Xel 1 -- Engadget

Sony XEL-1 OLED TV lands in the UK, now twice the price

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jan 28th 2009 at 1:41AM

Good news: The world's thinnest and first commercially available OLED television -- the Sony XEL-1 -- is on sale in the UK today.

Bad news: It'll cost Brits £3,489 (about $4,944) -- that's more than twice the price of the same set sold in the US.

Look, we knew the European price hikes were coming from Sony in 2009, but we weren't expecting this. Then again, if you're the type who thinks dropping a couple of thousand Quid on an 11-inch television makes sense, well, you probably won't even notice.

[Via OLED-Display]

Sony demos battery-powered, fully-wireless OLED TV

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 10th 2008 at 11:39PM

What's better than a (cheap) XEL-1? How's about a wireless, battery-powered XEL-1? Sony has recently shown off a completely cordless OLED TV with the same ultrathin chassis as used in the aforementioned 11-incher. Bulking things up a bit is the integrated HDTV tuner, and of course, it's wall-mountable for midgets who live in a Little Tikes playhouse. Unfortunately, there's no real mention of specs (aside from the whole "3-millimeter thin" part), and even worse, there's no telling how long we'll have to wait before we see it hit shelves (let alone grow to a size that's actually useful). Anywho, tap the read link for a plethora of images.

Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV landing in Europe in 2009? Too little, too late.

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 1:35AM

Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports this morning that Sony plans to sell its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TV in Europe in 2009. That dovetails nicely with a two-week old statement by a Sony representative who said, "I'd be very surprised if this hasn't arrived in the UK by 2009." Us too, after all, it's been on sale in Japan since December of 2007 and was recently caught slumming the big box outlets in the US. It only seems natural then, that Sony would ramp production to the point that by 2009 they could meet the minimal, European demand for a $2,500-ish TV measuring just 11-inches -- million:1 contrast or not. Still, it's all a bit late if you ask us (you did right?) seeing as how Sony plans to be producing medium to large OLED panels as early as April 2009.

[Via AVING]

Read -- Europe 2009
Read -- UK 2009

Sony XEL-1 estimated to last customers only half as long as expected

by Darren Murph, posted May 8th 2008 at 3:04AM

Ruh roh. Research firm DisplaySearch has just unleashed a new report that takes an in-depth look at the ultrathin XEL-1, and it ended up finding a video lifetime barely half of what Sony promises. Apparently the company ran a couple of Sony's OLED TVs for 1,000 hours, after which it found that blue luminance degraded by 12-percent, the red by 7-percent and the green by 8-percent. Extrapolating the data it gathered, it estimated that the unit would lose half of its brightness in 17,000 hours -- Sony says you can expect 30,000. Of course, Sony is still standing by its numbers, and even we can see that DisplaySearch's methods aren't perfectly scientific, but if you were honestly expecting to watch this thing for the next decade (and not a year less), you may want to hit the read link and snoop around.

[Via Yahoo, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV splayed in high-resolution

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 7:57AM

Seen enough of Sony's 3-millimeter thin OLED TV? Nah, we reckoned not -- and even if you've grown somewhat accustomed to that sleek 11-inch exterior, opening this pretty boy up gives you a whole new perspective. The camera-toting cats over at bunnie:studios managed to happen upon a live XEL-1 tear down while perusing the floor at the Embedded Systems Conference, and sure enough, they succeeded in capturing the momentous event and were kind enough to host up a smattering of high-resolution images to prove it. Anxious to see what Sony could possibly fit inside of this thing? You're just one click away from finding out.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Sony XEL-1 hands-on

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 18th 2008 at 11:44PM

It's one thing to swoon all over Sony's 3-millimeter thin XEL-1 OLED while being keenly observed by likely armed guards. It's another to bust this baby out in the comfort of one's home. Our comrades over at the Spanish branch were able to do just that, and of course, they snapped a few glamor shots before ruining its allure with fingerprints. Curiously enough, their model arrived sans an Ethernet port -- needless to say, we're still waiting to find out the story behind that. Grab anything that can work as a drool rag and hit up the gallery below.

Gallery: Sony XEL-1 hands-on

Sony XEL-1 OLED slips into US stores

by Erik Hanson, posted Jan 6th 2008 at 8:33PM

As expected, Sony has released the first OLED display in the US, with the 11-inch XEL-1 available now at select Sony Style locations for $2,500. Japanese customers have been able to purchase the 3mm-thick XEL-1 since late last year for ¥200,000, but the US has had to wait until now to get its organically 1,000,000:1-contrasted fix. The XEL-1 also offers support for DMeX so consumers can download content via the BRAVIA Internet Video Link service. If you're hankering for something even thinner than a 9mm plasma and looking to spend a whopping $227 per inch, head on over to a Sony store today.

Sony's Stringer: OLED TV in US "next year"

by Thomas Ricker, posted Dec 11th 2007 at 5:11AM

So we had a bit of bad, OLED-related news this morning. Now for the good. Sir Howard Stringer just announced plans to launch their 3-mm OLED TV into the US market. While it's not coming this year as we had hoped beyond hope, it will be offered for "limited sales" in the US (Sony's second launch market) sometime "next year." Just as soon as Sony ramps up their mass production capabilities. Stringer admits that the expensive, tiny TV is a "symbolic device" for Sony -- fine by us. After years of corporate stoicism we're perfectly happy to see Sony take some risk. Now please resurrect AIBO, Howie, and your innovation hat-trick will be complete.

Sony XEL-1 OLED TV unboxed

by Conrad Quilty-Harper, posted Dec 1st 2007 at 8:55AM

Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV -- with its 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a ridiculous 3mm thin enclosure -- has been unboxed over at TV Snob. Next to all of its accessories, the XEL-1 looks rather less appealing when compared to the clean press shots. In particular, we're left a little confused as to what the deal is with that ugly external power brick: isn't that what the big box underneath the screen was for?

Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV limited to 2000 units

by Thomas Ricker, posted Nov 21st 2007 at 2:01AM

At this point, it's not clear if the interest around Sony's ultra-thin, XEL-1 OLED TV is plain ol' first-gen technology, gawker enthusiasm or valid consumer interest. As such, it's hard to say whether an initial production run of just 2,000 units spread across 700 stores in Japan is going to be a problem or not. However, if you're lucky enough to stumble across this storefront display you'd best not dawdle and dig deep for that ¥200,000 (about $1700 US) MSRP right then and there. As for the rest of us, the chances of that 1,000,000:1 contrast coming to the North America or Europe any time soon is just that, a million to one.

Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV pre-sales begin in Japan

by Thomas Ricker, posted Nov 14th 2007 at 4:57AM

While it's not scheduled for release until December 1st, Sony is now taking pre-orders for its super-slim XEL-1 OLED TV. Japan only, though we're hopeful for a US release too. Sure, it costs ¥200,000 (about $1,800) for 11-inches of set that will only last about 30,000 hours -- less than that of an LCD. Still, that's only $0.0018 per unit of its 1M:1 contrast ratio. See, affordable.

[Via Impress]

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

by Evan Blass, posted Nov 1st 2007 at 12:04PM

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.

Sony 3-mm thin XEL-1 OLED TV in person. Oh, and it's fricking thin.

by Ryan Block, posted Oct 1st 2007 at 10:57PM

Sony was all about showing off their new turbo-thin XEL-1 OLED TV at CEATEC today, and we have to hand it to them, this thing is kind of mind-blowingly thin. Naturally that kind of thinness is a little hard to capture in photographs -- it's kind of one of those things you have to see in person. But once you do check it out, you may just find its gorgeous, bright pseudo-HD, 1m:1 contrast ratio picture hypnotizes you from remembering its ridiculously high ¥200,000 (about $1700 US) price and piddly 11-inch size. We want one on our desk, like, yesterday.

Gallery: Sony 3-mm thin XEL-1 OLED TV in person. Oh, and it's fricking thin.

Sony's 3-mm thin XEL-1 OLED TV makes video appearance

by Donald Melanson, posted Oct 1st 2007 at 3:49PM

If all those pics and details of Sony's svelte new SonyDrive XEL-1 OLED TV we brought you earlier today weren't enough to whet your appetite, then perhaps NHK's video of the display will be more to your liking. While it offers little new information, it does show the display nearly performing a disappearing act as it makes its turn for the camera, thanks to its double-take-inducing 3 mm thinness. Impressive to be sure, although likely not quite impressive enough to make you forget about its $1,700+ price tag. Click on the image above or the read link below to check out the complete video

The Sony Drive XEL-1 OLED TV: 1,000,000:1 contrast starting December 1st

by Thomas Ricker, posted Oct 1st 2007 at 1:23AM

It's here friends, Sony's Drive teaser is none other than their 3-mm thin, 1,000,000:1 OLED TV, just announced official with a December 1st Japanese retail date. The 11-inch SonyDrive XEL-1 set features a 960 x 540 pixel resolution, terrestrial digital tuner, 2x 1W speaker, and HDMI, USB, and Ethernet jacks in a package measuring 287 x 140 x 253-mm and 2-kg (3.3-pounds). How much? Well, ¥200,000 or about $1,740 -- That's about $160 per inch of OLED. Rich indeed, but so it goes for first generation technology.