what we did see, the picture looked about as crisp and vibrant as the XEL-1 (which is to say, quite). And in terms of thinness? It looks like a shiny, magic piece of paper -- which left us kind of stumped as to how Sony can make any display even thinner (but we're sure they'll try).

Gallery: Sony's 0.3mm OLED eyes-on

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

[Pochi @ May 28th 2008 2:40PM]

I don't get it. Why would anybody care about their display being thinner than a credit card when they still need a couple of things.

1) A base so it doesn't fall over - that is sure to be quite thick.
2) Somewhere to run cords to it.

You can only make it so thing before you're spending money unnecessarily.

[Flashpoint @ May 28th 2008 2:56PM]

Besides its thinness, it uses less power than any other type of display of the same size.

Eventually, this will mean thinner cellphones and thinner LCD monitors - or, the ability to make advertising displays thin and energy efficient even if they are 200 inches.

If you add this to the piezo electric speaker film in development, you'd be able to make a display WITH SPEAKERS built in thinner than any other display ever made. The implications of which would be remarkably futuristic.

Imagine being able to watch TV on a system as thin as Bush's Iraq Exit strategy.

[Pochi @ May 28th 2008 3:02PM]

"Eventually, this will mean thinner cellphones and thinner LCD monitors..."

But as far as cells go, they need to be thick to be handled properly anyway (that's what she said). And monitors that are that thin still need a base and places to plug 'em in.

Sure, I can see how having the ability to make a thin display would be cool in certain rare applications (very limited ones). And yes energy consumption is an issue (even though there are far worse energy offenders than televisions).

But there are far, far more useful ways for Sony to spend their R&D at this particular point in time, methinks. A product is only as thin as its thickest element, and when you slap a 0.3mm display on a base the size of the one I am using right now, the whole idea becomes moot.

[kjb434 @ May 28th 2008 3:07PM]

"Imagine being able to watch TV on a system as thin as Bush's Iraq Exit strategy."

That should read: Imagine being able to watch TV on a system as thin as the truths in the environmentalist movement....

[IT-Accountant @ May 28th 2008 3:09PM]

All right, children, let's just all calm down and admire the beautiful piece of tech before our eyes. We are united by our common geekiness. Let our inner nerd overcome our petty political differences.

[guerilla779 @ Jun 1st 2008 4:44PM]

don;t you guys ever ever talk about the iraq war in a bad way while the brave troops are fighting there for U TO SIT ON UR PC AND VISIT FRICKIN ENGADGET !!!!!!!!!!

[swingin' dick hero @ May 28th 2008 3:53PM]

Bush got the biggest a hole in america?!
Soo that's where the rockets are..

[dj496 @ May 28th 2008 4:46PM]

@kjb434: HEAR HEAR! Thank you for saying that.
Oh dang it, were you being sarcastic?

[Chris @ May 28th 2008 5:50PM]

"1) A base so it doesn't fall over - that is sure to be quite thick."

Hang it by strings from the ceiling or tape it to the wall with duct tape.

[Mike @ May 28th 2008 6:15PM]

Thinner display equals more space for other components and larger batteries which means longer run time.

Thinner displays in televisions equals easier mounting and lower shipping costs.

Thinner displays in computers equals more desk space (depending on how it's mounted or what kind of stand it's using.

[yui @ May 28th 2008 11:25PM]

Everytime I look at the back of my TV as well as my hi-vi rack, I can't help to think that hanging a piece of ultra thin display on wall is indeed very very nice. All you need is a wireless unit, just like the newly released AQUOS.

It worth.

[nDee @ May 29th 2008 5:30AM]

Projection will be historical, people will stick OLED screens on their wall(maybe not yet till 2015)

[Engadgetluvsappl @ May 28th 2008 2:40PM]

0.3 millimeters? No way.

[CraigJ @ May 28th 2008 4:36PM]

Yes way Ted!

[dreamscape86 @ May 28th 2008 2:46PM]

This is getting ridiculous... after they passed the 1" mark, everything else is just for show... why is a .3mm thick screen better than a 1" thick screen? What can you do with it that you can't do with a 1" screen? Not to mention if you wanted to wall-mount a screen that size, you'd have to add even more depth just to get a mount for it. Unless you just slapped some epoxy on it and stuck it on the wall... good luck getting it off though.

I'm much more concerned about picture quality and price than a screen so thin I can slice my bread with it.

[error2k2 @ May 28th 2008 7:41PM]

How can you be a pretentious if it doesn't fit in a manila envelope? Think of the apple fanboys.

[thethirdmoose @ May 28th 2008 4:25PM]

...you want a 1" thick laptop screen?

[Jlivengo @ May 28th 2008 2:50PM]

Seems like you'd get a paper cut just from touching the edges.

[Jlivengo @ May 28th 2008 2:51PM]

You can say the same thing about laptops then the Macbook Air came out.

[Apreche @ May 28th 2008 2:52PM]

The screen itself might be incredibly thin, but you need a lot more hardware to make a display than just the screen.

Let's say I took my laptop apart. The screen in the laptop is only a few mm thick. It's connected to the laptop with a little ribbon cable. On the other end of that cable is all the other necessary equipment to actually have a working display.

To actually make thinner displays they need to shrink other stuff, like the power supplies, rather than the screen itself.

Actually, now that I think about it, why do people build all that stuff into the display? One pain in the ass of setting up a home theater is sending all those cables to the display. What if you separated the screen from the rest of the hardware. You could put that hardware next to the DVD player, consoles and everything else. Then just have one tiny cable that goes to the 0.3mm screen hanging on the wall with a couple picture frame hooks. Wiring and space savings would be amazing.

[Dah Cheet @ May 28th 2008 3:31PM]

"Actually, now that I think about it, why do people build all that stuff into the display? One pain in the ass of setting up a home theater is sending all those cables to the display. What if you separated the screen from the rest of the hardware. You could put that hardware next to the DVD player, consoles and everything else. Then just have one tiny cable that goes to the 0.3mm screen hanging on the wall with a couple picture frame hooks. Wiring and space savings would be amazing."

I think this is where a lot of the future application will/should be. Yes, there will always be a larger box that is needed to connect inputs to the screen, but as technology improves that box will get smaller and smaller or eventually go wireless so that you could plug everything into a box and only have a power cord coming from the screen on the wall. Wall mounts could be shrunken since there would be less weight and the screen could very well just become part of the wall. Even then, you could just add a faceplate below the screen and plug in all your video inputs there.

Yes, currently it's quite novel and expensive but when it becomes widely available and affordable it'll be the new standard.

[farfisa @ May 28th 2008 2:53PM]

Yeah, sure the screen's thin, but the plexiglas case is huge!
Call me when there's integrated wireless HD and no more gravity.

[IT-Accountant @ May 28th 2008 2:58PM]

It seems Engadget is so impressed with Mr. BlurryCam's ubiquitous work, that they've hired him!

lol

[CraigJ @ May 28th 2008 4:49PM]

Looks more like they hired "noisy no flash guy".

[Jesse S @ May 28th 2008 2:58PM]

Dear god engadget, please get some books on how to operate a camera!

The only person who knows how to take pictures is the dude that reviewed the Dash Express.

I will reiterate, get some basic photography books and read strobist!

[Vidit Bhargava @ May 28th 2008 3:00PM]

attach a small OLED to a PSP and BOOM you get a fantastic entertainment system with a gorgeous screen

[James Cameron @ May 28th 2008 3:03PM]

All I see this 0.3mm screen is just a gimmick. I can't see a 50" OLED this thin won't have any trouble. There's no way I see a 50" OLED can hold itself upright without being flimsy and become fragile. The only way that it can hold up a 50" or greater if the frame around it is thicker surrounding the 0.3mm screen. But still, I wouldn't dare try to clean the screen if it get dusty.

[iamsoinsane @ May 29th 2008 11:57AM]

Dont forget, theres also FOLED, TOLED, IOLED, SOLED, AMOLED; OLED is just the tip of the iceberg, for example: FOLED is flexable, so it could be hung without a worry of it breaking.
But yes, just like when plasma's were first released, many _not so bright_people did break them. ;)

[Kinger @ May 28th 2008 9:00PM]

WTFOLED?

[Adam @ May 28th 2008 7:57PM]

Wireless Transparent Flexible OLED? Sounds good, where do I sign up.

[James Cameron @ May 28th 2008 3:07PM]

I wonder what the material is made out of for that 0.3mm screen?

[Ian @ May 28th 2008 3:11PM]

is it just me or are they getting to thin? i mean say for instence you let go of your wiimote and it hits the corner, a regular tv has the plastic tips on the side so it probably wouldnt hurt it. but with this one i can imagine it flying all the way through the screen.. then what your out one hell of a lot of money

[Tony @ May 28th 2008 3:12PM]

I could use a nice big arrow that says, DISPLAY CAN BE SEEN RIGHT HERE!

[forzanerazzurri @ May 28th 2008 3:21PM]

My god people. You complain when panels are too thick. You still continue to complain because now they are apprently "too thin". You complain about the quality of the pictures on a FREE blog. You complain about it having to have a base. Are people ever happy? Look at this thing. Its a representation of the state of human engineering and should be met with praise. Nobody is forcing you to buy it. Its much like a "concept car" for automakers. How anyone can critisize this product is beyond me. I am absolutely stunned and impressed that Sony is able to successfully produce this stuff. It is truly humbling for me and it should be for you aswell. I also find it funny how some of you also seem to think you know how a billion dollar company should spend its R&D money as if you were some expert at life. People really suck these days.

[Desi_D @ May 28th 2008 3:47PM]

AMEN!

[ynohtna @ May 28th 2008 3:31PM]

Man a photo with the display showing something would've been cool...

[Godskitchen @ May 28th 2008 3:49PM]

What makes me laugh is all you clowns complaining about this screen but yet you all buy LCD's, the biggest marketing con in years.

I for one cant wait to be able to watch films as they should be seen and not having to guess at what is going on in dark scenes

The first one of you to say "Oh but LCD's have good black levels now, my Samsung 61xhyteyeyXTRABRIGHT3343 has great blacks." gets a punch. You dont know what you are talking about.

[goAMinD @ May 28th 2008 4:39PM]

LOL, I just couldn't stop laughing after reading your post. That is truly an outburst of irritation. LOLOL. Well, I hear you and somewhat I agree. Everybody talk black levels and hopefully OLED or other newer technologies like SED (where the h... did SED go anyway) can once and for all ensure perfect black levels. People buy LCD because the technology is old and easy to maintain in production. The consumers wishes are never a priority. Its all about "He who has most money - wins". So if marketing can pursuade consumers to buy the "wonderful" LCD TV's it is LCD that stays in production and development. Oh, consumer wallets always point in the direction of LCD anyway. I'd bet if OLED technology was able to promise everlasting, non-fading displays close to the LCD prices.... LCD would die instantly.

[Daniel @ May 28th 2008 5:47PM]

no but sonny xbr8 will have sexiest dark levels for an lcd. still cant dect between it an a pio elite. burn in still wories me htough

[Joe @ May 31st 2008 8:59AM]

LOLED

[mrpoo @ May 28th 2008 4:01PM]

The main photo for the story is yet another fine example of why engadget staff should stay away from anything that requires knowledge, understanding, interpretation or use of cameras. I would have been better off with a pencil sketch of the display in question, that photo closely approximates dick in terms of useful visual information.

[maxxwizard @ May 28th 2008 4:12PM]

http://mutiny.dod.net/cantseeshit/cantseeshit.png

[Darrien @ May 28th 2008 4:17PM]

that screen is obscene

[CraigJ @ May 28th 2008 4:48PM]

Lessons in SPAM: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2496293981990713675

[MrGuru @ May 29th 2008 12:59AM]

applications of this can go beyond just television, something like this could be put into your windshield of your car giving you better warnings of collisions, maybe being able to give you a rear view mirror built into the windshield itself. i see automakers jumping on this to get more on windshield displays for cars. which would be very interesting. you actually may keep your eyes on the road now.

[poul.lund.nielsen @ May 29th 2008 5:45AM]

I saw a videoclip sometime last year (possibly here on Engadget, don't remember), that showed an oled screen the size of a piece of paper, and just as thin - and flexible. The obvious application for this (once prices come WAAAAAY down of course) is to use it to put video commercials or even movie promos/covermounts in magazines.

[Poita @ May 29th 2008 9:54AM]

All you photography "experts" complaining about the quality of the photos:
You try taking a photo of a thin black screen encased in a smudged plexiglass box in a dark room and get back to us.

Can't use a flash (as shown in the first photo), low light means a noisy photo if you don't use the flash (as shown in some of the other photos). Also as the screen is so thin that there are only a few angles that you can effectively take the shot from (even less angles are available when you take reflections into account).

[MARKTW @ May 29th 2008 12:36PM]

Once they make it flexible so I can fold my 100" screen up and put it in my pocket then I'll be amazed!